Young people are open to the Faith
It is an exciting time to be a young Catholic in Ireland – a time of great opportunity. As a person who works in full time youth ministry, the question I constantly ask myself is how can I make Christ and his Church relevant to young people in this day and age?
To communicate the Gospel in an authentic and dynamic way has always been a challenge to Christians since the time of the early Church. It is important to remind ourselves of one foundational truth – there is always a yearning in each person, a deep void which only God can fill. Convinced of this truth ourselves, we must be convinced that our attempts to spread the Good News carry an extra, supernatural weight irrespective of the modern culture.
Events
In my day-to-day work with Youth 2000, it never fails to amaze me how open young people are to the Faith.
In our events we introduce young people to the basics of Catholicism; the sacraments, God’s love, God’s mercy and the great plan and unique mission that God has for each young person’s life.
The most revolutionary part of it is to communicate that each young person can have a personal relationship with Christ in the context of his Church. This is the ‘something more’ that young people are searching for. This is nothing new but simply an old truth re-told, it is at the heart of the New Evangelisation. The primacy and centrality of Christ, “the way, the truth and the life” is the continuing theme of the World Youth Day addresses of St Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis.
It makes sense that this whole notion of “personal relationship” goes to the heart of what it means to be a disciple of Christ.
To be a disciple is to know Jesus personally.
True disciples bear much fruit because they trust that Christ is using them to renew and build up the Church, here and now. Further, they look at the Church as the Body of Christ and not an ailing institution.
I have met many such disciples, I see the heroic efforts of so many of our young volunteers who are answering the call of St John Paul II to be the saints of the New Millennium – they are modern-day rebels with a cause. They are continuing proof that peer-to-peer ministry really works. It works because these young people make the practice of faith normal and obtainable.
Topical
The rise and decline in vocations is always a topical issue. I have come to see clearly that youth evangelisation and vocation ministry are two sides of the same coin.
We have ample evidence from the US Church to show us that when youth evangelisation becomes a priority, vocations will occur and occur plentifully.
This makes perfect sense as one cannot willingly give up one’s life to follow Christ if one does not know who he is!
In Ireland, it is imperative that youth evangelisation becomes an absolute priority – it simply cannot be any other way. Our youth are our best resource, our future and they deserve nothing less than the truth – Christ.
We need to focus our energies on fixing the roof of the mystical body of the Church and not only the roofs of our many fine structures.
Youth 2000 Summer Festival
Our Summer Festival will take place again this year in Cistercian College, Roscrea from August 14-17.
This is a vibrant four-day celebration of faith for young people aged 16 to 35 with up to 1,100 in attendance last year. We will be putting on 13 free buses countrywide for young people to attend.
We have an action packed programme of inspiring talks, workshops, testimonies, prayer, music and drama. It is peer ministry in action – friendships are made and young people minister to young people over many cups of tea.
This event can be a real gateway for young people into the everyday life of the Church.
When young people are properly evangelised, they naturally begin to bear fruit and become actively involved in their parishes when they return home. See www.youth2000.ie and please support our promotion and fundraising initiatives.