Do our teenagers stand a chance at being good Catholics

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I found myself near a few teenagers talking amongst themselves. The teen boy was doing most of the talking while the teen girls laughed and egged him on to continue. Another young girl was texting her friends and then got on the phone to further talk. I couldn’t help to wonder if I was like them when I was their age. They seemed oblivious to things of faith and talked of nonsensical things. Mostly of dating and school topics. :banghead: Do our kids stand a chance in this media and technology driven world we live in, I thought? Will we have faithful Catholic teens that will continue on to the priesthood or become sisters and nuns? Let us pray that we will not lose many of our children to the world.
 
This is not a new problem: there have been other times in which Christians, and especially young ones, have lived with a great deal of pressure to be worldly and shallow. St. Teresa of Avila noted with some amount of horror the effect that worldly friends had on her. Yes, we most certainly ought to pray for our priests and religious, both that those of tomorrow will hear their call and that those of today and tomorrow will persevere in their vocations.
 
I hope they do, but it’s becoming increasingly difficult for them to live an morality on any level, much less a serious Catholic life style.
 
Those kids seem like typical teens from past generations, however, the current generation has more technology at their finger tips in which to distract them. I believe that good catechesis and a strong Catholic family life will help to keep some kids Catholic. Many who were faithful in high school will be tempted to stray in college. That is when the biggest attrition occurs. Jesus said that Hell would not prevail against His Holy Church so that means that there will always be people to who he sends His call to religious life and there will always be people who will answer. Don’t worry, just Trust in Jesus. And if you have kids, raise them in the faith. 👍
 
WilT said:
I found myself near a few teenagers talking amongst themselves. The teen boy was doing most of the talking while the teen girls laughed and egged him on to continue. Another young girl was texting her friends and then got on the phone to further talk. I couldn’t help to wonder if I was like them when I was their age. They seemed oblivious to things of faith and talked of nonsensical things. ** Mostly of dating and school topics**. :banghead: Do our kids stand a chance in this media and technology driven world we live in, I thought? Will we have faithful Catholic teens that will continue on to the priesthood or become sisters and nuns? Let us pray that we will not lose many of our children to the world.
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(wheeze) These teenagers! Back in my day…

You wonder if you were like them when you were their age? I don’t know you, of course, but probably. And even if you weren’t, your elders probably thought you were.

My grandfather used to have a fit when my Mom would listen to… wait for it… Ella Fitzgerald. “What kind of God-awful music is that?!?” (wheeze)

Seriously.
 
Don’t know the answer but I will pray for our young men to be able to answer the call to vocations!
 
To use CAF you also have to be somewhat literate with technology, and it enriches and does not detract.

So having technology is fine, and perhaps we wil continue tol have more priests who can reach young people using technology.

It is the spiritual strength and education of the users-not technology itself that is the issue.
And that is true of all things teens come in contact with today in the world.

We are blessed to have great Catholic teens- and we attribute this to a strong traditional catholic education at home and school.
 
The likelihood of a teenager following the faith is more dependent on the capability of their parents than their cellphone.
 
I talked about dating and school when I was a teenager, as most of us probably did. One doesn’t always need to be talking about the faith. 🤷

As an adult I still talk about things unrelated to Catholicism a lot of the time. I’m not sure why that’s an indicator of less faith?
 
The biggest problem IMHO is the websites teens can reach. Home computers can and should be filtered, but cellphones and other people’s computers cannot.
 
Last night about 7:30 I went to Adoration and right in front of me were 3 teenagers really involved in prayer and reading. Two boys and a girl. They never spoke a word to each other and were all deeply involved in their prayer, even prostrating themselves in their seats. They stayed for over an hour. I recognized the girl as the 15 year old of Hispanic descent who had made her Quinceanera last year (the only one ever held in our parish), and was pleased to see that she probably took that event very seriously. I was impressed that 3 15-16 year olds thought that spending a Friday evening adoring our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament was worth their while.

My daughter’s parish has an outstanding and very gifted priest who has developed a very devout and lively youth ministry. He is very “heavily into” Eucharistic Adoration, and recently added a Eucharistic Adoration Chapel to the Church and started having Exposition a couple of times a week, and are working toward Perpetual Adoration. Those kids all go for Exposition and Benediction regularly. My 7th grade granddaughter recently went to Church Camp there and they all spent some time before the Blessed Sacrament every day. She loved it. I have a picture of her and 3 friends kneeling before the tabernacle that her father snapped on his I-phone, and I will treasure it always.

