Last Updated:Friday - 09/24/2010

WCR Letters to the Editor

Youth need new methods

Very early on I came to the realization that the new times require new measures and methods of working with the young population within our Church if we want to bring them back. Unfortunately young people are the most manipulated segment of our society. They become the easy target of every societal structure simply because they do not know how they function.

Being seen by mass-producing corporations as only potential consumers they are being brutally "activated" from very early age to their products. In my understanding, the major task of youth and young adult ministry nowadays is to give the young people the tools that will help them unmask the social and economic structures of society.

Michael Warren, put it well in his book on youth ministry: "In some ways I am suggesting that youth ministry is partly about helping youth to pay attention to the right matters and encouraging in them an appropriately skeptical consciousness about many con artists who seek to deceive them with junk and fakery. It is easy to run trips for youth, to schedule prayer groups, to sponsor socials. Much more difficult is the task of proposing in a compelling way human and Christian ideals by which to direct their energies for a lifetime."

The mistake we make is in our tendency to organize "feel good, "get together," "holding hands" ministries. But this is not about "privatization" of our religion and it is not about sentimentality. It is about going out and changing the world. As youth ministers, we have to go outside of the Church in order to reach the young adult population that does not have the concept of God and religion, which unfortunately is a very common occurrence.

A concept that I have been working on for some time now is how to create for the young people an environment where the idea of God can become. Do not try to lure them with an easy concept of spirituality but rather offer them a constant challenge.

Currently I run six, diverse long-term programs ranging from discussions and lectures on issues concerning moral problems that our society encounters, to art projects such as "St. John of the Cross Concept of the Dark Night of the Soul in the context of the Societal Dark Night."

My Salmon Catch ministry is open not only to the young people of our parish but to every single young adult who would like to take part in what I and my parish offer.

I agree with Father Mireau as I also think it is urgent to combat the crisis that we face when it comes to bringing the young generation to Church.

Ksenia Kopystynska
Youth Ministry Coordinator
St. Dominic Savio Parish
Edmonton

HIV testing decried

The bottom line is very simple. If you have a problem with any of the above, deal with it effectively and very quickly, and do not try to move the problem elsewhere. That does nothing to solve the problem.

I read in the WCR that 75 per cent of our young people do not practise our Catholic faith. Maybe they see the bishops and/or cardinals fail to show leadership to solve problems.

Where I worked for nearly 35 years we were encouraged to deal with the problems as soon as it was discovered, effectively and quickly. The Church's hierarchy would be well advised to do so.

Joe Paradis
Edmonton

Mary's Veil applauded

Quality entertainment of a wholesome kind is a rarity these days. Wholesome entertainment with a religious/spiritual /inspirational content is even more rare.

Not only are the lyrics and artistry of Mary's Veil comparable to the classics, Jesus Christ Superstar and Joseph and His Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, co-written by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber, but the creative theological content of Mary's Veil is even superior in some sense.

There are four Mary's in the play.

At a transitional stage of life, the veil is transferred from a younger Mary to an older one who continues with the same attitude and spirit as the earlier one.

The clever twist in this play is in the transfer of the veil. The message that comes through is that anybody who is capable of adopting Mary's attitude of complete openness to God is capable of receiving the veil, and hence, the role.

Fr. Brian Jayawardhana
Edmonton

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