The Church Young People Want...

The task of building a peaceful world is the most important and most difficult charge of our time. That is what the activist/writer/monk Thomas Merton once said. All around us we witness violence and pain, people pushed to the margins and left there all alone. But what can teenagers do to make a difference?

According to Jesus the answer has something to do with living out of a new reality: a reality that envisions all people--regardless of their skin color, their bank account statement, their religion, or their legal status--as sister and brother, kith and kin. And it has to do with entering into relationships with those living on the margins of our society--the refugee or asylum seeker, the prisoner, and the underserved elderly. But how do we begin to live out this vision in concrete and meaningful ways?

We ought to start hanging out with young people of passion and compassion like Vanessa Luna. Vanessa is a participant in her youth group at St. Jude Parish in New Lenox, Illinois, and is in the process of organizing her youth group for direct action. This action, or project toward peace, bears the inspiring title "Yo Tengo, Tu Tienes," literally, "I have, you have." But the project could also be translated as "I have so you also have," and it is this slight play on words that speaks to Vanessa's vision of forming and maintaining relationships between youth from St. Jude with those living at Su Casa Catholic Worker House in Chicago's Back of the Yards neighborhood. Su Casa's mission is to provide hospitality for homeless Spanish speaking families. They also run a soup kitchen and a large organic community garden.

Vanessa is currently planning a weeklong trip for her youth group to Su Casa over Spring Break. Her aim is to live in solidarity with those at Su Casa, allowing youth from New Lenox a chance to meet families from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, and other Spanish-speaking countries. Having herself spent a week this past summer at Su Casa, Vanessa's hope is that other youth will catch and share a bit of her vision and that the relationship between St. Jude and Su Casa will continue to flourish.

According to Catholic Worker, Stephanie Speicher, one thing first-time visitors to Su Casa learn is that, while they may come with the notion that they have something to offer those living at Su Casa, it is often the other way around. In other words, the supposed recipients of a gift, the "have-nots," actually give gifts of greater value to the "haves." Vanessa puts it this way, "When I first went to Su Casa I thought I was bringing something to the needy. I have a formal education, I'm bilingual, all that. Actually it was the other way around. I needed their gifts. I needed to hear their stories. Their stories show me what God is doing in the world."

Like Vanessa Luna, those of us who follow Jesus want to be about the things that Jesus would have us about. And we certainly have our work cut out for us. But we are never alone. Through the Holy Spirit, God's love is generously poured into our lives (Rom. 5:5). It is this Holy Spirit that is the life force of the Church, advocating for you and I as we bear witness to Jesus and his mission to build a peaceful world. This is the sort of Church young people want: a vibrant community of love living out Jesus' vision in the world.

Catholic Connections

This is what is needed: a Church for young people, which will know how to speak to their heart and enkindle, comfort, and inspire enthusiasm in it with the joy of the Gospel and the strength of the Eucharist; a Church which will know how to invite and welcome the person who seeks a purpose for which to commit his whole existence; a Church which is not afraid to require much, after having given much; which does not fear asking from young people the effort of a noble and authentic adventure, such as that of the following of the Gospel.
--Pope John Paul II

Reflection Questions

Who are some of the people that are able to speak to your heart, to comfort and inspire enthusiasm in your own life?

Join us in our Forum to discuss these questions!