When I see things like this, I am reassured that God is preparing many of our youth to be leaders in the Church, esp. if they have priests and youth ministers and parents who are dedicated so much to preparing them.
 
WilT said:
I found myself near a few teenagers talking amongst themselves. The teen boy was doing most of the talking while the teen girls laughed and egged him on to continue. Another young girl was texting her friends and then got on the phone to further talk. I couldn’t help to wonder if I was like them when I was their age. They seemed oblivious to things of faith and talked of nonsensical things. Mostly of dating and school topics. :banghead: Do our kids stand a chance in this media and technology driven world we live in, I thought? Will we have faithful Catholic teens that will continue on to the priesthood or become sisters and nuns? Let us pray that we will not lose many of our children to the world.
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Yes. Our kids stand a chance when we take a step back and look at them as whole people. Not fearing for the souls of a whole generation based on one interaction with 3 kids.

That said, that scene sounds very typical to me. Something I would have done back then (minus the texting). Though I wasn’t Catholic then so maybe that isn’t pertinent. It also sounds like something my husband’s siblings would have done. Have they all stayed faithful Catholics? No, but 2 of my BILs were very active in the pro-life movement at a young age. One is in seminary. My husband is very faithful and brought me and our 3 daughters into the faith. Another of my BILs is following a similar path to my husband.
 
Hi! Teenager here! 😃 I would say that in our modern culture, it is very, very difficult to remain good, virtuous, and pure before God. Yes, there have been threats such as these throughout in all places and in all times. However, I believe that in this day and age, with the various forms of technology using up a lot of kids’ time and the constant threat of pornography, immorality, immodesty, and impurity, it is very difficult to stay on the path of holiness. This is also a challenge for me.

That is why, next year (senior year for me!), I want to talk to our spiritual director at school, a great priest, about having some type of purity lecture. However, I know that, if not done in a certain way, most of the kids will just disregard everything. If anyone has any ideas on how I can approach this, I’ll start another thread to address the subject!

May God bless you all and all young people! 🙂
 
Teenagers aren’t the worry, it’s college students. Something like a majority of college Catholics no longer practice their faith when they get there. And I don’t think it’s about holding to purity so much, which is absolutely difficult, especially for boys nowadays. Not like if you’re not pure you’re no longer Catholic, forgiven, or destined for heaven, just look at Augustine.

The key is CATECHESIS. I knew that no matter what failings I had that I could never walk away from the Truth, that the Catholic Church is the fullness of it, from the intellectual to the historical to the spiritual. I didn’t have answers to 99% of bible-based objections raised by protestants, but I knew that they could never answer the question of authority, so I knew I could find the answer within the Church by asking. I knew that Mendel, a monk, was the father of genetics, that Galileo was taught by the Jesuits, that Catholic minds have been some of the most influential and most intellectually sound in the history of civilization, and that if Augustine or Thomas Aquinas weren’t atheist then I could never be, for I am no where near as intelligent as they, nor am I prideful enough to think I have all the answers. Your children need to know, going into college, their faith and somewhat how to defend it.

I once read a post of someone who said they went to their first Biology/Ecology/Earth Science lecture, basically a how the world started/evolution lecture, and they said in their FIRST lecture they became an atheist. HUH?!! Probably someone who’s parents told them the world was 6k years old and everything in the Bible was factual.

Your kids need to know that they will be confronted in college and that they will have to find the answers. That covers the intellectual and historical context of the Church. Spiritually, you’ve got to go to confession at least once a month, bring them with you, make sure their father goes, if he’s Catholic.

Let them catch you praying. They need to know that it’s not just something that’s forced on the family but something their parents do individually.

Catechesis, confession, personal, not just family, prayer. Give them scapulars as gifts, give them Augustine’s confessions, Aquinas, Thomas A-Kempis books to feed their intellect. 👍
 
I’m very concerned about my 14-almost 15 year old niece. Due to issues at the Catholic grade school at her parish during 7th grade, she went to 8th grade at a public school. Now she basically is getting her way in going to a public high school this fall (just because its closer to their house is one reason). She also thought she could SKIP Holy Day mass (Ascension Thursday) because she had some sort of volleyball camp at the same time (luckily my sister said, NO, you are NOT missing Mass).

Do any teenagers of this day and age know how to communicate withOUT a cell phone? You know…no texting? That’s maybe what the OP is talking about. And its good to know there are some teens that actually do Eucharist Adoration. Unfortunately, if there is little catechesis at home outside of CCD or school year religion classes, you get teenagers that rebel and/or don’t know their faith.
 
