Young people and the Church......a match made in Heaven...

I’ll be right up front about this.

I love kids. I love seeing them at Mass. Big ones, little ones, toddlers and teens. Seeing them at Mass is a sign of life for a parish. Any parish.

I don’t get upset with a fussy baby, or an antsy toddler. No problem. As hard as it may be to believe, over sixty years ago I was one of those. As years went, I was also that angry preteen who knew everything, and at Mass looked like he’d rather be going to the dentist, you know, with one of those spacey looks. It’s true, it’s true.

I try to seek out young parents who struggle with their newborns and toddlers at Mass. I thank them for coming, and for making the effort to see that those kids come and check in with Jesus and Our Lady. It’s tough....so many are so self conscious, and I know it would be a whole lot easier to lay in bed on Sunday morning and pacify the kids with cartoons. So many times mom has been working at a job, too, during the week and between that and child care is just exhausted. I get that....I was a parent with young kids once, too. If they get fussy, well, deal with it. I can sit elsewhere, if it’s detracting. Mass isn’t about me. It’s about Our Savior, right up there in that Tabernacle. If He likes to see them there, and He does, then it’s not my call. He makes it very plain in Scripture how He feels about kids.

I’ve been teaching our faith to kids, and adults for quite a few years now. I’ve taught everything from 4th grade up. I love being around kids. I’m going to tell you something....these kids are smart! But, they have it tough, too. Not so much in material things, they have the gadgets, iPhones, and whatever else is out there. But, in the important things they have it much, much tougher than I ever did. They are exposed to things I never dreamed about.....popular culture, and peer pressure is much more negative than I ever had to face. These kids are forced, to grow up, way too fast.

They ask questions. They question their faith. They question the teachings of the Church, abortion, euthanasia, the Sacraments, the Virgin birth, the Resurrection, all of it. I like that. I encourage that! Because, they are going to have those questions, regardless. So, you’d better be prepared to answer them......and not just ‘because that is the way we’ve always done it’, but by explaining to them the personal relationship they can have, and that those teachings don’t just exist for the sake of rules, but that Christ really, really, has their best interest at heart. He has the best interest of the kid next to you, too. He loves all of you that much!!! So, I’m not afraid to break it down, and answer those hard questions in a way they can understand. I don't mind batting it around. I tell them that in spite of all the stupid things kids can do, Christ totally loves them, and looks out for them, each one. Individually. And, to top it off, He has His Mother doing the same!! I tell them that the Church that Christ started is like a big tool box, Christ gave us everything we need to stay close to Him in it. It’s amazing. He thought of everything!! But, He gave each of us free will. He didn’t make robots.

One of the most gratifying things in my life, and, a true gift to me, happened a few years back. In the early nineties, I remember a CCD class for young teens on a Sunday night. We got into the abortion debate, I took questions, and explained why the Church cannot ever support the taking of an innocent life. It got pretty deep with a couple of kids, but also you had a few kids with that spacey ‘I don’t wanna be here’ look, looking out the windows, doodling, the rest of it. When it was over, I remember wondering if anything I said will be remembered tomorrow.

A decade or so later, a young lady came to visit me, that I recognized from those classes. She went on to tell me that she got pregnant, and was going to terminate the pregnancy, but she remembered what we talked about that evening. She then went on to introduce me to her beautiful young daughter, who was given life because of that decision. They were in visiting their folks, and were down for Mass. She had also been one of the kids that I had no clue had heard a word I said. But, she had heard it all, and soaked it in. What a gift I had been given that morning.

I will never, ever forget that. So, the next time you see young folks at Mass, or even out of Mass, please don’t hesitate to give them encouragement, and even thank them for being there. They are our future. They are working their way through life, as we all were at that age. Let’s allow God to work through us and give them a hand.