When teens have some free time, how do they spend it? Would you believe that their spiritual life means a great deal to some? That can be measured by how much time they put into their spiritual endeavors.
The most spiritual teen I know puts almost unbelievable amounts of time into a myriad such endeavors. As a student at LaSalle Institute in Troy and a parishioner at Corpus Christi Church in Round Lake, David Mietlicki has spent his free time advancing his and others' spiritual growth.
For the last three years, for example, he has given up one night a week to teach religious education to elementary school students. He also gives up another day a week to go with a group of students form his school to visit elderly persons in a local nursing home.
Active in parish
Since he was in seventh grade, David has been an active member of his parish's youth group. He has been a lector, Eucharistic minister and altar boy.
He has given up large amounts of time to travel and learn more about his role in his faith; he attended the Catholic Youth Conference in 1999 in St. Louis, for example, and the Christian Leadership Institute in the Albany Diocese the previous year.
From these experiences, David learned that faith is not something to be hidden but shared and celebrated.
Daily Mass
More recently, David gave up the treasured teen action of sleeping in during his summer vacation to attend daily Mass. When his own parish did not celebrate Mass on Fridays, he sought out another that did and attended there.
One can judge David's commitment to his faith by the time he puts in, but even that may not be good enough. He has as strong a faith as anyone I know, and that is why he is the most spiritual teen I know.