Transcript New - ACU
Youth Ministry Today & Religion of the Heart Roadmap A. How youth are changing B. New ministry for today’s youth based on Religion of the Heart C. Discerning those called to leadership D. Learning to be disciples Everyone knows that St. Alphonsus’s “Religion of the Heart” was a great gift to the Church of his time: Catholic piety was frozen by fear of Hell; Alphonsus said: “Whoever prays is saved” He used music, devotion to the humanity of Jesus, and to Mary, to restore hope. Today, a different pastoral crisis, & challenge to faith (especially among young people)… What do you see? A. NEW YOUTH? Effect of social/cultural changes on Catholic faith in Western countries 1) In the West (France, Australia, Canada, USA) after 1960 Large declines in no. identifying as Catholic, Mass attendance, belief and morality; religious vocations 2) What do you see in your country? Think of young people today in your home parish, and those you meet in the parish you work in: How are they different from when you were young? What are the differences in how they believe, how they live their faith? ASIAN & AFRICAN SOCIETIES & CULTURES ARE CHANGING! Changes in society since 1960: e.g. higher standard of living for many; more affluence; larger middle-class… Changes in culture More widespread and better quality education? Stronger sense of freedom / initiative? Influence from: USA, other Western cultures? “From obligation to consumption”: the market drives towards: image (fashion, style); pleasure (food, sex, holidays); success (achievement, money) Less value placed on religion, community, care for others, respect for elders, traditions YOUTH CULTURE IS NOW GLOBALISED! Youth be; The are “individualised”; you are the self you create/choose to self is sacred; life is about developing/realising your self Each person’s freedom & autonomy are inviolable Values are each person’s choices; must not be imposed; morality is relative: there are no absolute rights and wrongs for everybody; only you know what is right for you The only truth in personal matters is what is true for you in your own experience We each make our own meaning; life has only the meaning you give it; it’s okay to pick and choose your beliefs without having to accept the teachings of your religion as a whole Is Facebook an addiction for some people?? Narcissism -In its extreme form, narcissism is a ‘personality disorder’ and difficult to treat; -a less extreme form of narcissism is shaping entire cultures -strong focus on image, appearance: fashion, hairstyles, body treatments -’Selfies’ -Facebook -In USA, breast augmentation surgery for teenage girls increased 55% between 2006 & 2007, when parents began giving it to daughters as a graduation present. (Manne, A. The life of I. Melbourne: Melb Univ Press, 2014.) What is “Religion of the Heart” And how can it help the Church resolve this crisis? A student told me his vocation story… Remember when your sense of being called to be a Redemptorist took hold & it became the thing you wanted most in your life? THAT was Religion of the Heart! Aim of ministry is to assist youth to become seekers / disciples, as you did. Pope Francis on Religion of the Heart “We cannot understand the things of God only with our heads, we need to open our hearts to the Holy Spirit too…” “Are we still a Church capable of warming hearts?” “Ordinary people always have room to take in the mystery. Perhaps we have reduced our way of speaking about mystery to rational explanations; but for ordinary people the mystery enters through the heart.” Heart knowledge -personal: the way you know your mother; the way the lover knows his beloved; -comes from experience -‘fire in the belly’ -shapes character & life -determines who we are & where we are going The Christian of the future “The Christian of the future will be a mystic (that is, one who has experienced something) or he/she will not exist at all” (Karl Rahner) In the past, many could ride as “passengers” in the church, depending on the faith of others In today’s secular environment, only a faith that is Religion of the Heart can survive. Let’s listen to a song expressing “Religion of the Heart” It’s based on the Gospel account of the raising of the daughter of Jairus (Mark 5:21–43, Matthew 9:18–26, Luke 8:40–56). Composer, singer, guitarist: Don Francisco – an American evangelical Christian. Got to tell somebody.ppsx **For more on Religion of the Heart, and how we use symbols, stories, liturgy, music and art to pass on a heartfelt faith, see my website. C. Discerning those called to leadership New team members: The Groucho Marx principle: Don’t accept anyone who asks to join the team Choose senior and junior leaders based on your experience of them in ministry “SENIOR LEADERS” Start with 3-4 of known ability Recruit from school staff, parish staff, parents of teens Invite others on retreat weekends with juniors and select those who show ability to join the team. Be careful! 8-10 are enough Don’t just “start a youth group” – you are then limited by the capacity of those who come. Run a series of weekend retreats for Catholic boys and girls from Year 10 in different schools. Identify about 30 who are potential leaders: bold, smart, fun, with at least a little faith. Invite them to come on a leadership weekend, where the Gospel is preached strongly. You might get about 20. At the end of the weekend, invite them to join a leadership team to evangelise other youth. It will mean them giving up about 5 weekends a year to act as leaders on retreat weekends for others, and a Saturday or Sunday afternoon or evening once a month for team training and retreat preparation. They will also have to pay the venue fee to attend retreat weekends. 