“DISAPPEARING BRIDGE OVER TROUBLE WATERS”

By John N. Will

Many of us who are involved in the church, especially African American Young Adults in the Catholic Church, know that the church does a lot of good work for our youth, seniors, married couples, and ordained. But, I have noticed over the past few years that some in the church are concerned that when our youth become young adults between the ages of 17 to 45 we tend to lose them to other denominations or just the world. Many of the young adults who are single are not identifying with the church, the rubrics of the MASS, etc. Please allow me to give a little background on how the Holy Spirit has continued to strengthen me to a higher level of spiritual faith that I now carry with me each day. I am a Minister of Service at St. Gerard Catholic Church. Being a Minister of Service has allowed me to understand how to set up for MASS, know some of the priests and deacons on a more personal basis, and how they have come to serve God in their vocation. It also gives me a chance to minister by praying with others and taking parishioners the Eucharistic when they cannot come to MASS. I am also a member of the Knights of St. Peter Claver and Knights of Columbus. I attend weekly Bible Study and go to retreats at least once a year. All these activities help me to see where and what ministry the Lord is calling me to be in as a result of the Holy Spirit working in me to strengthen my spiritual faith.

I grew up in a Catholic family in which we were all encouraged (smile) to go to MASS every Sunday and on holy days, which all of us did and still do today. I have been wondering over the past few years how to get and keep young adults involved and connected to the church. While we can sit and point the finger at others or the leadership of the church, we have a responsibility ourselves to minister to youth and young adults to keep them in the church. One of the ways we can minister to young adults is to share our experiences with the Lord, tell others about our church, and how He has directed and still directs us each day. We have to put our best foot forward by having the right attitude about church, having a relationship with God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) and others. We have to share that Godly relationship with others that we know and don’t know. God sends so many people into my life to give me encouragement and wisdom. Now is the time for me to share a little of myself with others.

The Bible encourages us to be childlike in our openness to God, but not be childlike in our thinking. In our thinking be mature. If we think of a child, he/she is usually very trusting and teachable, quick to learn and listen. Also, they are full of energy. However, most children make very quick or hasty decisions, without fully thinking them through. Most of the time, with our elderly, they have a lot of wisdom and insight on things of God, but don’t have the energy to share that knowledge and wisdom with us. Most of our elderly don’t understand the street slang that youth use which creates a communication barrier between the elderly and the youth. I believe that our elderly do know most of the issues the youth are facing, but most youth will not communicate how they feel with the elderly and that’s what creates the problem of having a communication barrier. That’s where we, young adults, can come into the picture to bridge the gap between our youth and the elderly.

Remember, we were children ourselves not too long ago, so we have some insight into what the youth of today are going through, thinking, etc. We also have some insight into information that the elderly want to share with us by giving us their wisdom and insight into where we need to take our lives. Since they are older than us they know the situations that we have been through. Through language, we need to find a way to connect the energy of the youth to the elderly to strengthen their relationship with God and one another.

Some of the things God has been leading me to is developing my relationship with Him through His Church, such as going to MASS every Sunday. I encourage you to attend other Catholic Churches in your area every once in a while to get a different flavor of appreciation for the difference between your Catholic Church and another church. It’s good to develop relationships with other believers. Also, start praying devotional prayers such as the Rosary, Eucharistic Adoration, Bible Study, etc.. I have personally been involved in the “Life in the Spirit” Seminars and they haven awakened my Spirit to the importance of the sacraments of the church. Remember the Bible says that Samuel (1 Samuel 3:1-10) was not familiar with the Lord (His voice), so he thought it was Eli, the priest calling him instead of God. Further along in the scripture it says that Samuel became familiar with the Lord and His voice, “Samuel grew up and the Lord was with him, not permitting any word of his to be without effect.” “The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh; He manifested Himself to Samuel at Shiloh through His word” (1 Samuel 3:19-21). Now we know that the word was the spoken word, the written word and could have been the Incarnate Word (JESUS).

If you are not familiar with the rubrics of the MASS or not quiet sure of what we believe, start taking basic classes at the seminary like Introduction to Theology, Introduction to Spiritually, the Church and its life, etc, or go through the RCIA classes to better familiarize yourself with the Lord’s Church. Also find a spiritual mentor that can give you Spiritual direction like Eli mentored young Samuel to help Samuel become familiar with the Lord’s voice. Read your Bible daily by reading the Bible itself or consider alternative options like reading the daily reading from MASS or daily devotions books. Pray often asking God to let you know His voice. This as you may know only occurs by spending time with Him in His Word, MASS, prayer, and His people. We also remember the statement made by Cain to the Lord, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” (Genesis 4:9), the answer to that question is, “Yes, I am my brother’s (sister’s) keeper.” We are made to be in communion with God, the HOLY TRINITY, and each other. So we need to encourage one another to keep coming to MASS, keep up our devotions, get involved in our churches, schools, families, etc. We have to keep sharing the faith with each other through our families, friends, and strangers so we all can be there in Heaven when He says, “WELL DONE, MY GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANTS”!