Pastoral Plan
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CELEBRATING OUR FAITH,

ENRICHING OUR COMMUNITY,

SHARING OUR GIFTS

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Goal #4 of St. Perpetua Pastoral Plan:

ENGAGE YOUTH IN LIFE & FAITH OF THE COMMUNITY 

                 I want to continue reflecting with you, as I did last week, on the goals of our Pastoral Plan, in particular today Goal #4 which states: Engage youth in the life and faith of the community. While the goal extends to all parish youth from childhood through adolescence, a good deal of the discussion in our parish survey and the listening sessions held by the Pastoral Council centered on teens. No matter what parish you go to or what part of the country you survey, the issue of limited youth participation and youth membership in the Church is ever-present and always challenging.

                 In a study I recently reviewed entitled, “Adolescent Catechesis Today: On the Road to Transformation,” the author states “for very many U.S. teens, religion is important but not a priority, valued but not much invested in, praised but not very describable.” The author then challenges those of us who take this work seriously with the conclusion that “very many religious congregations and communities of faith in the United States are failing rather badly in religiously engaging and educating their youth.”  I didn’t feel good about the report, but at least I didn’t feel alone in the frustration that so many of us in the Church experience when it comes to engaging our youth and teens.

                  For the same reasons you and I probably didn’t like to go to church as teenagers, today’s teen experience lists those reasons and more. The role of parental discipline has less clout than it once did. Parents simply don’t want to fight on the weekend with their children about church. As one mom said: “I have enough tension during the week getting him to study; I don’t want to have another struggle on the weekend about going to church.” Opportunities for social, educational and recreational experiences are far greater and compete with church participation. Athletics assume high priority on weekends with soccer, swimming and other sports taking the Sunday morning time that was once held sacred as time for church and worship. Kids have more money to spend today. They travel more and aren’t bound by neighborhood or geography. They live in very diverse religious and cultural neighborhoods. They don’t go to the same church as their neighbors, if their neighbors and peers participate in church at all. I don’t offer these as excuses, but rather as realities that pull on children, teens and on parents – realities that every parent, parish community and pastor have to face.

                  The strategy for goal #4 states: “Further develop and support volunteers and staff committed to building programs and activities that will engage and inspire our youth.” I think there is great wisdom in this approach. In other words, rather than placing blame on kids for being lazy or inconsiderate or ungrateful to God, the Pastoral Plan looks to the adult community – volunteers and professionals – to pave the way and to become the models of faith for our children and youth. Today’s gospel gave me an insight as I reflected on it in light of Goal #4. In Jesus’ beloved story, there is the youth who rebels, takes his inheritance and goes searching for greener pastures and a chance to sow his wild oats. There is the older brother, probably still a youth or a young man, who dutifully stays at home to work the ranch. The truth is both of them are creeps. The younger brother had no taste for hard work and when the going got rough, he decides to get going back home. It’s hard to tell how much sincerity there is in his rehearsed apology. He’s tired and hungry and just wants to get back in the good graces of the household.       The older brother might be admired for staying at home and working for his father on the estate, but he’s got such a nasty attitude that it makes you wonder if there’s any love in his heart for his father, his work or his family. He sounds like a grudge-carrying ingrate. I don’t think we could look to either of those two as having any sense of maturity or grace or appreciation. Like all teens, the younger son is a seeker; restlessness, dissatisfaction, questioning, rebellion is the very nature of the adolescent faith journey. His father is happy that the boy is eager and lively, hopeful and full of promise, but the kid isn’t accounting for the blind alleys and hard corners of life. His father, like all parents, prays that this son of his will not make any irreparable mistakes before he gets his life together and settles in for the long haul.

                  In that sober frame of mind the father looks to the older son. That son has yet to integrate his work ethic with his heart. We can imagine his father worrying that this son will let life leak away in work and worry, that he will never enjoy the benefits of his labor, that he will grow accustomed to boredom, that he will be satisfied with too little. So the father broods. One son is out of sight, possibly ruining his body, while the son in plain view is dying in mind and spirit. The gospel story is really about the father, about his constancy and his vigilance for his two sons, about his willingness not to give up on either, and his generosity in loving and accepting both, whatever their situation or state in life. It’s the father who holds it together, desiring to protect and to save the children whom his love brought into this world. It’s the father who reflects the heart of God and can give hope to the Church.

                  If we apply the parable to our own families and parish and try to integrate its message, then I believe it’s up to us as adults and up to the parents of all our children to hold the scene together, to be the source of compassionate understanding and vigorous challenge, to be the example of faith. Our children are at various stages of faith development – the littlest ones imitate mommy and daddy, the middle school age love community and being with friends, our junior and senior high members are exploring every aspect of life – tossing out what we as adults have shared with them and trying to decide for themselves which path they will follow.

                  Our youth at every age have many gifts to give to the community. I saw it last week in the bright eyes of one of our students who left to begin studies at Stanford this week. I heard it in the voice of the Eagle Scout describing the creative project he had just completed in our Garden of Learning. I know it in young parishioners who have had to face serious physical traumas and accidents and are doing so with courage and determination. I’ve heard it in young jazz musicians at Stanley Middle School who practice all hours because they love the sound of the music they can make with others. We hear about it in the top-notch athletes in our parish who are being scouted by coaches because of their excellence and skill. There is no lack of youthful energy and God-given capability here at St. Perpetua. The challenge is for us as the adult community to invest a great deal more attention, creativity and resources into our young members, which will really be investing in our own life. The future of the Church depends on it.   

                  Today is Catechetical Sunday, the opportunity to acknowledge and pray for those dedicated volunteers in the parish who share faith with our children. They carry out their ministry in our name. However, we can’t place the responsibility on their shoulders alone. We need more adults who are willing to step up and support the efforts, especially adults willing to work with teens. All of our committees and ministries need to find ways to incorporate our children and teens into their programs. No teens attending Mass should have less than half a dozen parishioners going up to them, asking their name, thanking them for worshiping with us, encouraging them on their faith journey. The more our youth feel connected to you and me, the greater will be their response to God’s call and to the invitation to participate in the life of the Church.

                                                                                                     Father John Kasper, OSFS