The Office of Catholic Youth in the archdiocese of Toronto was providing a youth ministry training conference full of workshops and teachings (with the occasional meal and praise and worship) to better equip those with the desire to be bridges between teens and the Church.
The outstanding turnout of people of all ages who were so eager is a testament to why it is so important to minister to the youth. One of the speakers, Stephanie Benedetti, said that as ministers, “we want our teens to drop their nets and follow Jesus… to help them move from fishermen to shepherds” in order to empower them as young Catholic leaders. To change the hearts of the young is so important because, as St. Don Bosco said, “If young people are educated properly, we have moral order; if not, vice and disorder prevail. Religion alone can initiate and achieve a true education.”
As a young person, I know that the teenage years are the best time to be ministered to. It’s not that the young mind is easy to sway, but it’s during the teenage years that youth are constantly being attacked by media, peer pressure and the stresses of being a student. So it’s easy for them to become clouded and misled. Their search for reason and truth, acompanied by a desire to be loved and accepted, is strong in their lives, so why not welcome them into a parish community where those emotional and spiritual needs can be met?
Parents worry about school cliques and teen pregnancies, but those pitfalls can be combatted by giving teens the opportunity to grow in a relationship with Jesus. This relationship will allow them to learn that they are always loved.
If young people can get even the slightest grasp of God’s love, we can grow in faith. We will be less likely to be tempted by distractions like drugs or alcohol if we can turn to the examples of Christ that youth ministers strive to represent.
Resources to teach our Catholic faith to young people, such as the Youcat, a contemporary expression of the Catholic faith, make the Good News a good time. In my parish, the Edge and LifeTeen program has been an effective way for teens to learn the catechism while participating in fun activities on a weekly basis through parish ministries, retreats and events.
Mostly, these teens need good Christian role models to inspire them to also be teachers of the faith and become evangelists to their own peers. Like Pope Francis said, “We need saints that drink Coca-Cola, that eat hot dogs, that surf the Internet and that listen to their iPods,” and to help these young people become saints, we need to help them find a home in the Church and open them to a relationship with Jesus Christ.
(Mervar, 18, is a first-year religion and English student at the University of Toronto.)