Richard_White said:
Hi! Teenager here! 😃 I would say that in our modern culture, it is very, very difficult to remain good, virtuous, and pure before God. Yes, there have been threats such as these throughout in all places and in all times. However, I believe that in this day and age, with the various forms of technology using up a lot of kids’ time and the constant threat of pornography, immorality, immodesty, and impurity, it is very difficult to stay on the path of holiness. This is also a challenge for me.

That is why, next year (senior year for me!), I want to talk to our spiritual director at school, a great priest, about having some type of purity lecture. However, I know that, if not done in a certain way, most of the kids will just disregard everything. If anyone has any ideas on how I can approach this, I’ll start another thread to address the subject!

May God bless you all and all young people! 🙂
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At our church, the teens attend Theology of the Body lectures AND they have a youth group led by a priest AND a Christian drama group. Many teens from different parishes attend.

As a teen, I remember the attempts at both church and public school to be relevant and hip for the kids. I always cringed at those attempts; they seemed to “play down” to us and not let us attempt our own more mature responses.

Best of luck and grace to you.
 
No, I don’t think they stand a good chance of remaining Catholic. At it stands now, the Catholic Church is losing 85% of those being confirmed each year with in 7 years. (Per Matthew Kelly’s website: 1 million confirmed each year) Only 25% of Catholics attend Mass regularly. Yes, the vast majority of today’s teen will be leaving the church unless we change the way we evangelize and engage them. Recently, I read the book, “Rebuilt” I applaud them. They have done a great job of reaching people and bringing them into the life of the church. However, in your average parish there is not a strong vision for the youth. Teens and young adults are leaving in droves.

As for the behavior you witnessed, I would not judge it on one observation. I did silly things as a teen. Most of the Catholics I know, who now place very strict restrictions on their own kids, had sex before marriage and were wild in their youth. My oldest is a teen and he models a great deal of what the gospel stands for. He is remarkable. I’m grateful for the non-Catholic youth group he attends. A solid, life giving youth group can make a huge impact on a teen’s life.

As for vocations, I do not strongly encourage my kids towards becoming a priest or a nun. That is best left to a later time in life when they have learned how to live in the world and experience life. Too many priests I meet today have it all correct in terms of liturgical rules but don’t have a great sense of being human and relating to people. I just wonder if they would have benefited by spending some time living in the world.
 
CB_Catholic said:
Last night about 7:30 I went to Adoration and right in front of me were 3 teenagers really involved in prayer and reading. Two boys and a girl. They never spoke a word to each other and were all deeply involved in their prayer, even prostrating themselves in their seats. They stayed for over an hour. I recognized the girl as the 15 year old of Hispanic descent who had made her Quinceanera last year (the only one ever held in our parish), and was pleased to see that she probably took that event very seriously. I was impressed that 3 15-16 year olds thought that spending a Friday evening adoring our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament was worth their while.

My 7th grade granddaughter recently went to Church Camp there and they all spent some time before the Blessed Sacrament every day. She loved it. I have a picture of her and 3 friends kneeling before the tabernacle that her father snapped on his I-phone, and I will treasure it always…
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very good news!
 
:knight2:
Richard_White said:
Hi! Teenager here! 😃 I would say that in our modern culture, it is very, very difficult to remain good, virtuous, and pure before God.

That is why, next year (senior year for me!), I want to talk to our spiritual director at school, a great priest, about having some type of purity lecture. However, I know that, if not done in a certain way, most of the kids will just disregard everything. If anyone has any ideas on how I can approach this, I’ll start another thread to address the subject!

May God bless you all and all young people! 🙂
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One of our last Popes, John Paul 11 wrote on the Theology of the Body. I haven’t read it myself but I hear it is a great read for teens and for adults. See into it. It is suppose to be a great book on the human body and sexuality. Look it up in the internet or go to your Diocesan library. Good Luck and my prayers are with you.
 
jediliz said:
I’m very concerned about my 14-almost 15 year old niece.

Do any teenagers of this day and age know how to communicate withOUT a cell phone? You know…no texting? That’s maybe what the OP is talking about. And its good to know there are some teens that actually do Eucharist Adoration. Unfortunately, if there is little catechesis at home outside of CCD or school year religion classes, you get teenagers that rebel and/or don’t know their faith.
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👍
 
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