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Feature News | Monday, March 18, 2024

Catholic school eighth graders explore faith and science at Greater Love Conference

Students learn truths of love, warned about lies in social media and pop culture

Nearly 2,000 eighth-grade students from archdiocesan schools stand and sing Happy Birthday to March celebrants during the Greater Love Conference on Mar. 6, 2024, in Pembroke Pines. At the event, they discussed topics such as Christian Anthropology, Theology of the Body, chastity, and more. The event was organized by the Office of Evangelization and Parish Life.

Photographer: CRISTINA CABRERA JARRO| FC

Nearly 2,000 eighth-grade students from archdiocesan schools stand and sing Happy Birthday to March celebrants during the Greater Love Conference on Mar. 6, 2024, in Pembroke Pines. At the event, they discussed topics such as Christian Anthropology, Theology of the Body, chastity, and more. The event was organized by the Office of Evangelization and Parish Life.


PEMBROKE PINES | About 2,000 eighth grade students from Catholic schools assembled at the Greater Love Conference on March 6 in the Charles F. Dodge City Center in Pembroke Pines.

Organized by the Archdiocese of Miami Office of Evangelization and Parish Life, the event brought guest speakers Braden Johnson, Dr. Grazie Christie, and Bridget Hanafin to lead sessions on chastity, Theology of the Body, Christian anthropology and more.

Archbishop Thomas Wenski provides opening remarks and prayer at the Greater Love Conference on Mar. 6, 2024, for the nearly 2,000 archdiocesan school eighth graders in attendance at the Charles F. Dodge City Center in Pembroke Pines. The event was organized by the Office of Evangelization and Parish Life.

Photographer: CRISTINA CABRERA JARRO| FC

Archbishop Thomas Wenski provides opening remarks and prayer at the Greater Love Conference on Mar. 6, 2024, for the nearly 2,000 archdiocesan school eighth graders in attendance at the Charles F. Dodge City Center in Pembroke Pines. The event was organized by the Office of Evangelization and Parish Life.

Archbishop Thomas Wenski also made a guest appearance.

“The most important thing that we have to learn how to do is to love and to remember that love is more than just a feeling, but a decision, a commitment to seek what is right, to seek what is good for one another,” Archbishop Wenski said.

And as Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, he said, so it is our responsibility as Christians to follow his example.

The Greater Love Conference evolved from middle school Chastity Days, previously organized yearly by the archdiocesan Respect Life Ministry. The purpose is to offer eighth graders the Church’s perspective on love and sexuality to counteract the cultural messaging and to serve as a firm foundation before they launch into high school.

 

TRUTH AND SCIENCE

Truth, from a scientific perspective, is what Dr. Grazie Christie discussed with students during her session. Diving into the subject, the radiologist guided students from the beginning of human life at the cellular stage, through the more visible developmental stages of a fetus. Students were amazed as they watched ultrasound footage of a 12-week-old in the mother’s womb.

“For me, even though I do this every day, it never gets old,” she said.

The magic of life begins with sex, she said, which should occur inside of marriage to follow God’s plan in aiding the reproduction of the human species.

“And that’s not a Catholic proposition, or a Christian proposition. That is a cultural proposition proposed by every culture throughout all of history and time,” Dr. Christie added.

Bailey Inman from St. David School in Davie laughs before answering the pop quiz question she volunteered for with guest speaker Bridget Hanafin at the Greater Love Conference, on Mar. 6, 2024. Nearly 2,000 eighth-grade students from archdiocesan schools attended the event in Pembroke Pines, where topics such as Christian Anthropology, Theology of the Body, chastity, and more were discussed.

Photographer: CRISTINA CABRERA JARRO| FC

Bailey Inman from St. David School in Davie laughs before answering the pop quiz question she volunteered for with guest speaker Bridget Hanafin at the Greater Love Conference, on Mar. 6, 2024. Nearly 2,000 eighth-grade students from archdiocesan schools attended the event in Pembroke Pines, where topics such as Christian Anthropology, Theology of the Body, chastity, and more were discussed.

She believes the carelessness of sex outside of marriage over the last 50 years or so has broken that sacred pact, resulting in “terrible consequences” like broken families, sexually transmitted diseases, and unplanned pregnancies which sometimes end with abortion.

So, what should students do? Dr. Christie recommends knowing the facts, the science and the truth.

“Have courage to live the life you were meant to lead. Live it beautifully, cleanly, and decently so that you don’t have to make horrible decisions that you’ll regret for the rest of your life. And encourage your friends to do the same thing,” she said.

