FRUITS OF A MISSIONARY MOVEMENT | KAIROS GLOBAL | DECEMBER 2022

Author: H.E. Mar Raphael Thattil

Intro: His Excellency Bishop Raphael Thattil speaks to Kairos Global regarding the role Jesus Youth plays in promoting vocations.

As a person not directly a part of the movement, what is your opinion of the Jesus Youth movement and the vocations it inspires? 

I have been the ecclesiastical advisor of the Jesus Youth movement for some years now and I am very pleased and satisfied to share with you my opinion of the JY movement and its role in inspiring and promoting vocations to priesthood.

The Jesus Youth movement is described as a missionary movement at the service of the Church, the service it renders in promoting vocations to different states of life in the Church is one of the movement’s key roles. But in recent years, it has been the influencing factor in promoting a lot of vocations to priesthood and religious life. I do not have the statistical data of the number of vocations, but I am sure in all the seminaries, dioceses, and religious congregations, there are ever so many youngsters who have found their vocations to priesthood and religious life through the movement. Jesus Youth, by its spiritual enrichment, makes the youngsters convinced of the need of committing themselves to the priesthood and religious life, most willingly. 

How is Jesus Youth fulfilling its role as ‘a missionary movement at the service of the Church’?

The JY movement is definitely a missionary movement at the service of the Church, and this spiritual motto is repeatedly fulfilled to the satisfaction of everybody through promoting vocations to priesthood and religious life. There are so many formation programmes in the movement which can be called life-lab experiences. During a formation programme, participants take commitments of 1 yr, 3 yrs, etc. to be in mission, and to be involved in missionary activities of the Church. I consider these kinds of life-lab experiences one of the reasons that youngsters get convinced of the need to become missionaries forever in the Church. And because of these life-lab experiences, they volunteer themselves to work in the missions, either in the dioceses, or in the congregations, as priests or religious. The Jesus Youth movement by its spirituality is not a movement of theories. It’s a movement of experience and emotions. I do not deny the theoretical part of JY movement spirituality but it is more a movement of giving conviction and commitment through providing rich experiences in the missions. Therefore it is not a theory to say ‘missionary movement at the service of the Church’. It is the praxis of the movement that it is a missionary movement at the service of the Church.

What role does Jesus Youth have to play in the greater picture of the Church?

I consider the Church one for the missions. We also have the Church of maintenance, where priests are engaged in the pastoral ministry to maintain the Church. But at the same time, our role in the mission of the Church is not that insisted or emphasised. Jesus Youth, being a missionary movement has a great role to play to inspire the Church of its missionary consciousness. Recently I read a homily of the Holy Father Pope Francis. In it he emphasised that the three important commandments of Jesus are:  1. Love one another. 2. Do this in memory of me. 3. Go to the ends of the world to preach and baptise. The Holy Father calls these the commandment of love, the commandment of the Eucharist, the commandment of mission. Among these three, the commandment of mission is the most supreme and most important, and the role of the movement in promoting vocations to mission both among the lay people, among the youngsters to commit themselves to mission work becomes the most urgent need of the Church. It is the biggest challenge and the biggest need which we expect from Jesus Youth.

How/Why is Jesus Youth able to influence vocations for the Church?

Jesus Youth is a movement of experience. I personally feel it is a movement of lifestyle. This lifestyle is the spirituality of the movement. Jesus Youth inspires youth and families not by giving theories, rather by giving experiences. Sending volunteer members to the missions is one of the missionary methods of the movement, which has been taken from the Bible and the methodology of Jesus. Jesus sent his disciples to the people. He sent them in pairs and asked them to go everywhere – to the villages, meet people, speak to them and share experiences. The formation that Jesus gave was one of experiences – life-lab experiences. And JY at present is convincing the youth to commit themselves to mission by these kinds of life-lab experiences. These experiences influence youngsters to come to vocations of priesthood and religious life – a beautiful way of promoting vocations. 

What role does a Jesus Youth-inspired vocation play in the Church and in the movement?

JY-inspired vocations play a very vital role in the Church and in the movement. At present we have a few JY vocations. Besides that we have a lot of vocations influenced by JY in dioceses and religious congregations. These I consider vocations of premium quality. Most of these are late vocations, who come at a later age, after their education, some of them a few years after a profession. But they come with optimum quality – quality of the conviction and quality of the commitment which makes the formation easy. It makes the seminary formation effective. And if these vocations are in the seminaries, they become catalysts to motivate other seminarians and convince them of the importance of transformation through formation. They make the formation very positive and very effective.

Vocations from Jesus Youth are a gift. They beautifully perform the ministry in the Church through their vocations. In turn, these priests and religious become catalysts to promote JY in their work field. If they are in the parishes, religious congregations, institutions of the Church, they promote by their experience and their lifestyle more vocations to the Church. It is by attraction. Their lifestyle becomes a point of attraction for youngsters.

Commonly, vocation promotion was a department of the diocesan and religious congregations. Even now, every diocese and religious congregation, a department called the Vocation Promotion Dept. (vocation bureau) exists. At present, it is my humble opinion that JY has become a vocation bureau for the whole Church. Wherever there is JY, they become a vocation promotion – not only to priesthood and religious life but to family life as well. 

What makes it easier for Jesus Youth to inspire youth and spread the Gospel?

True vocation is mainly understood as priesthood and religious life, but there is an additional role which is the contribution of the JY movement. That your life in the church is a vocation. You may be a doctor, engineer, professor, factory worker, etc. Wherever you are, you are called to be a witness to Christ. Therefore your profession is a means to profess your faith. I have seen many JY doctors going about their profession as a means to continue the healing ministry of Jesus. A lot of teachers – who are convinced that their vocation to be a teacher, a professor is a way to continue the preaching ministry, the teaching ministry of Jesus. So your vocation is a means to profess your faith – a fundamental mission of JY. 

How are JY vocations special and different?

I consider JY vocations very special for two reasons. 1. Most of them come after their education and some even after getting settled into their profession. It is a mature vocation and a high level of commitment. 2. Once a JY comes to seminary or religious formation, they are very positive to the formation there compared to other vocations. Another thing is their commitment after becoming priests and religious is extraordinary. It is not the fruit of the seminary formation or religious formation alone, rather their conviction and commitment. 

In your opinion, what more can Jesus Youth do to encourage vocations?

Our attempt to promote vocations is becoming, in the present climate, very difficult. And the traditional Church finds this very hard and challenging too. In this climate, the role of Jesus Youth as a missionary movement at the service of the Church is most needed. Because as Jesus said, the harvest is plentiful but the labourers are few. Therefore JY can become a movement of prayer to promote vocations – a movement of inspiration, a movement of forming conviction and commitment to become priests and religious life. The role has become most essential in the present context.

H.E. Mar Raphael Thattil is the first bishop of the eparchy of Shamshabad, India. He is also the ecclesiastical advisor of the Jesus Youth movement.