A Beacon of Light . . . Suffer The Little Children To Come Unto Me
By FR. RICHARD D. BRETON Jr.
(Editor’s Note: Fr. Richard D. Breton Jr. is a priest of the Diocese of Norwich, Conn.)
- + + “Let the children come to me, do not prevent them. For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these” (Matt. 19:14).
How many times we have heard these words of Jesus? In the midst of the crowds, as children were trying to see Jesus, they were rebuked and pushed away. Many saw the children as a nuisance and a bother to the Messiah. For Jesus, however, the children were very important and occupied a very special place. The children had a keen understanding of the Kingdom of God. In fact, several biblical commentaries refer to Jesus’ receiving the children as significant, as an almost religious rite. And why wouldn’t it be considered so?
Today, however, it is often difficult to see children coming to Jesus. In fact, sadly, we are living in a time when children are moving further away from God than ever before. It would seem that there is a great chasm being created, where I fear, many children will lose their way. Instead of presenting a path allowing children to “come to Jesus” there are constant attempts by society and today’s culture to push our children away from God. In the light of this disturbing trend, where do we go to find the answer that will stop this?
In the final moments of the crucifixion, Jesus exclaimed: “I Thirst” (John 19:28). Today our young people are living a crucifixion and they thirst. There is an assault on our young people by society to demoralize human reason by inserting false truths regarding morality and the gift of human sexuality. Sadly, our young people no longer have the moral certitude needed in living good holy lives.
Recently, when talking to young people, I found it disturbing that the majority of them viewed sexual activity as a merely biological process of the human person, and as such, was considered part of everyday life. What is even more disturbing is the fact that today’s young people no longer believe the moral certitudes as taught by the Church because they have been conditioned by the need to seek proof first. Granted, there does exist within each of us a desire to search for the Truth. This is part of our divine creation.
The problem today, however, is that our youth have taken this desire to an extreme, whereby the healthy desire for Truth is transformed into a need for empirical proof. This can be unhealthy because there are certain mysteries of our faith that are unattainable of proof. Our finite minds cannot comprehend their depth. Is all lost for our youth? No, not quite.
In every age, there are moments when God uses people as instruments, reminding us of the responsibility we have as Catholics to renew the faith in our time. One such person, who became a shining example of how one is used by God, was Pope St. John Paul II. St. John Paul II became for the Church a champion for world’s youth. The passion and enthusiasm he exhibited when meeting the youth was contagious. His zeal and love for the youth were reciprocal, in that they were drawn to him because of his love for them. Pope St. John Paul II’s charisma crossed all boundaries and touched all nations. It was Pope St. John Paul II who inaugurated the custom of World Youth Days every two to four years.
In 2000, as the Church celebrated the Great Jubilee Year, Pope St. John Paul II opened the city of Rome as the host of the Fifteenth World Day of Prayer for Youth. Aware of the struggles and difficulties surrounding our youth, he offered the following invitation:
“It is Jesus you seek when you dream of happiness; He is waiting for you when nothing else you find satisfies you; He is the beauty to which you are so attracted; it is He who provokes you with that thirst for fullness that will not let you settle for compromise; it is He who urges you to shed the masks of a false life; it is He who reads in your hearts your most genuine choices, the choices that others try to stifle.
“It is Jesus who stirs in you the desire to do something great with your lives, the will to follow an ideal, the refusal to allow yourselves to be grounded down by mediocrity, the courage to commit yourselves humbly and patiently to improving yourselves and society, making the world more human and more fraternal” (address at the Vigil of Prayer, August 19, 2000, Rome).
As Pope St. John Paul II has stated to the young people, it is Jesus, Himself, whom they must seek in this troubled world. Basically, our late Holy Father was then recognizing the fact that our young people are spending their lives seeking fulfillment. They look in so many places seeking fame, power, security, and pleasure. The list is endless. In the end, when these seem to fail, the distractions of the time seem attractive at most, but eventually these fail too. Only one thing satisfies the heart and quenches the thirst we long for and that is Jesus.
So, how do we respond to this ongoing dilemma? Our response must be a unity of Holy Mother Church in cooperation with parents working together to redirect our youth along the path that leads to Christ. This will only work if parents are reminded of the responsibility that they took on the day of their child’s Baptism.
In the Sacrament of Baptism, parents promise to raise their children in the Truths of the Faith. This responsibility includes at times admonishing their children. Unfortunately, today many parents do not do this. They have been brainwashed by society so that in order to be a parent today they must be their children’s friend. Being someone’s friend often means holding them accountable for their actions, especially when those actions pose a threat to their eternal salvation. Parents need to be properly informed in order to provide the example necessary to mold their children in the ways of the faith.
And so, aware of the difficulties surrounding our young people, how do we change the social mentality that has caused a disconnect in the minds of our youth? First, an attempt must be made to understand where they are coming from. Sometimes this is very difficult, but sometimes we fail to listen. Second, we must never sacrifice the teachings of the faith in an effort to appease and satisfy our young people. Too often when dealing with the struggles of today’s youth, it’s easy to throw in the towel and give in. That attitude does nothing to help, but rather reinforces the ideologies of today’s culture.
We have a great arsenal at our disposal to assist us in this endeavor, and that is our faith. Regrettably, many have forgotten that it is Christ Himself who calls the children to Himself. Our task is to make sure we provide the means for this to happen. By offering opportunities for our youth to experience the faith within the context of parish life is a good start. More needs to be done, however, to accomplish the real goal of helping our children return to the Lord.
Returning to the Lord means reigniting our relationship with Him. This can be accomplished by attendance at Sunday Mass, but it is accomplished also through Eucharistic Adoration. We have to remind our young people that Jesus never gives up and the more we know Him, the more we come to know ourselves. This is why I encourage Eucharistic Adoration in my parishes because the fruits that are born last forever.
And so in closing we offer the prayer prayed by St. John Paul II for our youth: Jesus, Son of God,
in whom the fullness of the Divinity dwells,
You call all the baptized to “put out into the deep,”
taking the path that leads to holiness.
Waken in the hearts of young people the desire
to be witnesses in the world of today
to the power of your love.
Fill them with your Spirit of fortitude and prudence,
so that they may be able to discover the full truth
about themselves and their own vocation. Our Savior,
sent by the Father to reveal His merciful love,
give to your Church the gift
of young people who are ready to put out into the deep,
to be the sign among their brothers
of Your presence which renews and saves. Holy Virgin, Mother of the Redeemer,
sure guide on the way towards God and towards neighbor,
You who pondered his word in the depth of your heart,
sustain with your motherly intercession
our families and our ecclesial communities,
so that they may help adolescents and young people
to answer generously the call of the Lord. Amen.
