How Do We Keep Our Youth in the Church?
We are living in an age that has witnessed changes on a massive scale as never before. The way we communicate has changed with the coming of the internet, with information available that would have required a library and advanced degrees to access in the past. Ideas and information are available that leave our youth with choices that were never available a generation ago.
Moral norms have changed, with values and lifestyles that would have never been seen as acceptable in the past becoming part of mainstream. Gay marriage, the high divorce rate, children being raise by unwed parents, and profane music that sounds like it came from the underworld (which inspired it, I’m sure). Child sexual abuse is reaching shocking numbers, with clergy, boy scout leaders, coaches and police officers under arrest. With the environmental crisis increasing and political unrest spreading, hope is fading. Our world is polarized in ways that are mind boggling, and the economy has lowered the hopes and expectations of a whole generation.
With all that has changed in our world, is it any wonder young people are abandoning the Christian faith in droves? With the youthful questioning of authority, it is not enough to simply expect them to accept the authority of bishops, priests, and the traditions and teachings of the Church. There needs to be a change in the way we of the older generations communicate with our youth.
In this age of information we must demonstrate to our youth the difference between information and wisdom. Wisdom is that which is passed down from the past and which imparts substance and enlightenment. Wisdom is not about information, and does not compete with worldly knowledge. Wisdom need not be in conflict with science, nor be linked to narrow mindedness. Wisdom is that which not only connects us to the best of human knowledge and experience, but links us to that which is eternal. Wisdom gives us the ability to relate to our Creator, to our culture and to others. The urgency of imparting this message is great, for we have a whole generation that is in danger of losing faith in God.
It is not enough to expect our young people to attend services if we do not listen to them, respect them, and try to understand the world that is confronting them. They are growing up in a different world than people of my generation experienced, and this important difference must be acknowledged and respected. We can’t simply teach the truth to our youth, we must live it in a way that makes it real for them. We must be patient with them, be open to their struggles and non-confrontational when they disagree with us, or we will lose them forever to Christ.
Today’s young people have the same hopes and dreams that previous generations held, but this fast changing world is depriving them of hope. Nihilism has become the religion of countless numbers of our youth, with the result that life has become meaningless. The information age has driven God out of societal, cultural and governmental prominence, resulting in mass disbelief.
We who are of the older generations must witness to the wealth of truth that is in the ancient knowledge and wisdom of the Church by demonstrating it’s worth in how we live. If young people do not see a genuine living out of the Faith in us, they will keep looking for truth in directions that will take them far from it. Young people are worthy of our love and respect, and worthy of sharing with us the life in Christ that is their heritage as well. The Church will not be a draw to our youth unless her members demonstrate holiness of life and reach out with love, patience and understanding, offering something that is seen as real by today’s young people.
Finally, today’s young people need to see joy in the hearts of those of us who have taken on Christ. If we do not have joy in our hearts the youth will see nothing that is attractive to them, and will continue in the wasteland of consumerism, materialism, nihilism, and all hope for the future of our planet will have died.
Love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon
Photos: I’m staying in Berkeley with the Capuchin Franciscans, until I drive to Saint Nicholas Church in Saratoga, on Saturday. Visiting with my friends, Father Edward Henderson, rector of Saint John the Baptist Orthodox Church in Berkeley, and Brother Peter, OFM Cap., guardian of Berkeley’s Capuchin House of Studies. The second photo was taken from the rooftop garden of the Capuchin House, looking toward the Golden Gate Bridge.
Thursday March 13, 2014
Second Week of the Great Lent. Tone four.
Great Lent. By Monastic Charter: Food without Oil
Venerable Basil the Confessor (747), companion of St. Procopius at Decapolis.
St. Arsenius (Matsievich), metropolitan of Rostov, confessor (1772).
New Hieromartyr Sergius priest (1932).
Blessed Nicholas of Pskov, fool-for-Christ (1576).
Hieromartyr Proterius, patriarch of Alexandria, and six companions (457).
Hieromartyr Nestor, bishop of Magydos in Pamphylia (250).
Venerables Marana, Cyanna (Kyra), and Domnica (Domnina), nuns, of Syria (ca. 450).
Apostles Nymphas and Eubulus.
