Young Life leaders are fond of saying to kids, “There is a
God-sized hole in your heart,” meaning that human beings were made to have God
at the center of our lives. St.
Augustine said this in another way late in the fourth century, “You have made
us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”[1] However and whomever says it, we all
understand the basic wisdom here.
There is an inherent reciprocity between us and God. We were made for relationship and
things are going to be not quite right until we come together as we were
designed.
The same could be said for the Church. Paul talks about the Church as one body
with many parts, each made perfectly to operate in relationship with the other
parts. Even those parts we think
are less important are actually, in truth, “indispensable” and worthy of
special attention.[2] The point is that no part is
disposable, each plays a crucial part in the body of Christ.
Could it be that Young Life and the Catholic Church were
made for one another? Is it
possible that at this point in history, the Catholic Church needs something that
Young Life is uniquely (but certainly not solely) equipped to offer?
Recent research suggests this is so. According to the Pew U.S. Religious Landscape Survey of
2008, only 30% of Americans who were raised Catholic still practice their faith today.[3] Less than 20% of U.S. Catholics attend Mass
each week.[4] Nearly four times as many adults have
left the Catholic Church as have entered it, most by the age of eighteen.
What is interesting about this data is the reason why Catholics are leaving the
Church. It is not because of
controversial issues like abortion, birth control and same-sex marriage. It is not because Catholics, by in
large, take issue with Church teaching.
The CARA report reveals that our Catholic brothers and sisters are
“simply drifting away from the Church.”[5] Their spiritual needs are not being
met. Sherry Weddell of the
Catherine of Sienna Institute notes that “the majority of Catholics in the
United States are sacramentalized but
not evangelized,” meaning they have
not been called into an explicit personal, growing relationship with Christ.[6]
Young Life’s unique mission is to call adolescents into a
personal relationship with Christ and help them grow in their faith. In other words, it is uniquely equipped
to evangelize and disciple. Young Life’s bread and butter is reading the signs of the
times, building real relationships, earning the right to be heard and calling
kids to a life-changing, ever-growing relationship with God. It excels at the very things the Church
is struggling with.
Could it be that God is calling us into relationship? Has the Lord set the stage for an ecumenical
gift exchange where each part of the body of Christ contributes toward the
common good? I pray that we might
have eyes to see and ears to hear.
[1] St.
Augustine, Confessions, I, 1.
[2] 1
Cor 12:22-23.
[3] Pew
Research Center, “U.S. Religious Landscape Survey,” The Pew Forum on Religion
& Public Life, Feb 2008.
[4] Center
for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA), “Sacraments Today: Belief and
Practice among U.S. Catholics,” CARA, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., cara.georgetown.edu/sacraments.html (accessed
October 25, 2012).
[5] Committee
on Evangelization and Catechesis, Disciples
Called to Witness: The New Evangelization, United States Conference of
Catholic Bishops, Washington, D.C., 2012.
[6] Sherry
A. Weddell, Forming Intentional Disciples:
The Path to Knowing and Following Jesus, Huntington, IN: Our Sunday Visitor
Publishing, 2012, 46.
I think we need to be very careful about saying that one program is "uniquely" equipped to meet a need. No one program will reach every person; we need multiple venues of outreach, evangelization, and catechesis -- not a one-size fits all approach. Young Life may reach some young people (and I know people who received great spiritual nourishment from YL); for other people it will not meet their spiritual and religious needs. (I know other people -- myself included -- who were unimpressed with Young Life in high school.)
ReplyDeleteAs Cardinal Wuerl noted in his opening address at the recent Synod of Bishops: the New Evangelization is not a program.
Thanks for your comment Jonathan (and good to hear from you!). Yes, I was speaking a bit provocatively here. Young Life is not the solitary answer to the Church's needs! The body of Christ is so broad and expansive, so many complex and interconnected parts - God certainly needs every part to work in coordination under the headship of Christ to continue the work of the kingdom. Yet I find it interesting that the two foci and strong suits of Young Life correspond to the direct needs of the modern Church , particularly here in the United States. Young Life is not a church, nor does it aspire to be. It is not looking to replace anything. But it certainly could help the Church actualize the mission of the new evangelization by sharing its wisdom and working together with Catholics to live into their baptismal calling.
