Charlie Rose is a young man of 13 who has just graduated from this year’s 8^th Grade at St. Dominic’s.  He is the son of Marc and Gaye Rose, both very active members of our parish and its ministries, and Charlie is no slouch himself in his involvement with our parish life.  Charlie will be attending De La Salle High School in Concord in the fall.  He just won the Knights of Columbus Fr. McGivney Columbian Award for his academic and extracurricular achievements, including an essay about his role in today’s church.  With his permission we thought we’d publish that essay here so you can see what our young people are thinking and feeling about their faith these days.  It give us hope for our future!

How Do I See Myself Practicing and Witnessing to My Faith in Today’s World?

by Charlie Rose, St. Dominic’s School Class of 2015 There are many ways I look forward to practicing and witnessing to my faith in today’s world.  In my life right now, I have not faced too many difficult decisions.  However, as I get ready to enter De La Salle High School, I know there will be choices and judgments that will forever impact my life and others around me.  One of the biggest decisions that I have promised myself is to say “no” to peer pressure.  I know this will be very difficult as I get older, but I’m sure if I remain strong in my decisions, I will then set a good Catholic example to my friends who may be weak or unsure. I also want to join the Lassallian Youth Ministry next year.  This group is active in the school and community, and it will give me the opportunity to grow in charity and service to others, including the poor in San Francisco.  I heard at the open-house held for the incoming freshmen last fall that this group’s members are the Spiritual Leaders for the entire school, and I would like to be part of them.  Although I hope to play sports too at De La Salle, I want to be an athlete who strives to keep their Catholic faith first. Staying close to God means to me that I will need to pray and read scripture daily.  In the world today, there are not many people who do this, so I know by just keeping with my prayers and attending Mass every Sunday, it could make an impact on someone else who is not Catholic or does not know God.  I also want to stay active with my parish by remaining a Eucharistic Minister, even after my Confirmation next year. Overall, I just want everyone to know that I am proud of my faith, my family, my school and my Church.  There have been some incidences with friends from my sports teams I played on in Benicia, who did not go to church, and who would make fun of me for being religious and going to Church all the time, but it never really bothered me.  I know I’ll run into this in high school too, but I plan to remain strong and never hide who I really am. Being Catholic is cool!  I believe I can make the biggest impact on the world today by always striving to be the person God wants me to be – honest, faithful and generous to others, even if it’s just in a smile.