Getting The Youth Back in the Church!

[NextElement]

I myself am a youth (18 years old) who has recently found his way back to the Church. I wholeheartedly believe that many fall away right after Confirmation, and many who get confirmed don’t really believe in the Church or even a God at all! It’s sad, but I knew several who only got confirmed because of parental pressure.

It’s simply a problem of being the world’s biggest church: You’re going to have a ton of cradle Catholics who don’t really believe, and their kids won’t really, believe, and so on. Some are suggesting changes to make the Church more accessible to youth… I say no. The Church shouldn’t change, us kids should!

However, I recently visited a Mormon church and was very struck by their youth program. They give kids titles in their church, which I think make greater accountability to the child’s actions. They of course have their mission program for kids graduating high school to travel the world and preach their message (an opportunity I would jump at, if only Catholics had something similar!), and had youth events almost every night for kids in their ward. I think the reason they are so successful with these things is becaus they are mainly a church of recent converts, who don’t just “go through the motions” like some cradle Catholics do. These people really believe and practice what they preach. Just something to ponder I suppose…

 

[TimothyH]

Give them a solid and sound understanding of philosophy so they can proper understand the preamble of the faith. How can they believe in the supernatural dogmas in this hostile world without even being able to defend the existence of God? Teach them solid principles of thought.

Some people are not scholastics but monastics, and couldn’t give a hoot about philosophy. St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Hildegard of Bingen, St. John of the Cross - these were not philosophical theologians but mystical theologians, and are all doctors of the Church.

The quickest way to get me out of the room is to start talking about philosophy. Shoving philosophy down people’s throats isn’t the solution.

-Tim-

 

[Charles12]

Some people are not scholastics but monastics, and couldn’t give a hoot about philosophy. St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Hildegard of Bingen, St. John of the Cross - these were not philosophical theologians but mystical theologians, and are all doctors of the Church.

The quickest way to get me out of the room is to start talking about philosophy. Shoving philosophy down people’s throats isn’t the solution.

-Tim-

How many times has a young person like myself been asked about the rationality of the existence of God? Can a young person answer that? No. The rest of the faith crumbles after that point. Get rid of a solid understanding of such questions in this age and what are we left with? Sentimental rubbish. We might as well be atheists.

 

[AllSeasons]

How do we get the youth back in the pews to hear the Good News?

How about hearing from the perspective of a young person.

Here’s the video youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=G0gN3tYQt-4#t=0

As a young person I found this video to be great and by far it was Tradition, that played a key factor in helping me, fully understand the faith.

I’m not a “youth” anymore, but compared to a lot of people who go to the Latin Mass, I’m still considered “young.” I’m getting married in a few months, and I intend to bring my future children to the Latin Mass (in communion with Rome).

 

[jmcrae]

Well tradition was/is very appealing to me as a young adult. I’ve noticed that a lot of devout young Catholics are absorbing as much tradition as they can.

I agree with you 110%. I cannot remember anything of import from CCD.

I can’t remember most of my schooling in any subject at all, yet somehow I know how to read and write, I can do math, I know how to think, and I can function effectively at work.

It’s not what you remember about times long gone that tells you what you learned, but what you take for granted as “I’ve known this all my life” that tells you what you were taught.

It seems to me, given the depth of your passion for your Catholic faith, that your CCD was probably pretty good - even though you don’t remember very much of what was taught there.

 

[balto]

I can’t remember most of my schooling in any subject at all, yet somehow I know how to read and write, I can do math, I know how to think, and I can function effectively at work.

It’s not what you remember about times long gone that tells you what you learned, but what you take for granted as “I’ve known this all my life” that tells you what you were taught.

It seems to me, given the depth of your passion for your Catholic faith, that your CCD was probably pretty good - even though you don’t remember very much of what was taught there.

There is truth in what you are saying, but unfortunately not much of it came from CCD. It was only because I managed to find myself acquainted with a couple of devout college friends in our KofC council that made me realize that there was something really important about Catholicism that I was just not getting. Most of my knowledge is self taught. I thank you for your kind words though . I hope that I am getting better!

 

[balto]

Some people are not scholastics but monastics, and couldn’t give a hoot about philosophy. St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Hildegard of Bingen, St. John of the Cross - these were not philosophical theologians but mystical theologians, and are all doctors of the Church.

The quickest way to get me out of the room is to start talking about philosophy. Shoving philosophy down people’s throats isn’t the solution.

-Tim-

Respectfully, I disagree and think Charles12 has a good point (btw, not sure what happened to his posts, he was arguing that young people should be given philosophical defenses of the faith). While it’s true that not everybody responds well to philosophy and rationalism, it has a very rich tradition in the Catholic faith and can be used to defeat the typical “religion is for stupid people” argument. Basic Catholic philosophy and apologetics should be part of a catechism curriculum to give people reasons for believing articles of faith to be true.

They make us take a wide array of different classes in high school and college. I didn’t care too much for creative writing, literature, and art, but I at least have an appreciation for those things. The same could be said for philosophy and apologetics for other people.