March 10, 2010

Hundreds of teens take purity at rally

By Anna Maria Basquez

At a Feb. 28 youth rally, speaker Chris Stefanick told the story of St. Maria Goretti, describing her fight to the death for purity.

In 1902 the 11-year-old martyr was attacked in her home in Italy by a teenager who tried to rape her. Goretti fought, saying she would rather die than lose her purity.  Her assailant, Alessandro Serenelli, stabbed her 14 times. She later answered her attacker’s prison prayers with a visit from heaven with 14 white lilies, forgiving him for each time he stabbed her.

“He had a complete conversion experience. … He was sitting next to Maria’s mother (in Vatican City) at her canonization as a saint,” Stefanick recounted. He emphasized that when Goretti fought for purity, she primarily expressed fear her attacker’s soul would be bound for hell if he carried out the rape. 

“To love someone is to do what’s good for them,” said Stefanick, director of the Denver Archdiocese’s Youth, Young Adult and Campus Ministry Office.

“I’m not here to tell you just to say no (to sex),” he added. “I’m here to tell you to say yes to God … to his plan.”

Using an example of an accident his young toddler had with a fork and a light socket, Stefanick noted: “You’ve got to use something according to the Maker’s plan or it ends up broken.”

Stefanick addressed more than 500 Catholic teens in grades seven through 12 who attended the Ain’t Misbehavin’ Purity Rally sponsored by St. Thomas More Church in Centennial and the  Archdiocese of Denver.  Students at the rally had purity rings blessed, signed pledge cards stating their intention to stay chaste until marriage or through whatever vocation they are called to. They also viewed skits, videos and had a pizza party.

Four school buses of teens from Brighton-area parishes pulled up to St. Thomas More for the rally. Youths also came from Lakewood, Arvada and Greenwood Village. 

Stefanick reminded the youths that middle school and high school are not the whole world they will know and he urged them not to give in to what people say about them.

“If you’re on the receiving end of gossip, don’t let that keep you down,” Stefanick said. “(School is) a little bubble. Once you graduate, it pops.

“It doesn’t matter where you’ve been, what you’ve done,” he emphasized. “All that matters now is where you go from here.”

Sarah Elliott, 14, of Centennial, said it was her first time attending the purity rally. The event, up until about two years ago, was a combined Catholic and Protestant gathering called Pure By Choice. To fill the void created by that event’s demise, St. Thomas More held its own rally last year with 200 students. This year, it opened up the event to churches throughout the archdiocese.

Elliott said she couldn’t wait to follow in her two older sisters’ footsteps who had attended the rally in past years. She said hearing how they spoke and felt about it encouraged her to go.

“I want to promise God to be true to my body,” Elliott said.

Youths in line for pizza talked about the challenges they face in upholding purity.

“There are challenges the Internet presents,” said Will Albyn, 15, of Centennial.

Movies and billboards can also give teens the wrong ideas, said Brendan Boh, 15, of Lone Tree.

“In the society we live in now, we’re exposed to a lot of stuff,” said Allie Johnson, 16, of Lakewood.

“At this age, we do dumb things,” said Rafael Ruiz, 16, of Henderson. “This helps to keep us in line, to stay away from the bad stuff.”

Xavier Venters, 14, of Arvada, said school talk often presents a challenge to stay pure.

“People are always talking about that stuff, and getting bad text messages,” Venters said. “Waiting (to have sex) is just a whole lot better.”

Stefanick cited statistics including those for couples that are devout in keeping faith in their partnerships, noting they have a 1 to 4 percent divorce rate while those who live together outside of marriage have an 80 percent divorce rate.

The devout couples he said, “look to their Maker” when it comes to looking for a spouse not to magazines for advice and fashion models to look for the love of their lives.

Talks detailed sexually transmitted disease (STD) statistics and showed videos of youths being faced with hard choices.

“A parent will know if their kid is ready to hear someone talk about sex and STDs,” said Sue Frank, a high school youth minister at St. Thomas More. “This is not just about having sex. It’s about knowing who you are as a child of God … and how you permit others to treat you. Everyone needs to hear about the difference between being loved and being used.”

David Tschumper, director of Youth Ministry at St. Thomas More, said students were asked to turn off their cell phones during the rally.

“They were really respectful to the message,” Tschumper said. He said the opportunity for the teens to attend Mass together added to the rally.

Stefanick closed with some Scripture before prayer and live music began, saying, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

Purity Resources for Teens

Web site: www.chastity.com
Questions: e-mail  Chris.Stefanick@archden.org

Upcoming Event

Fifth Annual Pure Fashion Show: Catholic modesty program for teen girls ages 14-18
When: 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. May 2, Grand Hyatt Hotel Imperial Ballroom, 1750 Welton St., Denver
Tickets: $35 before April 20; $40 after.
Information: 720-482-3573 or  dpfkate@live.com.
Web site: http://www.purefashion.com/cities/denver/fashion_show