September 25, 2009
OYAYA
Our senior citizens: The past of the Church
BY STEVE DABROWSKI, Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry
I am tired of older Catholics being pandered to because they have been members of the Church their whole lives. It is time for them to move over and make way for future Catholics!
If you’re an older Catholic, you’re probably fuming right now. Good. Keep that righteous anger as you read on.
People often make similarly ridiculous comments about our youth. “Oh, our youth are the future of the Church,” they say, “and we should have opportunities for them to play games, eat pizza and watch movies together.”
I hope young people are fuming now, too!
I find it sadly amusing when I hear people wonder why young Catholics often drop off the face of the earth after Confirmation. I have a simple answer: They do this because it is precisely what most parishes prepare them to do!
Our youth are NOT the “future of Church.” They ARE the Church now: A confirmed 17-year-old is no less a member of the Church than a confirmed 70- year-old. So, why do so many parishes offer great funding for some ministries and then consign our youth to a $5,000 line-item in the budget? We invite adult groups to the parish center while teens are given moldy furniture in water-spotted basements. Ah, yes, this is a great sign to our youth of what they mean to the Church: “Get in the basement with the bugs, and we’ll listen to you when you’re working and have money for the collection.” Shame!
Michael Warren, co-author of the new book, “Awakening Youth Discipleship: Christian Resistance in a Consumer Culture,” writes, “Most youth ministry is reduced to a program . . . rather than an organic statement of [a parish’s] inner life.” Catholic authors of the book “Effective Practices for Dynamic Youth Ministry” similarly wrote, “A parish must be willing to experience the change that comes with being a community with active youth members.” Youth ministry is not about having a “program,” it is about the commitment of an entire parish family to integrate and embrace the substantial gifts that youth bring to a faith community. A parish must be willing to realize and act upon the fact that authentic youth ministry will mean change, challenge and growth — a growth that will bear fruit for the entire parish.
There are simple ways of integrating youth. Does your parish have a teen position on your parish council? Do young people serve as lectors and eucharistic ministers? Do high school students teach in your grade school and junior high religious education programs? If your parish is not integrating young people into the entire range of parish ministries, then it is failing the youth God has placed in your care.
Don’t worry, these youth won’t cause a fuss. They’ll hang out in the basement and be out of your hair following Confirmation. And they may never have the chance to be one of those older Catholics who should be inviting them to an authentic Christian life.
What a shame.