Yesterday, I hung out with two very different groups of youth—
In the late afternoon, I drove our eighth grader, Madeleine ,to a week-long camp, called College for Kids. “CK”, as it is affectionately known by the campers, has been a source of great joy for Madeleine over the past four years. Anyone who spends even a little bit of time with Madeleine is bound to hear some reference to a person she met at CK, or a song she learned at CK, or some hilarious thing that once happened to her at CK. As we drove onto the campus, registered, and got her settled into her room, we repeatedly encountered many of the friends that Madeleine has made at CK through the years. She knows a lot of people, the surroundings are familiar, and she has a comfortable sense of how the camp is structured. She feels a sense of belonging at CK. She is home at CK.
And then there’s the other group.
Earlier that same afternoon, I ran a catechetical session for our parish Confirmation candidates, youth who are around sixteen years of age. The subject of this session was the Catholic Mass. I began the session by leading them through an exercise where I asked them to identify the first five things that come to mind when they hear the words “Catholic Mass”. Here is how they responded:
As you can see, for every occurrence of words like “spiritual” or “unity”, you can find words like “long” or “confusing”. When the activity began, I begged the teens to be honest with me and I think they were. To me, the completed poster puts on clear display a young Church growing in faith and understanding. Many of them are on their way to lifelong discipleship, but their roots are not yet deep enough. While there are youth who are more confident in their faith, many lack a connectedness to Jesus and the Church. They lack belonging, for now.
One of the biggest differences between the CK and Confirmation teens is the way they feel about their particular institution. The CK kids know they are part of something special. They love nearly everyone involved in the program and trust that the program leadership will not only plan an amazing experience for them, but genuinely has their best interests at heart. Because of this, the College for Kids campers exude joy. Conversely, I think many of our Confirmation teens, and indeed many Catholic teens in general, do not yet feel that same sense of community. This is the Church of their parents and grandparents, and since it is the developmental job of an older adolescent to push back against convention and authority, accepting this Church as their own can take years. Because their relationship with the Church is still being forged, older teens are reluctant to be outwardly joyful about their faith. The confidence just isn’t there yet because the commitment has yet to be made.
What we have as Catholics is greater than a week-long academic summer camp. We have Jesus! We have the Church! We have Tradition! We have Truth! We have what young people need, but often fumble delivering to them. We can learn from experiences like CK, though. CK is well-supported, well-planned, and well-executed. The CK staff is so excited to see the campers and to accompany them all week long. These staffers ensure that each participant has what he or she needs to maximize their experience. CK features smiling, joking, and laughing. Joy is on full display.
Can your church and/or school be classified as places where joy lives? If not, that has to change immediately. If so, does that joyfulness extend to how we walk with our youth?
-Shannon