By Veronica Ugates

Libya, whose economy is dominated by oil, forms part of the vast Northern African Plateau extending from the Atlantic to the Red Sea. About 90% of the population lives in and around the coastal cities, especially Tripoli and Benghazi. Veronica Ugates has been living there for two decades now. She wrote for Misyon a few years ago and now she shares with us once again how she and her family are doing . . .

Veronica Ugates

When our daughter was about 14 we started to feel the lack of social life for a teenage girl. We observed that the youth program of the Church had not pushed through due to many hindrances, one of which was the lack of personnel. So we offered our services and reactivated the St Francis Youth Ministry in October 2002.

Having only enthusiasm but no experience, my husband researched on the internet for a comprehensive program for the young and scoured the bookshelves of the church for any material that could help us.

Portraying the life of St Clare

Youth center founded

Slowly but surely with God’s grace, we found friends who might not have had time but who supported us financially and with whatever talents they could share. Filipino and Canadian friends in Tripoli gave money to buy musical instruments, CDs, a microphone stand and indoor games such as darts, chess and table tennis. Mrs Nini Jaramillo served as our music mistress. Dra Corinelia Moreno was our resource person in giving lectures on the physiology of the developing adolescent body. Meanwhile the youth, especially the Pakistanis, helped in painting and renovating the youth center that Bishop Giovanni Martinelli OFM gave for our use. They also made the table for table tennis. My husband provided the formation materials and served as speaker while I functioned as the general coordinator for speech, drama and whatever else that needed doing.

We started with about 36 Filipino teenagers, augmented later by 12 Pakistanis, an Armenian and a Gambian who got interested. So far we’ve participated in the candle-lighting ceremony of Christmas 2002, sponsored a youth-parent acquaintance party in celebration of Family Week in January 2003, presented the Via Lucis or ‘Way of Light’ at Easter 2003, and joined in the 100th anniversary of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart on 1 June 2003.

St Francis Youth Group

Coping with change

Many Filipino members went home to the Philippines for their college education and we thought the center might lose its attraction for them. If everybody went home there’d be no more members. But we didn’t stop being there for them. Some Arabic youth also found their way to the center.

Easter Celebration

On 8 August, three days before the feast of St Clare, we dramatized excerpts from her life. We also presented the Joyful Mysteries on 15 August, Assumption Day. We have also participated in a concert for the feast of St Francis. We had Saturday rehearsals and formation sessions every Friday.

In search of truth

After one of these presentations a young Pakistani approached me. He brought the Bible and asked where he could find the greatest commandment of God. I explained that Catholics hardly ever memorize the Bible chapter and verse but that we try to live the life that it teaches. I asked him to look for the verse instead. He found Mk 12:30, ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ When he pointed it out to me I said ‘yes,’ not knowing what was to follow.

He then asked me, ‘What is heart?’ I replied that it’s not really the organ of our body but our will. He then asked, ‘What is will?’ I answered that it’s our decision-making ability. For example, you’d prefer to lie in bed and not go to church but your will makes the decision to go. Then, ‘What is soul?’ I told him that Catholics believe it’s the part of you that presents itself to God when you die. We leave our physical body behind and present to God only our spirit or soul. Another question, ‘What is mind?’ ‘It’s our intellect.’ Then, ‘What is intellect?’ ‘Our ability to decide whether we’re doing right or wrong.’ ‘How do you know you are doing right?’ I told him that the right decision is reached with the grace of God. ‘What is grace?’ ‘It’s the gift bestowed by God on those who follow His teachings.’

The answers

I thought the questions would never end but we finally reached the last, ‘How did you know all these answers?’ ‘Firstly, because God gave me the grace to be able to answer your questions; secondly, I read a lot because the Pope said that ignorance is the enemy of our Catholic faith; and thirdly, because I had anticipated that I might have to answer such questions from a smart person like you.’

Until then I hadn’t realized that adults often for granted simple things that the young consider