Mission field youth

This week, Bishop Jan de Groef, a member of a missionary order, reminds us that all the People of God are called to be missionaries, to be “the salt of the earth”. At a time when vocations to the traditional forms of missionary service in the consecrated life are in decline, Bishop de Groef’s call is timely.

The missionary field has changed fundamentally in the recent past. Where once missionaries left their homes to convert people who had not heard the Good News, today the message of Christ’s love and sacrifice must be communicated to many of those who have heard but not embraced it.

It is true that the Southern African region has not abandoned God. Mass attendance in our region is, by and large, still encouraging. Yet, there are many brought up in the Catholic faith who are abandoning it, for other churches or none.

The Church’s missionary apostolate must reach out to these “lapsed” Catholics. The starting point for that must be to identify the reasons for which such people leave the Catholic faith, and, if possible, address them on these terms.

An increasingly important mission field is the youth. Now more than ever, young people are subjected to a cacophony of mixed messages. The Church competes with many influences that place a premium on the pursuit of selfish interests and instant gratification.

For many young Catholics, the Church and its teachings are irrelevant, its liturgy unattractive, and its community too judgmental. These sentiments may well be induced by a modern culture that is at odds with Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular.

At the same time, the Church cannot helplessly blame external elements; sometimes the liability resides in its inability to understand and engage with the youth.

Alas, not every parish has a youth group as vibrant as that of Good Shepherd church in Phoenix, which is featured in this week’s issue, and not every diocese has a youth vicar as dynamic and imaginative as Fr Thembelani Ngcobo of Durban, who is using the so-called “new media” — Internet and cellphone technology — to minister to the youth and build community with them. In doing so, he reaches out to meet the youth on their turf.

The media are becoming increasingly vital in the Church’s missionary efforts, as Pope Benedict acknowledges when he calls on its wider and more effective use within the Church. Once it was necessary for missionaries to travel long distances to spread the Good News. In the age of instant communication, missionary activity can be conducted, at least to some degree, from a computer or even cellphone.

Though they have the capacity to build community, the innovations of technology cannot replace personal contact, of course. Young people especially must be personally engaged.

They must be catechised in ways that make sense to them. There are many commendable programmes which parishes can use, such as the British Youth CaFE or the US-based Life Teens. (The latter has been introduced, apparently to good effect, in the archdiocese of Durban.)

No amount of exemplary youth ministry will guarantee that young Catholics do not abandon the faith of their childhood. However, a good Catholic grounding — including an appreciation of the Mass and the unique sacrifice of the Eucharist — will help to lay the foundations to which these people may return at a more mature stage in their lives — often when they start families of their own.

For this to happen, the Church’s catechetical efforts must be so persuasive as to compete with the rival influences of secular society.

This is our missionary challenge today.