Venerable Romanus, desert-dweller of Condat in the Jura Mountains (460) (Gaul).
New Virgin-martyr Kyranna of Thessalonica (1751) (Greek).
Venerable Barsus of Damascus, bishop (Greek).
You can read the life of the saint by clicking on the highlighted name.
The Scripture Readings for the Day
Isaiah 6:1-12
Isaiah Called to Be a Prophet
6 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. 2Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3And one cried to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
The whole earth is full of His glory!”
4And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke.
5So I said:
“Woe is me, for I am undone!
Because I am a man of unclean lips,
And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips;
For my eyes have seen the King,
The Lord of hosts.”
6Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. 7And he touched my mouth with it, and said:
“Behold, this has touched your lips;
Your iniquity is taken away,
And your sin purged.”
8Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying:
“Whom shall I send,
And who will go for Us?”
Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”
9And He said, “Go, and tell this people:
‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand;
Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’
10“Make the heart of this people dull,And their ears heavy,
And shut their eyes;
Lest they see with their eyes,
And hear with their ears,
And understand with their heart,
And return and be healed.”
11Then I said, “Lord, how long?”
And He answered:
“Until the cities are laid waste and without inhabitant,
The houses are without a man,
The land is utterly desolate,
12The Lord has removed men far away,
And the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.
Genesis 5:1-24
The Family of Adam
5 This is the book of the genealogy of Adam. In the day that God created man, He made him in the likeness of God. 2He created them male and female, and blessed them and called them Mankind in the day they were created. 3And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. 4After he begot Seth, the days of Adam were eight hundred years; and he had sons and daughters. 5So all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years; and he died.
6Seth lived one hundred and five years, and begot Enosh. 7After he begot Enosh, Seth lived eight hundred and seven years, and had sons and daughters. 8So all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years; and he died.
9Enosh lived ninety years, and begot Cainan.[a] 10After he begot Cainan, Enosh lived eight hundred and fifteen years, and had sons and daughters. 11So all the days of Enosh were nine hundred and five years; and he died.
12Cainan lived seventy years, and begot Mahalalel. 13After he begot Mahalalel, Cainan lived eight hundred and forty years, and had sons and daughters. 14So all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years; and he died.
15Mahalalel lived sixty-five years, and begot Jared. 16After he begot Jared, Mahalalel lived eight hundred and thirty years, and had sons and daughters. 17So all the days of Mahalalel were eight hundred and ninety-five years; and he died.
18Jared lived one hundred and sixty-two years, and begot Enoch. 19After he begot Enoch, Jared lived eight hundred years, and had sons and daughters. 20So all the days of Jared were nine hundred and sixty-two years; and he died.
21Enoch lived sixty-five years, and begot Methuselah. 22After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God three hundred years, and had sons and daughters. 23So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. 24And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.
Proverbs 6:3-20
3So do this, my son, and deliver yourself;
For you have come into the hand of your friend:
Go and humble yourself;
Plead with your friend.
4Give no sleep to your eyes,
Nor slumber to your eyelids.
5Deliver yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,
And like a bird from the hand of the fowler.
The Folly of Indolence
6Go to the ant, you sluggard!
Consider her ways and be wise,
7Which, having no captain,
Overseer or ruler,
8Provides her supplies in the summer,
And gathers her food in the harvest.
9How long will you slumber, O sluggard?
When will you rise from your sleep?
10A little sleep, a little slumber,
A little folding of the hands to sleep—
11So shall your poverty come on you like a prowler,
And your need like an armed man.
The Wicked Man
12A worthless person, a wicked man,
Walks with a perverse mouth;
13He winks with his eyes,
He shuffles his feet,
He points with his fingers;
14Perversity is in his heart,
He devises evil continually,
He sows discord.
15Therefore his calamity shall come suddenly;
Suddenly he shall be broken without remedy.
16These six things the Lord hates,
Yes, seven are an abomination to Him:
17A proud look,
A lying tongue,
Hands that shed innocent blood,
18A heart that devises wicked plans,
Feet that are swift in running to evil,
19A false witness who speaks lies,
And one who sows discord among brethren.
Beware of Adultery
20My son, keep your father’s command,
And do not forsake the law of your mother.