YOUTH AND CHURCH DEVELOPMENT
INTRODUCTION
Remember
your God in the days of your youth (Ecclesiastes 12:1-8, 13)
Youths
play vital roles in the life of the Church as they are the future of the
church. Learning from the elderly stands out but youth’s contributions have
been shinning and have always been flag bearers of particular Churches. For any
tangible growth to take place in any Christian community, the youth must be
significant in that process of growth. This is the more reason why wise
nations, countries and organization focus more on the development of youths so
that the future of such investments would never be improvised or blind. It is
therefore an imperative for us in the Catholic Church to prepare assiduously youths
for the tasks they would naturally face in the coming future. It is only when
we have nourished our youths that they in-turn develop the Church. The
questions are “what amount of attention do we give the youths and what is the
level of devotion that the youths give to the church.”?
THE YOUTHS IN SOCIETY: C.Y.O.N IN
THE MAZE
The
youths of today have very high ideals, and to deny this would be grossly
unfair. But we must admit that very often these ideals can sour, can be
perverted, can be exploited. Often young people ultimately relinquish their
ideals if they suspect that the situation is hopeless; if they conclude that
nowhere can these ideals be fulfilled. Unfortunately, this is the usual
progression of events today. Disappointments lead to abysmal falls, often to
depths lower than those they condemned when their idealism was fresh. Where
this does not happen, ideals are exploited by false prophets of good. Why is it
that sectarians far from the fullness of truth are able to inspire youth to
make such amazing sacrifices? Yet at the same time, the Orthodox Church,
possessing the fullness of Truth, has a real difficulty in keeping her youth.
Could part of the answer be that in ignoring the high ideals and potential
moral heroism of our youth we have failed to familiarize them with our examples
of such heroism, displayed by our own young, even the very young, who loved
Christ and His Church in past ages?
The
youths are important fabrics in the society. Can there be any society without
youth? Obviously no, then we must see to
it that our youths find their rightful places in the church.
YOUTHS AND CHURCH DEVELOPMENT
Just
as the youths are indispensible in the society, so they are in the church. The
future of any Church can be characterized, pictured or deciphered by the quality
of lives her youths are living. Thus we can say, “let us see the youths and we
will see the future of the church”. As such, youths are centrally involved in
the development of any particular Church and ipso facto the universal Church. There are some necessary
departments that youths should venture if the Church would know any form of
development.
MAJOR ASPECTS THAT THE YOUTHS
SHOULD VENTURE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHURCH
The Liturgy of the Church
The
Liturgy of the church is the first area that we can truly see if there is any
development in a congregation. The church is all about the liturgy and the
liturgy is the church (SC, no 10),
when the worship of any church is porous and bitter, then the youths are dead
and in active. On the other hand, if the liturgy is interesting and lively then
the youths are alive and active. Thus, youths must take it upon themselves to
see to the growth of the liturgy in the parishes and centers. They must
understand the liturgy in the light
of the Church’s teaching and live it in their own cultural manifestations and
experiences. Youths must join liturgical groups such as the Choir, Altar servers
association, Church Wardens, Lectors. E.t.c
The Spirituality of the Church
In
the development of the Church, the spiritual life of the community can never be
compromised. Spirituality is what makes a church- a gathering of the people of
God. Hence, youths must boost the spirituality of the church in ways that would
bring rapid growth and spiritual transformation to the parish. First, youths
must join pious societies and groups like Charismatic, Legion of Mary, Pages of
the Blessed Sacrament, Blue Army, Sacred Heart of Jesus Association and the
likes. The youths of the parish must also be devoted by attendance to Church
activities starting from Mass, prayers meeting, vigils, adoration, e.t.c.
Evangelization
Another
important aspect the youths can develop the church is in the mandate given to
all Christians by Christ himself (Matt. 28:19). Evangelization is at the heart
of the church. Can there be a church that does not preach? The meaning of a
church depicts a voice to the world. Youths
must not leave the work of evangelization to older members of the Church. In
fact, it is the prerogative of the CYON to reach out to the world in the form
or manner the Church has designed for her ministrations. The vitality and
youthful strength is meant to teach Christ vehemently as St Paul and other
scriptural figures did.
Organization
of the Church
Organizations of events and celebrations
in the church must be the function of the CYON. Youths must come up with new
and novel ideas for different programs that the church may want to embark on. The
youths must make contemporary decisions to move forward the Church in terms of
hosting and organizing programs that can move the Church to greater heights.
Church Labour
In
every church, there is need for cleaning and clearing, that is, doing manual
labours. It is the legitimate duty of youths to clean the church and make the
place of God an adorable place of worship. Youths should wear the example from
Solomon, the son of David that built the Temple of the Lord in Jerusalem. Any
work around the Church must therefore be the function of the young people of
the Christian community. And this they must do joyfully and happily- devoting
their youthful life to God and to his works. It is said: Ora et Labora, to work is to
pray.
Helping Each Other: Living in
Unity
Furthermore,
Youths are bound to help each other in the parish; because in helping each
other, the move for the advancement of the Church. We are not equal, we can
never be equal, and some will have more than the other. They must be bound in
unity. Psalm 133.
THE CHURCH AND YOUTH DEVELOPMENT: A
MOTHERLY RESPONSIBILITY
The
relationship between the Church and youths is a symbiotic reciprocity. The Church
is a mother to the youths while youths are children of a loving mother. Just as
the youths have responsibility towards the mother (the Church), the Church also
has responsibility towards the development of her youths. In addition to the
role of our youth, and their own relationship to the Church, we must of
necessity examine the role of parents and family as partners and helpers in the
formulation of that relationship. We will just mention a few.
Training, Teaching and Guiding the
Youth
The
Church has the chief assignment of training, teaching and guiding the youths. Parents
and members of the Church must school
the youths or they will depart from the truth. The words in proverbs tell us
that “train your child in the way of the Lord so that he will not depart from
it”. Most of the causalities we suffer concerning the lost of our youths are
based on the truism that they were never trained conscientiously and diligently
in the Catholic doctrine by their parents.
Supporting the Youth
The
Church must support her youths. It is a must not a choice, why? The Youths can
never stand alone without elderly support. In guiding the young minds, parents,
teachers and pastors must support their children. This support may come
financially, materially, morally, spiritually, socially and the likes. The
Church must come to their rescue in times of difficulties.
Organizing progressive Progams for
the Youth
The
elderly in the church must take it upon themselves to organize progressive
activities to educate and occupy the youngsters. Progressive, fruitful programs
such as: lectures, career talks, health lectures, moral-teaching films and
plays, vocational studies and sharing. Fora were experiences could be shared on
family life, marriage life, professional and vocational life e.t.c.
CONCLUSION
How
can the young remain sinless?. We youths must be close to the Church because we
are at the centre and heart of the Church. We must learn all the things we can
learn when we can learn them. We must also utilize the opportunity of having
priests, seminarians, catechists in our midst to better enhance ourselves in
the Catholic faith and teachings. We are the future of the Catholic Church, the
future of tomorrow, the future of our nation, how do you want this nation to
look like in the nearest future? We must remain steadfast in faith and Love. Youths
listen to God, you are the leaders of tomorrow, try and read your bibles and be
of good reputation.
