JESUS YOUTH | KAIROS GLOBAL | MARCH 2021

Author: Dr Edward Edezhath

Certain temptations of some good Jesus Youth

‘Pope John Paul II, while speaking on the mission of the laity, pointed to two strong temptations that most modern lay Catholic were not able to overcome. What do you think these temptations were?’ This is a question I have raised in many discussion groups. 

They would respond with a variety of modern problems: running after pleasure or money; some on power-mongering; others raise issues of sexual misconduct and so on. Then I would take Christifideles Laici by the Pope and read from #2. Firstly, ‘the temptation of being so strongly interested in Church services and tasks that some fail to become actively engaged in their responsibilities in the professional, social, cultural and political world’  and then, ‘the temptation of legitimising the unwarranted separation of faith from life.’

I often see that many of my listeners do not easily understand the big implication of what this Pope and the following Popes have been emphatically telling us. ‘There cannot be two parallel lives . . . the so-called “spiritual” life . . . and “secular” life. . . . This split between the faith which they profess, and their daily lives deserves to be counted among the most serious errors of our age’ (# 59). 

Such a wholesome path

In connection with Jesus Youth Coral Jubilee we had that very innovative and interesting Cluster Gathering. Hundreds of clusters of 15 to 20 Jesus Youth gathered to celebrate and share. In my cluster we were from a number of countries and of all age groups. Almost everyone enthusiastically shared how being a Jesus Youth transformed his or her entire life – a new family, brand new purpose in life and a transformed way of living. Perhaps here is an indication of what it is to integrate all aspects of your life, spiritual, worldly, professional, familial or talents and hobbies. In other words, helping me to live my unique life wholly and completely is what Jesus Youth is all about. 

But there can be maimed imitations of something quite beautiful. Many years ago, I went to a central Indian city for sessions for seminarians. Jesus Youth was not so widespread as today. The seminarians told me that there was a group that claimed connection with Jesus Youth in a university closeby. ‘How is your group? And what do you do?’ I asked the group when I met them the next day. ‘We come together and organise games and competitions.’ A few years earlier someone had met a Jesus Youth group quite by accident, found it quite fascinating and went back and started this group. In fact, they had no clear idea about the movement nor had any connections with it, but found the fun and game sessions of Jesus youth quite fascinating and started a group just for that. Anyway, I don’t think that the group lasted long.  

Jesus Youth statutes talk about the true nature of the movement. ‘The name “Jesus Youth” represents the association’s emphasis on living the joy, vitality, and fullness of life discovered in Christ, and sharing the Gospel in contemporary life situations.’ And the movement wants each person to experience that beauty and joy of living in Jesus and offer help to share it with others without losing its rich flavour. 

Some wrong turns

Temptations are like potholes on a nice road, or even wrong turns on your pilgrim journey. You get diverted or get stuck and you don’t go forward smoothly. In the personal as well as community pilgrimage of Jesus Youth there can be temporary attractions that take a person or a group away from the unique goodness and beauty of the movement. Here is my list of the ‘distracting seven’.

1. Making Jesus Youth a shallow pious association. When I see some people mistaking Jesus Youth to be the best platform to collect prayers and complete ‘numbers’ to get intentions fulfilled, I think they miss the point. The movement has a very positive emphasis on growing in relationship with Jesus through prayer and listening, but a mechanical ‘spirituality’ often drains the joy of life in the Trinity.

2. Crowding life with activity and its planning. Too much ‘doing’ with no thought for ‘being’ can leave one stunted. Having a space for personal inner journey and joyful building of relationships is what Jesus Youth considers as the important setting for growth. Programmes and other activities are only handmaids of that joy-filled pilgrimage.

3. Disconnecting from 'today' and youth. New initiatives have a special place in the movement, and they sprout when the Holy Spirit stirs the heart of individuals and groups that keep their eyes, ears and hearts open. Reading and responding to ‘signs of the times’ and being close to the life of youth are attitudes that keep Jesus Youth alive and relevant.

4. Forgetting its personal, relational emphasis. When the excitement of meeting the other and building friendships becomes less important, Jesus Youth will turn it into a sterile institution.

5. Giving up on community building. The hardest spiritual exercise can be nurturing in me a spirituality of communion and building enduring communities. Most of us forget that a small step with this end in mind is actually building the body of Christ. 

6. Forgetting the poor. The Bible repeats, ‘don’t forget the poor’ and turning to the needy has a special place in the movement.

7. Missing the mission focus: Jesus Youth places special emphasis on helping each person find one’s unique path of building God’s Kingdom. And finding newer ways of nurturing mission is at the heart of JY spirituality and lifestyle. 

In the familiar story of Martha and Mary, Jesus’s response to Martha’s complaint hints at something quite revealing. All good needn’t be good at a given time. So, depending on the context, some holy and excellent approaches can be big distractions. Jesus congratulates Mary saying that she discerned and chose what was best without getting distracted.