Church must invest in young people

BY ANTHONY GATHAMBIRI IMC

As the Church prepares for World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro, my mind turns to Catholic youths who have dropped their faith. There certainly is a need for a ministry to lapsed youth. Today many youngsters attend the “church” of Beyoncé or Justin Bieber. We have a generation that misses Mass when Manchester United is playing Liverpool, and a society that adores pop-stars like Rihanna more than their Creator.

“The Christian communities must acknowledge the need to invest in their youth. But how much of the parish budget goes into the youth ministry? What spiritual nourishment do young Catholics receive, besides the Mass? “

But young people who are spiritually well-nourished could be the best proclaimers of the Gospel. The witness of a young person has a massive impact on the society, more so than an old person.

Archbishop William Slattery of Pretoria once said that an attractive young doctor is a much more effective media presence on medical issues than an elderly, unmarried bishop.

The Christian communities must acknowledge the need to invest in their youth. But how much of the parish budget goes into the youth ministry? What spiritual nourishment do young Catholics receive, besides the Mass?

The many talents of the Catholic youth remain mostly untapped—but where they are nourished, their apostolate blooms. Families and Christian communities should midwife those talents by encouraging and engaging them.

Before the youth can put into practice Jesus’ command to “go out to the whole world and proclaim” to their lapsed friends, they have to be connected with Jesus. An evangelising youth must have a deep intimacy with Christ. One cannot give what one doesn’t have. Discussion of Scripture should be included in youth meetings, tailored to their needs.

In Africae Munus, Pope Benedict VXI spoke to the African Church, saying that “we need to help young people to gain confidence and familiarity with sacred Scripture so it can become a compass pointing out the path to follow, teaching them to love the Gospel and to share it, especially with their peers, and thus to become authentic and credible messengers”.

We have a huge responsibility of grooming our youth to the leadership positions in our churches. We can begin doing so by delegating important tasks to them. Let them make announcements in church, appoint them to be the master of ceremonies at our functions, appoint them heads of groups such as the ushers, and let them take part in liturgical and even financial committees.

Young people love sports. They talk sports; they dream sports, dodge Mass for sports. Just as schools have sports programmes, parishes need sport programmes for the youth. This could be a cheap way of finding our lapsed brothers and sisters, and one that builds community.

Let parishes, through their youth, reach out to those lost in drugs and other lures of the secular world. They can win back their friends hooked on drugs by regarding them not as criminals but as friends in need of help. Church communities can play a huge role in this by initiating programmes to help youth who are abusing drugs, and by accepting them.

Young people can be agents of peace and reconciliation in Africa. In Kenya the young people from Tangaza College, the Catholic University of East Africa and Kenyatta University went around preaching peace before the elections in March, which was feared would reproduce violence akin to that which followed the 2008 elections.

Politicians manipulate young people to foment political and ethnic violence; the Church should invest in young people to foster peace and community.