 

CHASING GOD INSTEAD OF FAME

Braden Johnson’s session reminded students to be honest with themselves, regardless of what popular culture and social media portray.

“We’re made for so much more than the world can give us. There starts to be this real life, this real fulfillment, this real confidence we have about ourselves as we truly discover how amazing God is and how amazingly He created us,” he said.

Johnson said it took time for him to understand his own worth. Growing up, he had faced burn out and bullying. In the seventh grade, basketball became an outlet, but he often overdid it.

“It was never enough. If I had a bad pick-up game, or a bad tournament, it would hurt. It wasn’t just my confidence in basketball that was hurting, it was my confidence in who I was as a person,” he said.

In high school, he looked to social media fame as his next venture and became friends with two social media influencers. When the influencers included Johnson in their Snapchat story, his Snapchat crashed from the volume of messages. In the limelight of social media, he felt pressured to constantly share content, even while on a family vacation.

“It got to the point within a few months where my chest would just constantly hurt. I couldn’t just enjoy being anywhere,” he said.

By the time he got to college, he felt hopeless.

“It felt like I had tried so many things over and over again that had led to disappointment,” he recalled.

In October of his freshman year, Johnson went to an adoration chapel at a church close to his home. Sitting there in silence, he questioned everything, even the existence of God. Slowly, he felt something stir in his heart. Soon after, Friday nights with the Blessed Sacrament became the norm. Johnson found that those moments with the Lord were more fulfilling than anything he had ever experienced while pursuing social media fame or basketball dreams.

“It was this peace that gave me this confidence to trust that if I really gave my life to Jesus, he would have more for me than I ever thought possible,” said Johnson.

 

IMAGE AND LIKENESS OF GOD

Reflecting on that confidence, Bridget Hanafin asked students, “What does it mean to be human?”

“To be human is to live and breathe. To live the life that God created with nothing but happiness and filled with love,” said Jiuliana Rubio from St. John the Apostle School in Hialeah.

Her classmate, Angeline Avelar, agreed, adding, “I feel like our human purpose is to follow God’s path and help others.”

After the Greater Love Conference held on March 6, 2024, guest speaker Braden Johnson challenged students from St. Michael the Archangel School in Miami, and other schools, to a round of the hand game "Rock, paper, scissors." Nearly 2,000 eighth graders from archdiocesan schools attended the event in Pembroke Pines where they explored topics such as Christian Anthropology, Theology of the Body, chastity, and more.

Photographer: CRISTINA CABRERA JARRO| FC

After the Greater Love Conference held on March 6, 2024, guest speaker Braden Johnson challenged students from St. Michael the Archangel School in Miami, and other schools, to a round of the hand game "Rock, paper, scissors." Nearly 2,000 eighth graders from archdiocesan schools attended the event in Pembroke Pines where they explored topics such as Christian Anthropology, Theology of the Body, chastity, and more.

Perhaps the students already knew some of the answers. But after the morning-long gathering, they had gathered a few additional thoughts from the speakers.

“It’s a very simple question, but the reality is, some days it’s really easy to answer, and some days it’s incredibly confusing,” Hanafin said. “And in a world that we live in today, the “worldly truths” that we get seem to differ a lot from the fundamental truths that we get from our faith.”

To look for answers, she encouraged students to explore scripture where they would find many examples of confidence in God, especially those of Christ.

“The ultimate divine love shared through Christ in his humanity helps us answer this question of what it means to be human and how to live out our humanity freely, totally, faithfully and fruitfully. It’s not just about soaking in what the world has, but to soak in everything that Christ teaches us daily,” she said.

For students, their Catholic education is also helping them along the way, as the primary mission of Catholic school is to form disciples for Christ. But Catholic school education or not, Hanafin reminded the students that the Lord created us all as a sign of His love.

“Whether you are an eighth grader, a senior in high school, or a professional 10 years down the road, your personal identity stems from your creator, from God himself, from being made in the image and likeness of God with dignity, goodness, and worth,” she said. 

Guest speaker Bridget Hanafin leads the session on Christian Anthropology and more during the Greater Love Conference on Mar. 6, 2024. Nearly 2,000 archdiocesan school eighth graders attended the Charles F. Dodge City Center in Pembroke Pines. The event was organized by the Office of Evangelization and Parish Life.

Photographer: CRISTINA CABRERA JARRO| FC

Guest speaker Bridget Hanafin leads the session on Christian Anthropology and more during the Greater Love Conference on Mar. 6, 2024. Nearly 2,000 archdiocesan school eighth graders attended the Charles F. Dodge City Center in Pembroke Pines. The event was organized by the Office of Evangelization and Parish Life.


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