WANTED YOUTHS

By Gerald Ong and David Wong

It’s painfully apparent that “church” and “God” are boring concepts quickly losing favour with Catholic youth. “Where are the youths in our parish?” has become a common refrain, and we would be irritated by this constant nagging of older parishioners if we didn’t also notice that half the friends we used to go to catechism class with have gone MIA or skipped off to City Harvest.

So why the youthful exodus? Many who leave say that the church is boring / the mass is boring / the priests can’t preach to save their lives… Some may disagree with or misunderstand the church’s teachings, or perhaps feel that God isn’t answering their prayers and maybe doesn’t care.

It’s easy to lament and condemn, but how many of us actually take steps to seal the floodgates? The key lies in evangelisation.

Our Call to Evangelise

Think of the word “evangelise” and some images come to mind: aggressive members of Protestant churches handing out flyers and hassling people on the streets; a charismatic preacher at a rally.

But the thing is: all of us are called to evangelise. Perhaps you have friends who have left the church or classmates who have never heard about God. The Bible says that “man cannot live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matt 4:4). Being concerned about our friends, we need to help those that we know find God again and spread the Good News to non-Christians.

How do we do that? There are 3 simple steps:

Prayer

The first is to cultivate a habit of prayer. Jesus says that he is the vine and we are the branches (Jn 15:5). As branches we draw water and support from the vine; in the same way, we cannot do anything without God, but with God all things are possible! (Matt 19:26)

Prayer is the foundation of a relationship with God. We can pray anytime and anywhere: before and after meals, before sleep, in the morning when we wake up, before the Blessed Sacrament, in our rooms at home, by reading the Bible… Prayer is just time spent with God.

The most important thing is to be faithful. Sometimes prayers aren’t answered immediately, but each prayer builds your loving relationship with God. One thing to remember is that God is ever faithful (so we should be too), and in all things he works for the good of those who love him! (Rom 8.28)

Praise

The second step is to praise God. It’s strange that we sometimes feel awkward about praising God when indeed he has done many good things for us. God protects us and provides for us; Jesus died for us on the cross while we were still sinners (Rom 5:8). None of us are worthy of God’s grace (Rom 3:23), yet he continues to bless us and provide for us in ways we so richly don’t deserve. There’s no question about it: God deserves our praise.

We can praise God when we attend mass: the mass is the highest form of worship. We praise God also when we read the psalms: the psalms were written to praise God, and when we read them we also give praise. We can also praise God in song.

Another way is to praise God in community. In our church, the youth group Teens Connect holds praise and worship sessions every 3rd Saturday of the month at 7pm in the Music Room (3rd floor). (However, this month’s Praise and Worship is changed to the 30 June ‘07.) The Charismatic Prayer Group also holds praise and worship sessions every Tuesday at 7.45pm in the Chapel. All are welcome.

Intercession

The third step is to intercede for others so that they may find spiritual direction. The story of the prodigal son tells us that God is always waiting for lost souls no matter what. It is a great joy for the angels of heaven when a lost soul returns: Luke 15:31 “… he was lost and is found. And for that we had to celebrate and rejoice”. Christ is always knocking on the door of our hearts and can touch us in many ways, sometimes through our friends.

Intercession is important because God sometimes calls us to pray for others, especially in order to spread the Good News. The Bible is full of incidents where people intercede for one another. In 1 Kings 13:16, “the king said to the man of God, ‘Intercede with the Lord your God and pray for me that my hand may be restored.’ So the man of God interceded with the Lord, and the king’s hand was restored and became as it was before.” When we do not know what to pray for or how to pray, “the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.” (Rom 8:27).

We can pray for others in our own private prayers or together as a group. The Bible assures us that when two or three are gathered, anything we ask for will be granted (Matt 18:19). If you would like to pray in a group, our youth ministry intercedes for others every Sunday at 9a.m. in the youth room and all are welcome.

The need for evangelisation is pressing especially in light of the exodus of youth from our church. We invite you to pray, praise and intercede with us as we hope and prepare to welcome our brothers and sisters into our Christian community.