JESUS YOUTH | KAIROS GLOBAL | PILOT ISSUE | 2017

Author : Dr Edward Edezhath

Intro : A pioneer of the Jesus Youth Movement

gives us a glimpse of the growth of the Movement.

Can spirituality be so much fun?

“I just wanted to find outwhy these people are so

interested in Jesus Youth.Don’t they get bored with prayer,

andwith these talks on spirituality?” I wastaking my 17 year

old son to the Joy Conference that Jesus Youth Teens Ministry organised. Earlier, some youth

who had come home mentioned this program to him, and to my surprise he

willingly gave his name. As we drove to the program, he told me that he was

going out of curiosity. His idea was that anything having to do with spirituality

had to be boring. In response to that, I say, if so, why are so many smart

teenagers and youth so crazy about Jesus Youth? He was going there to

unravel the mystery.

After 4 days, as I was taking him

back home after Joy Conference, I asked

him how the whole thing was. “Not

bad,” he said. Knowing him, I heard it

as “Excellent.” Little by little he spoke

to me about the friendly ones he met

there, how they had fun as the talks were

going on, about the skits, the interesting

interactions in small groups, and so on.

Listening to him, I sensed that he had

now willingly joined in the stream. The

following days proved my conclusion.

Young people with a positive difference

I have journeyed with the Jesus Youth

movement from the time of its inception,

and have seen it struggle, grow, and

branch out. It has now become like a

large fruitful tree. Familiarity does not

always breed contempt, but sometimes,

much wonderment and respect. At least,

when I think of many of my Jesus Youth

friends, that is the case. I am wide-eyed

with wonderment.

In many of the areas where young

people are active, Jesus Youth is present,

and they do something beautiful there.

In universities and other educational

institutions, where all are busy and

obsessed with trends and success,

here is a set of youth who are intent on

spiritual orientation of their friends, and

committed to social concern. Jesus Youth

campus groups are vibrant and wide

spread. In parishes, these youth bring in

a lot of creativity and freshness. They get

together and go to the poor and needy.

Jesus Youth organise programs that are

so colourful, full of songs, skits, group

interactions, and a lot of creativity. The

beauty of it all is that these are mainly

dreamed, planned, and carried out by

young people themselves.

But there should be some kind of a

journey charted out in the movement,

and what is it? More or less, the

pilgrimage starts with a meeting,

or friendship, with someone in the

movement, leading to a personal

encounter with God. In Jesus Youth,

there is a lot of attention on how to

bring today’s trendy youth to a personal

experience of God. This encounter should

lead a person to a friendly fellowship. In

this Jesus Youth group, or a small cell, a

young person learns a lifestyle of certain

spiritual habits. They call it a lifestyle

of Six Pillars. Finally, the movement

envisions every young person to be a

committed missionary, especially where

one lives and works. The movement’s

Statutes sums it up: “Jesus Youth strives

to lead people, especially the youth, to

a renewed life in Christ, assists them in

their growth in holiness and prepares

them for the apostolate in communion

with the mission of the Church” (#5).

The Journey of the Movement

The movement had its inception in

Kerala, India. It has been the fruit of a

renewal wave that swept this part of the

world in the 1970’s. A well planned youth

conference in 1978 laid the foundation

for a network among the younger

generation in the renewal circles. Young

leaders began to come together to

search for, and develop, modalities and

approaches for effective youth ministry.

A big leap came when Pope John Paul

II announced the International Year of

Youth. The fast growing network decided

to observe 1985 befittingly and the

concluding conference was named as

‘Jesus Youth 85’. From that time on, the

network came to be known as Jesus

Youth. Under this banner, young people

came together in different life situations

to pray, to learn together, and also to

reach out and share the joyful tidings of

Christ with others.

Young people want to connect with

other youth, and given a chance, they

will go on to dream and work towards

something joyful and beautiful. Such

youthful dynamism helped Jesus Youth

to spread to other parts of India during

the early part of the 1990’s. As young

people who had a touch of the Lord went

in search of a better career, or migrated

as families, they took their newfound

enthusiasm with them. Thus, the Jesus

Youth movement spread to countries in

the Middle East, and then to the various

other continents. As of now, it is present

in more than 30 countries.

The latest joyful tiding about the

movement is that it has been formally

approved by the Catholic Church. Surely,

this is of great significance, as it is

the first from India, and second from

the whole of Asia. On May 15, 2016,

Pentecost day, the Vatican recognised

Jesus Youth as an International

Association of the Faithful. For this

grassroots youth enthusiasm that

sprouted as an insignificant initiative and

has become an international reality, thislends

much joy and confidence.

The movement moves on

We all say that these are challenging

times. There are so many changes

all around, and riding the technology

wave is so thrilling for the young.

Peer pressure has taken new forms,

and all are disturbed by the resultant

letdowns, and even tragedies, in the

life of so many. A silver lining amidst

these worrying signs comes in the form

of this bunch of enthusiastic youth. A

variety of Jesus Youth ministries that

are driven by so many committed and

well-focused youth, give assurance for

a better tomorrow. What Pope Saint

John Paul II commented on the Church in

Asia is true of these young missionaries

as well: “One solid cause of hope is the

increasing number of better trained,

enthusiastic and Spirit-filled lay people,

who are more and more aware of their

specific vocation within the ecclesial

community.” What we can hope and pray

for is that “Let their tribe increase!”