Lack of young Catholics

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I live in a University town. There is a Catholic Church who ministers to the students from the University. There is a mixture of people, some old, some young, but predominately, people in their 20’s and 30’s. Mass times are tailored to fit school schedule. For instance: while school is in session, they have 9 PM candlelight Masses every day of the week. BTW, a very beautiful Mass.

They offer Bible classes, lectures on Catholic topics (lectures are at the University), potluck dinner every Sunday night after the 6 PM Mass (all are invited, just bring a dish), and a lot more.

Since you are in a major metropolitan area, you might look into a similar church in your area.

God bless you.

Asia
 
mathematoons said:
In every parish where I have ever attended Mass, there are childen and teenagers, and then there are the parents of these, and then there’s the over-50 crowd. However, I’m 28, and I never meet anyone near my age. Does anyone else in my age range experience this? If so, what do you do about it? Do you try to make friends with people of different ages or religions? Or do you forget about social circles altogether?
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I have the same issue, I am around your age and it seems as if I am the only one from my age group. It also makes things hard with relationships lol. Why is it so hard to find a girl who is devout Catholic that is around my age? lol
 
Sadly, other than teenagers and children, the only decent number of young people I will see at Mass will be there on Christmas or Easter. Fortunately, the parish associated with the local Newman Center is doing better in this regard.
 
mathematoons said:
In every parish where I have ever attended Mass, there are childen and teenagers, and then there are the parents of these, and then there’s the over-50 crowd. However, I’m 28, and I never meet anyone near my age. Does anyone else in my age range experience this? If so, what do you do about it? Do you try to make friends with people of different ages or religions? Or do you forget about social circles altogether?
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This sounds like my parish!

I just mingle with those older then me. They may be at different points in life, they may have families (while I don’t) BUT they are still my brothers and sisters and I enjoy getting to know them. Most of them have been VERY welcoming and they don’t seem to mind how young I am at all. 🙂

So, I suggest, make friends with the older members of your parish! You might be surprised at how welcoming they are if you make the first move.
 
nickybr38 said:
This sounds like my parish!

I just mingle with those older then me. They may be at different points in life, they may have families (while I don’t) BUT they are still my brothers and sisters and I enjoy getting to know them. Most of them have been VERY welcoming and they don’t seem to mind how young I am at all. 🙂

So, I suggest, make friends with the older members of your parish! You might be surprised at how welcoming they are if you make the first move.
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My experience is very different. Older people in my parish (and every other one I’ve been to) aren’t interested in me because I’m too young. In some ways, I’m mature for my age, but in other ways, not so much.

I’m just glad I’m not called to marriage. I can only imagine how hard it would be to try to find a devout Catholic woman who is also a suitable marriage partner!

It’s not even that I need a friend, since I have a close relationship with God. It’s just that I would like someone I can connect with on the faith level, if that makes any sense.

But if that’s not part of God’s plan for me, then I need to shut up. 🙂
 
CB_Catholic said:
When I was about 30 with two young children, I made a Christ Renews His Parish and a Cursillo. I made many friends there, and now I am 63 and still have many of the same friends. I am in a Group Reunion with women I have been sharing Christ with for close to 30 years. We have grown in our faith and love of Jesus and the Church together. God has truly blessed me.

That is one suggestion I have to make. Cursillo is still going strong in the Catholic Church, and many parishes are re-introducing parish retreats such as CHRP. Many of the people making them are in the late 20’s to 40’s age range.
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Okay I had to look up Cursillo and I’m still not sure what it is. Is it Catholic?
 
Choliks, I believe the 5-day Ignatian retreats are far more efficacious. 🙂
 
choliks said:
Agreed. I’ve undergone the Ignatian retreats and it’s life changing. However, I was responding to Truelight’s question. 🙂
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Oh, right, oops lol 🙂

Yes my first Ignatian retreat was amazing - and each since has been as well, but I think the first marked a drastic change in the spiritual tempo of my life to date lol.
 
I’m 23 and live in a city away from my family while I attend grad school, so I often attend mass on my own every Sunday. (Not that I’m complaining though, finding a seat for one is much easier than finding multiple empty seats when the church is packed). I’m one of very few young, unmarried, childless Catholics who regularly attend mass.

Even though I live in a college town, I chose to make a nearby church my parish, because, for various reasons, I didn’t feel like the catholic church on campus was a good fit for me. That and I LOVE my parish. The priests are all fantastic and I figure its better to go where I am spiritually fed and will keep going back, rather than trying to force something that’s not there, even at the expense of not meeting a lot of other young Catholics. So, in the end, I guess my experience has been a little different from everyone else’s since I had the option.

