I have a few confessions to make.
I'm under 40 years old, and I say the rosary. I'm a Magnificat subscriber, I
attend daily Mass whenever possible, and I recite the Divine Mercy novena. My
mother found out about a local parish that offers a Latin Mass on Sundays. We
went, and I really enjoyed it. I watch EWTN several times a week and clicked the
"like" button on Father Barron's Word on Fire page on Facebook. I guess I'm a
traditional Roman Catholic. When I was asked to discuss the spirituality of
young Catholics, my first reaction was that I wasn't sure that my spirituality
was representative of many other young Black Catholics. But whether I'm in the
minority or not, I do think it's time that my voice is heard. Psalms 42:7 tells
us that "deep calls unto deep," and in Luke 5: 4 Jesus tells the fisherman to
"put out into the deep water, and let down your nets for a catch." Where young
adults are concerned, the Church seems to be afraid of the deep water.
As a child of the 70s and 80s, I can remember
spending the whole day outside, rotary dial phones, and having to wait for
Saturday mornings to watch cartoons. Now we have hundreds of television
channels, can maintain contact with friends near and far through social
networking, and have internet access in the palm of our hands. But our constant
connectedness is sometimes a double edged sword: we have so much information at
our fingertips, but in many ways, we have been handicapped by it. We are
inundated with news crawls, news briefs, texts, tweets, and single-phrase status
alerts that provide information devoid of depth. Many of us rarely have lengthy
conversations about anything, especially life, faith, morality, or our spiritual
journeys. The Church has an opportunity to fill this void with its 2,000 years
of rich spirituality, tradition, philosophy, and wisdom. Unfortunately, like
many of the elders in our families and communities or old photo albums,
familiarity with our Catholic tradition has bred contempt, so we often ignore
it.
Some of the most engaging homilies I've ever heard
have placed the gospel readings in the context of Jewish tradition or culture,
Church teaching, the writings of the Doctors of the Church, or the experiences
of some of the Church's many saints. The Church needs to realize that the youth
and young adults of today really do crave depth and knowledge of the faith.
Homilies need to have context and richness, not just humor and experiential
anecdotes. The Bible contains many references to wisdom (II Chron 1:11-12,
Psalms 37:30, Prov 2:6, Ezra 7:25, I Cor 12:8, James 1:5, Eph 1:8b-10), but
wisdom can only be gained through knowledge (Num 24:15-16, Psalms 119: 66, Prov
1:4, I Cor 14:6, II Peter 1:5-7). The Catechism of the Catholic Church
reinforces this mandate to seek knowledge and wisdom in spiritual matters in
more than 50 passages, including Paragraphs 133, 184, 683, 1096, and 2751.
Clearly, we as Roman Catholic Christians have an obligation to grow in our faith
through study and meditation as well as prayer, praise, and worship. But must I
search endlessly for Catholic websites to provide some guidance in my study and
bemoan the loss of the Church History textbook I used in school? Must I wander
the religious book stores looking for catchy titles or names I recognize? I
think the Church can do a better job of providing opportunities for young adult
Catholics to deepen their faith. In closing, I have the following suggestions:
- Balance evangelization efforts with adult formation. It's great to bring
more people to the Church, but we must not overlook those who are already here.
Our education in the faith should not end with the sacrament of confirmation,
and the culture of our parishes need to reflect that. I believe that part of the
reason many young people leave the Church is because they don't realize the true
value of what they're leaving behind.
- Survey the young adults in your parish to find out what they would like to
study. You may be surprised at what you find out. Make efforts to incorporate
the survey results into your adult formation program (or begin to build one
based on the parish's interests). Encourage young adults to participate in the
development of your formation program. Ownership contributes to responsibility.
- Establish a required reading list or "Book of the Month" selection to be
posted on the parish's website. The books can incorporate readings from the
Doctors of the Church, Catholic classics, and current Catholic writings.
Organize facilitator-style discussion groups with guided reading questions and
journal writing activities to encourage full and active participation.
- Finally, be creative and flexible with adult education efforts. Weekday
parish-based classes, whether during the daytime or evening hours, are often not
feasible for working parents whose children have homework, practice, or other
obligations. Consider forming neighborhood based adult education groups and
Bible studies or explore online options such as discussion posting groups or
live chat.
A church is an extended family, and everyone has a
level of responsibility. The elders must pass on their wisdom and faith
experience, and young adults must be willing to receive it while taking an
active role in building their own faith. Jesus promised in John 15:1-8 that if
we refuse to grow in our faith in Him, we will wither, be thrown into the fire,
and burned. Stagnation is the enemy in any relationship. Our parishes will only
thrive as we grow in our individual relationships with Christ.
cmlacour@gmx.com.
