This weekend, we welcome the Youth 365 Fundraiser in the Commons, with and for our parish Youth Ministry movements of Life Teen and EDGE.  As you probably had a chance to hear from one of our Teen Disciples speaking at the Mass you attended, I am amazed and inspired by the active faith lives of our young people, who are jumping into youth ministry opportunities headfirst and giving it their all.  The Life Nights, multiple retreats, summer trips, service, and social opportunities have all been formational in their lives.
Your support is clearly making a difference.  Teens live in a cluttered world—school, homework, extracurricular activities, club sports, tournaments, early college classes, practice exams, family vacations, and so much more.  It easily can seem like there is room for little else.  By way of offering quality and effective opportunities in which to discover and grow in their personal faith lives and community, we have the unique opportunity to offer our young people a different path—a path that leads them to Christ, truly present, in the Word, the Eucharist, and in one another.  The simple, one-time contribution you make by way of committing to one of the envelopes on our Youth 365 Wall this weekend will ensure and help these quality opportunities to continue for and with our youth over the coming 365 days.

In many ways, it will be these teens who will be the next new evangelization, in the church as a whole. While the tenets of a faith unite us as faithful Catholics, this coming generation of Catholics is very different, both in their spiritual needs, as well as in their interests.  There are countless studies which have now taken a deeper dive into this over the last couple of years.  Much of this has been shaped through the ever changing culture around us.  For example, the young people of today never experienced the local parish to be the most prominent ‘central hub’ of sorts for community life and activities.  Today, there are so many other opportunities elsewhere for fun, fellowship, and entertainment.  For many in Generation Z, weekly Sunday Mass and active volunteerism in a parish has not been something insisted upon by family.

In their spirituality, teens often turn to their faith as a place of solitude and rest from an overly busy society and life.  A popularity of retreats, Catholic devotionals, most notably Eucharistic Adoration, and various meditations of scripture has become evident among the teens.  They care deeply in global causes and in service which will help those less fortunate.  While their concern for human dignity is the same, their passions for how they serve and what groups they attach themselves to may look different.  As with many things, the key to calling our young people into a deeper discipleship and activity within the parish is built on relationship.  This is achieved through a constant dialogue and interest in their personal and spiritual lives.  It is then when the teens open the door and empower us to invite them into deeper ministry in the church.  Like most of us, if a complete stranger contacted us to do something or help with something, our human nature might think twice, or it may be more tempting to say we are too busy, rather than if it were a family member, neighbor, or a person you know well and trust at the church.
In the many years I have spent working with teens, I am always blown away by their genuine desire and hunger for the faith.  They are not afraid to tell you they want to know and learn more.  They are not afraid to ask questions or to tell you what they think.  They long for the mystical nature and tradition of the Catholic Church, as there is a sense of mystery and beauty that Catholicism offers, which they cannot and will not find elsewhere. They have experienced the world, and they are exhausted by it.  They see their Catholic faith as something out-of-this-world, and indeed it is.

If you have ever even thought about how your faith and witness can be the difference in a young person’s life, I ask you to consider joining our Core Team for either high school or middle school.  We have had approximately 35 adults consistently involved last year.  In a parish our size, I know there are so many more out there in the pews with a call to serve.  (Contact me for details.)  While there are plenty of differences between the young Catholic generation and their parents and grandparents, together, we pray and believe the Creed we recite each Sunday.  There is so much our young people want to know and want to experience in their faith lives.  You are the key.  Your monetary support will be a tremendous and necessary help in keeping the movement going, but it is your personal support of leading teens closer to Christ—the support of being present, personally mentoring, and caring for the salvation of the souls of our young people­­—which will ultimately hit our heavenly goal.  That support is priceless.