I’ve signed up for a CRHP retreat which will take place next February. I am really looking forward to it. Hopefully, I’ll meet some women close to my age who are serious about their faith.

As far as meeting a good Catholic man … While I would like to, I try to remember to be patient and trust in God’s plan for me.
 
archangel04 said:
I have the same issue, I am around your age and it seems as if I am the only one from my age group. It also makes things hard with relationships lol. Why is it so hard to find a girl who is devout Catholic that is around my age? lol
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I hear you. I’m a 26 year old single girl, and it seems like consecrated virginity might be my vocation.:o
 
Deo_Gratias42 said:
I hear you. I’m a 26 year old single girl, and it seems like consecrated virginity might be my vocation.:o
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Trust me it’s esier for girls to find someone in this world than it is for man to find a woman, men are esy to “convert” for a woman haha! 😃
 
Deo_Gratias42 said:
I hear you. I’m a 26 year old single girl, and it seems like consecrated virginity might be my vocation.:o
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Try going to where there are men of the calibre you like.

If all you do is work, lunch, commute, eat, sleep, work, lunch, commute, it doesn’t leave much opportunity to fnd a man.
 
RogerDeCourcy said:
Try going to where there are men of the calibre you like.

If all you do is work, lunch, commute, eat, sleep, work, lunch, commute, it doesn’t leave much opportunity to fnd a man.
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Why are you assuming so much about her? Maybe she’s tried to find a man, but can’t find any devout Catholic men her age. It’s not very charitable to criticize like that, especially based on your own assumptions of someone you don’t even know.
 
RogerDeCourcy said:
Try going to where there are men of the calibre you like.

If all you do is work, lunch, commute, eat, sleep, work, lunch, commute, it doesn’t leave much opportunity to fnd a man.
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What if she works in a high traffic location where she meets plenty of young men? 🤷

In my job I’m meeting single men my age ALL THE TIME… problem is, they’re just not interested. Ah well!
 
I realize that I’m late to the conversation, but I’ll chime in.

As a Catholic in my twenties I felt alone at my home parish for a long time. I felt like I must be strange because not only was I one of the few in my age group attending mass, but I wanted more than my parish offered (benediction, adoration, available confession times, stations on Fridays).

When I went to grad school I was put in a house with 3 Catholic undergrads. Two did not practice. One introduced me to the extraordinary form of the mass. Not only did I find what I was looking for in availability of rites beyond the mass, but I found a parish full of people in my age group. I immediately felt invited and welcome to be a part of that parish family. It was also easier to fit in with people that I can better relate to.

I recently had a conversation with my aunt who is a nun, and subscribes to what most people on is forum would call a more liberal school of theology. She took her vows in 1960 just before the council. She asked me why I though my generation was so attracted to the more traditional theology and rituals. I’ve come up with this theory:

I was in grade school towards the end of the era where religious education focused more on social justice and change than Catholic basics, now the schools teach a hybrid of both, because of this my generation was poorly formed in the faith and customs, basic knowledge of the Bible, and all around education in why Catholics do what we do. It is this lack of understanding of the faith that drew people of my generation in one of two directions:

One: We were seduced by protestant denominations because we were unable to defend Tradition when confronted with basic protestant bible verses such as; Matt 23:9, Mark 7:8, Matt 6:7, 1 Tim 2:5, and the like.

Two: We educated ourselves in Catholic doctrine through resources available to us because of a longing for understanding of why Catholics do things that to an outsider may seem a bit strange. This individual education drew us toward a more traditional understanding of the faith and a longing for all of the graces that God has relieved to us.

There are of course a certain percentage of people from this age group that were either raised in a traditional parish or were educated by their parents, so they received this type of conservative education from the get-go.

Thoughts?
 
alwayslooking said:
One: We were seduced by protestant denominations because we were unable to defend Tradition when confronted with basic protestant bible verses such as; Matt 23:9, Mark 7:8, Matt 6:7, 1 Tim 2:5, and the like.

Two: We educated ourselves in Catholic doctrine through resources available to us because of a longing for understanding of why Catholics do things that to an outsider may seem a bit strange. This individual education drew us toward a more traditional understanding of the faith and a longing for all of the graces that God has relieved to us.
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Three: They embraced the Catholic social teaching and downplayed the Catholic moral teaching as they were taught.
 
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