World Youth Day: 2008

Fr Anthony O’Gorman, School and Youth Chaplain writes

As we celebrate the installation of a new Archbishop our minds are drawn to the future of our diocese and the Church in general.  

At present I have the good fortune of performing my Priestly ministry as a secondary school teacher in St. James Catholic High School, Colindale.
It is a ministry that gives me great hope for the future of our Church.  I am always amazed to find that the students I teach actually think about their faith and about God. 

We have many talented theologians amongst our youth, the big challenge we all have is how to keep young people interested and involved within their parish communities.  How do we develop the interest evident in the classroom and channel this into the life and work of our parishes?   One of the main things we can do is to make room for our young people to contribute: encouraging them to take an active role in the liturgy as readers, servers and Eucharistic ministers or in other areas of parish life such as catechetics. We might usefully ask ourselves how we as parish communities listen to the voice of young people; have we asked what they want or invited their participation in key bodies like our parish council. One of the most powerful influences on young people are their peers – young people teaching young people.   Where we open one door, for one young person, others are more likely to follow.

As a teacher, I am constantly reminded of young people’s ability to do great things. The challenge for us, as parishes, is to help make this possible and where initiatives fail to try and keep on trying. It is a risk but surely it is a risk worth taking? The Holy Spirit is at work within our youth, the challenge we have is to acknowledge it and allow them minister to one another and to our communities.  The future of our Church is in safe hands, our job is to encourage and guide those who hold the key to the future.