ReplyDeleteI envision Young Life staff/volunteers working together with local parish and diocesan staff to develop home-grown Catholic leadership teams who can more effectively reach local Catholic kids. Your comment about the new evangelization not being a program is exactly right and Young Life can help our local churches (both Protestant and Catholic) to get out of the programatic rut and enter more dynamically and incarnationally into the fabric of adolescent youth culture. As articulated by the Second Vatican Council’s Decree on the Church’s Missionary Activity, Ad Gentes Divinitus,“If the church is to be in a position to offer all women and men the mystery of salvation, then it must implant itself in the same way Christ by his incarnation committed himself to the particular social and cultural circumstances of the women and men among who he lived”(par 10).
Young Life, of course, doesn't have a monopoly on this (far from it) but it has gained some valuable insights by specifically focusing on the evangelization of youth and youth culture over the last 70 years. In the most humble and servant-minded way, Young Life would be willing to share those insights to help Catholic kids live into their baptismal vows, contribute actively in their local Catholic parishes and be the best Catholics they can be!
I so appreciate the distinction you've shared between "sacramentalized" and "evangelized." It most accurately describes the experience I, and many of my fellow Catholics, had in high school. The New Evangelization is a call to educate and empower our brothers and sisters in Christ by first recognizing our relationship with one another and then allowing Christ to work through us so that they might build a relationship with Him. The YL program will be a wonderful tool to help cultivate these relationships! God bless you Michael, and your good work!
ReplyDeleteThanks Tina for your comment. Tasha and I miss you very much! I think lots of Catholics have the same experience you had as a young person. They were well catechized and went through the sacraments of initiation but they missed something essential. Pope John Paul II hit on this in Catechesi Tradendae (On Catechesis in Our Time). He noted the possibility that baptized Catholics could be "still without any explicit personal attachment to Jesus Christ; they only have the capacity to believe placed within them by Baptism and the presence of the Holy Spirit"(CT, 19). They know alot ABOUT Jesus but they've never really come to Know Jesus personally. Such is a problem that I think Young Life staff and volunteers around the country would be so excited to address together with their Catholic friends. Totally committed to honoring the Catholic tradition, Young Life leaders can help local parishes as they seek new and more effective ways to really reach kids with the timeless and life-changing message of Christ.
ReplyDeleteHi Michael:
ReplyDeleteJust an FYI, the Pew Study found did not find that only 30% of those raised Catholic still held onto the identity. It's closer to 68% all who were born Catholic who still responded "I'm Catholic" The issue is that huge numbers of those who held onto the identity in 2007 (when the surveys were taken) seldom or never attend Mass. And as the Pew Forum reports a couple weeks ago, large number of younger, non-practicing Catholics are rapidly dropping the identity altogether. Only about 30% of Catholics attend Mass at least once a month. About 18% are in Mass on a given weekend. The percentage varies widely by generation and the numbers vary depending upon which study you read. About 36% of 18 - 24 year old Catholics raised in the Church as children have left the Church and dropped the identity by age 24.
Hi Sherry! Good to hear from you! Tasha and I frequently refer back to our experiences with CSI. I continue to share your work and get the word out. I was so glad to receive your long-awaited book - it has been a tremendous help already! You're right on the pulse here. I was particularly excited about chapter 4 and your work on the sacraments/disposition. I think I wrote "OMG!" five times in the margins. :)
ReplyDeleteI've edited the post according to your correction. Thank you.
As Young Life takes definitive strides toward the Catholic Church, I'd be very interested in your experience with local parishes and their reception of your work. I really think we are beating with the same heart here.
Blessings in Christ and hi to Fr. Mike!
Michael
Hi Michael (cheers to Tasha):
ReplyDeleteI'd glad you have read the book and found it helpful. Yes, chapter four is one of piece that took us the longest to research and put together. But now we have bishops reading it and buying a copy for every priest and deacons and sometimes lay leaders in their dioceses. Diocesan leaders are also all over it - so the response has been rather stunning. Its been out less than four months and we are on the verge of the fourth printing! And what is fascinating is that Protestants are getting hold of it and reading it and loving it and writing me. My evangelical brother has given it to 7 Protestant pastor friends of his. I'm curious. What do you mean "As Young LIfe take definitive strides toward the Catholic Church"? Is Young Life doing so? Are you still living in Wisconsin?