8-10 junior leaders is enough. D. Leading youth to discipleship Religion of the Heart in process Tradition: within a culture and a community; learning its stories, carefully performing its rituals; Quest: the seeker is on a quest – a journey in search of God; Way: there is a necessary path for the journey; one does not invent one’s own Guide: a guide/guru/ director/soul-companion whom one obeys is essential; otherwise – we deceive ourselves Initiation: starting on the Way “I don’t need the Bible or the Church or the priest. I decide for myself what to believe and how to live” Hindu proverb: “Anyone who is his own guru Has a fool for a disciple” Initiation Christian scholars now realise that initiation deals with fundamental processes of human and religious development, and that the process of coming to Christian faith also requires initiation. TRIAL (ORDEAL) challenging tasks to strengthen the aspirant, to increase desire INSTRUCTION IN HEART-KNOWLEDGE SELF-EXAMINATION Instruction / discipling is at first totally experiential – how to do rather than what to think; right doing comes first; then right feeling; right thinking follows last; self-knowledge, through telling and re-weaving my broken story heard and so finding healing, leads me to repentance (moral conversion) Growing -- being really INSIGHT Generation Y (b. 1980-94) seem to have a uniquely low level of trust in sources of guidance other than their own experience. For Gen Y, insight seems to arise through transformative personal experiences: recovering their sense of wonder and mystery, learning to recognise the presence of God in everyday life, through reflection on key life events in which transcendence is encountered. Initiation: Trial takes you to the “edge” INSTRUCTION -- for boys Richard Rohr’s cross-cultural studies of initiation rites find that all of them really centre around five lessons, five great truths a boy must know in his heart and must feel in his flesh if he is to be a man. The boy must be taught: that life is hard that he is going to die that he is not in control that he is not that important that his life is not about him MINISTRY & MISSION AS DIALOGUE Dialogue as basic missionary method. Enter into others’ language – soul of the culture. Fourfold presence promoted by FABC (Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences): -dialogue of life: minister must enter into youth’s world of social media; witness & share Christian lifestyle; LISTEN as they tell and re-tell their story. -dialogue of action: share Christian ministry: ‘catalytic experiences’-- immersion in the situation of the poor and powerless; encounters with others who are experiencing life-crises; exposure to faith in struggle, in poverty. -dialogue of theological exchange: developing critical consciousness vis-à-vis secularism, scientism. -dialogue of religious experience: reflection on own personal religious experience: discovering the God who is already present in their daily life Dialogue of life The basic learning of any tradition is experiential: learning by observing, by doing as others do, by listening to the stories of others and of the community, by sharing and re-shaping one’s own story. Not so much by being ‘talked at’, ‘catechised’. The Christian tradition is passed on through the experience of living in a Christian community, engaging in Christian practices, hearing the Christian story. For those in their late teens or older, there is great benefit in living for a time with a Christian family or group of young adults. There they learn by observation and imitation how Christians pray together, how women are respected, etc. Dialogue of Life 2 Some aspects of the lifestyle of such a Christian community will be counter-cultural for Generation Y: Sharing possessions and responsibility for one’s life – a gradual surrender of the ‘total autonomy of the individual’ Ethical reframing of personal relationships: with parents, friends, boyfriends / girlfriends, partners, children – abandoning the ‘total relativism of values’ and coming into obedience to God and to the Gospel Dialogue of action: sharing in ministry ‘Catalytic experiences’– exposure / immersion in the situation of the poor and powerless; encounters with others who are experiencing life-crises; exposure to faith in struggle, in poverty. Ministry of like to like – ministry Youth from youth to youth trust only those close in age to themselves ‘Junior leaders’ take the front-line positions in ministry ‘Senior leaders’ prepare and resource juniors Dialogue of action 2 Leaders best learn how to minister by observation and imitation; Training of young leaders in psychology, “group dynamics” etc. is not only unnecessary, but frequently counterproductive; They lose their naivety and humility; see themselves as “experts”, “trained leaders”, which puts them at a distance from youth. Dialogue of religious experience Reflection on own personal religious experience In our research, the kinds of encounters with transcendence in which people most often reported a sense of wonder or mystery, or a sense of the presence of God were: A death in the family or among friends The birth of a child; or a special moment with a child Experiencing Listening An the beauty of nature to music answer to prayer. Only the minister who has developed his own Religion of the Heart can help others to discover and develop theirs! SEE “How to nurture your own religion of the Heart” (website) You will find many more resources on Religion of the Heart & Youth Ministry on my website at Australian Catholic University: http://tinyurl.com/cssr2016/ RH Music Collection on USB available Discussion New youth / new ministry: religion of the heart / discerning leaders; discipling / ministry What are the issues for you in helping youth to become disciples and leaders?