RSSYouth ministers say they are taking up the challenge of helping Asian youths inject creativity and passion into Church activities.
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Participants of the Asian Youth Ministers |
“Young people have to feel a spirit of community and hospitality in church, and youths might be the best people to provide them with it,” a participant at the Nov. 27-30 Asian Youth Ministers Meeting (AYMM) told UCA News.
The meeting in Cavite province, south of Manila, immediately followed the celebration of the 5th Asian Youth Day. The celebration was organized by the Youth Desk of the Federation of Asian Bishops´ Conferences (FABC) Office of Laity and Family.
The theme of the AYMM meeting, “Towards a Word-centered and Eucharistic youth ministry,” continued the Youth Day focus on the Eucharist.
Liturgy was one area the AYMM participants from 22 countries and territories highlighted for greater youth involvement.
“Youths don´t want to be static observers of the Eucharistic celebration but active participants in the event. We can achieve this through selecting the music, and even gestures and other artistic expressions,” a participant proposed.
Father Ron Bagley, who teaches at a seminary in Manila and who facilitated the meeting, urged involvement across the broad spectrum of Church life.
“The youth have to be involved not only in the liturgy but also in so many other activities such as catechism, parish and diocesan pastoral councils, and social services to young people, to show them the Church is not a place only for adults,” he told UCA News. “And it has to be done in an interesting way for other young people.
The American priest suggested youth ministers could be actively involved in preparing homilies and even in sharing their faith experience and performing small sketches during liturgies.
Meeting participants also agreed that addressing the particular challenges of faith witness amid the pervasive influence of digital technology, or “D-culture,” is a priority for their ministry.
Acknowledging a concern about “virtual” community replacing real human relationships, they affirmed that young people need to see the Church as a source of real community. This might be achieved, they said, through youth groups and more active involvement in Basic Ecclesial Communities (BECs).
Wendy Louis from Singapore, executive secretary of the FABC´s Asian Integrated Pastoral Approach desk, which promotes the development of BECs, admitted that the meeting was more about motivation than anything else.
“We actually didn´t say anything new, and can´t provide them with any concrete methodology which can definitely bring youth to the Church. But we can inspire them with the spirit of being missionary and ask them to transmit that spirit to others when they get home,” she said.
Nonetheless, Filipino Bishop Elenito Galido of Iligan told UCA News he plans “to use” local Youth Day participants “in organizing and moderating the diocesan youth day that we are going to have on Dec. 16 this year.”
Not all the youth ministers, however, felt they could count on support back home for the kind of activities they discussed.
A participant from Singapore said she doubts liturgical officials will allow youths to select music for Eucharistic celebrations.
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