Denver Catholic

7 DENVER CATHOLIC | MAY 9-15, 2015 For more information Call: 303.424.5037 Click: www.nufcu.com or Come by one of our convenient locations. Contact Us Today to Secure Your Financing for this Once-in-a-Lifetime Opportunity! September 23 - 28, 2015 Bringing Catholic Values to Financial Services Come as a community of the faithful on a pilgrimage to Philadelphia to explore important religious, cultural and historical landmarks. Join tens of thousands of people in activities celebrating the family for the World Meeting of Families, created by St. John Paul II. Pope Francis will join in the festivities and will celebrate Mass on Sunday, September 27. We are part of Centura Health, the region's largest health care network. Centura Health does not discriminate against any person on the basis of race, color, na onal origin, disability, age, sex, religion, creed, ancestry, sexual orienta on, and marital status in admission, treatment, or par cipa on in its programs, services and ac vi es, or in employment. For further informa on about this policy contact Centura Health's Office of the General Counsel at (303)804-8166. A spiritually driven, warm and welcoming environment offering a variety of living op ons: • Independent Living • Assisted Living • Memory Care Secured Unit • Adult Day Programs • On-site Physician Clinic • Respite Care • Daily Mass Call today to schedule a tour 303-964-3804 What I like most about The Gardens at St. Elizabeth is there are a lot of ac vi es and opportuni es to volunteer. At The Gardens at St. Elizabeth you do not have to be lonely. There are lots of people to talk to. If you do not feel like talking to a person, you can always go to the chapel and talk to God, he listens! —Pearl Notartomaso The Gardens at St. Elizabeth is good because of the chapel, it is clean, there are nice places to walk, and good friends. —Stella "Margaret" Berry MAKE NEW FRIENDS IN 2015! New Resident Move In Special Call today to learn how you can get 2 months base rent-free! Time-limits on special may apply. 2835 W. 32nd Ave., Denver centuraseniors.org/thegardens What I like most about The Gardens at St. Elizabeth is there are a lot of ac vi es and opportuni es to The Gardens at St. Elizabeth is good because of the chapel, it is clean, there are nice places to walk, and good friends. —Stella "Margaret" Berry S ome youth in Felicia Charles' Sunday school class fi nd learning the faith boring. Others tell her they've never opened a Bible, she said. "Some of them are just resistant to Catholic education in general. You're dealing with that, too," 24-year-old Charles said of the challenges she faces with her seventh- and eighth-grade cate- chism class at St. Ignatius Loyola Church. It's not that they can't learn, said Charles, but that youth need help connecting faith and the Bible with their daily lives. She plans to introduce to her class the new African American Catholic Youth Bible, a translation of the New Ameri- can Bible Revised Edition that includes commentaries, art and study aids to help educate and evangelize youth about Scripture. Special sections make Mary, biblical figures and events relatable through art and maps. Throughout the Old and New Testaments are sections that share stories of African Americans who are important fi gures in the Church, tips on applying passages to daily life, suggested prayers and the basics of the faith. The hope is to make Scripture more accessible to Black Catholic youth, said Mary Leisring, director of the OŸ ce of Black Catholic Ministry in the Archdio- cese of Denver. "Some youth are disenfranchised with the Church," Leisring said. "It's an attempt to o¤ er pictures, introductions and commentaries which will enable our young people and all people to fi nd personal connections to the stories and events of the Bible." Leisring worked with the National Black Catholic Congress and St. Mary's Press to develop explanations, prayers and background to help bring the Bible to life. She worked on commentaries for the book of Philippians and John. "Those are my two favorite books in the Bible," she said because of the books' teachings about placing God fi rst and asking him for strength. She wanted to share her own faith with youth to encourage them on their own journey. "We say that our youth are leaders of tomorrow, but I think our youth are leaders of today," she said. "If youth are going to really get back into the Church, it's not something they need to wait for. They need to do it now. If you say youth is in the present, then they can work alongside us and walk our faith journeys together." Charles said she found the popular Catholic Youth Bible also published by Saint Mary's Press— which the African American Youth Bible is modeled after, helpful in her own spiritual journey as a youth. She uses the Bible and teaching aids to help explain tenets of the faith to her students like the Trinity and events like the Passover—just as she once learned. "Some of the students have a hard time grasping these," she said. "Those are hard concepts to explain to them." Charles hopes the youth Bible will be something her students—with a variety of ethnic backgrounds—can relate to. Sometimes the Bible will o¤ er sur- prises, she said she tells them, with its fascinating and relevant stories: "It's OK to listen (to Scripture readings) on Sunday but you should read it yourself. There are so many interesting stories in the Bible, you'd be sur- prised what you fi nd." Religion teacher wants students to open Bible, be surprised The new African- American Catholic Youth Bible depicts Christ's second coming. ILLUSTRATION PROVIDED BY SAINT MARY'S PRESS YOUTH BIBLE Saint Mary's Press www.smp.org 1-800-533-8095 BY NISSA LAPOINT 303-715-3138 | nissa.lapoint@archden.org www.twitter.com/DenCathNissa

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