STUCK ON THE WAY AND STOPPED NOTICING IT? | KAIROS GLOBAL | OCTOBER 2026

Author: Dr Edward Edezhath

Audio

Two recent conversations left me with questions, and I put them before Jesus Youth groups. You know you are on a journey; but are you stuck somewhere along the way, pretending to move forward? Has it passed realisation that you have comfortably settled down somewhere far from your actual destination? The two conversations were about seemingly unrelated things: the slow fading of a once-vibrant youth gathering, and a phone call about processions.

It Began in a Coffee Shop

Jesus Youth in that city began with coffee shop meetings every Tuesday. Someone suggested it, and they began to gather every week in a corner of a large restaurant. Most of them were migrant students from India, for whom this was a place to connect, find friends, build a good network, and, amidst the confusion of life in a new country, find prayer support and rediscover the beauty of a spiritual life.

Gradually, the group grew. Limited by the coffee shop, they moved into the church. In the parish hall, there was every convenience and more time to pray. For a while, the group kept growing. Then things started changing.

Slowly, Something Shifted

When the gathering relocated to the church, it became more formal. Somehow, the freshness of friendship diminished. In the coffee shop it had been so youthful; in the church hall something was different.

Then more changes came. Many started looking for jobs; some became too busy with work. ‘Look at us now,’ one of them told me. ‘We are a small group, struggling to continue.’ Everything changed – lives changed, situations changed – and that early journey is now only a beautiful memory. The group still carries the same coffee shop name, but it is a very different group.

A Phone Call about Processions

A few days ago, I received a call. She wanted to know about processions in the Church. A Jesus Youth regional programme was being planned, and the team had included a procession just before the inaugural session. But what does a procession actually mean?

It led to a very beautiful discussion. Processions are important – they always have been. Even in the pre-Christian era, Israel treasured its processions with the Ark of the Covenant, and there were processions on occasions of victory. In the Church, the solemn Mass itself very often begins with a procession. They are there for the feast of Christ the King and on Palm Sunday – processions are there all the time. But why? What do they mean?

A Procession Is Life Itself

In a sense, a procession is a reflection of life. We are constantly journeying from our worldly situations towards heaven, towards the sacred. Each procession reminds us that we are moving – towards God, towards the sacred presence. We know this too from the Way of the Cross: instead of remaining static, when prayer itself becomes a journey, it becomes so beautiful.

That was what stayed with me most: the procession is a reflection of life itself. We should not be stuck; we should be moving, going forward. Jesus said, ‘Go.’

Am I on the Move?

That is the first question. In my life, in my personal spirituality, am I moving, or am I stuck somewhere? We have to be constantly renewed – finding new ways and new places in life and in the spirit, connecting with new people, staying fresh all the time.

Jesus Youth has a habit of consultations, evaluations and synodal processes. The spirit behind them is simple: changes come constantly. People's lives change, and groups sometimes need to become radically different. We must seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit to see how to respond to these changes – and then change, as we move forward.

Jesus Youth stays vibrant and growing when we remain open to the wind that blows constantly: the inspirations that come from the Lord, and the new paths that open before us every now and then.

Constants and Variables of Community

In the world around us and in our own lives, things keep changing, and if we do not respond positively we get stuck. When Jesus challenged people to interpret ‘the present time’ (Luke 12:56), He was asking them to be aware of the changes around them and to be renewed, ready to begin life anew. And he gave His disciples the Holy Spirit not merely to read the changes around them, but to take the steps needed to stay alive and relevant in changed times.

From the very beginning, Jesus' disciples knew they could not remain stuck in one time and one place; they were sent to the ends of the earth and to the end of time. In its journey through the ages and across continents, the Church was ready to change many things – but was careful never to change some. The Eucharistic celebration, the very centre of Christian life, is a good example: its form and mode changed radically over the centuries and across cultures, yet the Church carefully preserved what Christ handed over to the disciples, keeping those elements untouched.

My thought was about Jesus Youth. Looking at the many groups of young people and families that sprout up in different places, if they get stuck in what they do and how they do it, they are sure to become irrelevant — people slowly vanish, and after many attempts the group too disappears. On the other hand, there are core elements that the human heart seeks, the things for which people truly gather: the joyful presence of God, the healing touch, caring and sharing love that leads each one to be fruitful. If these disappear from a group, then again there is no point in that gathering. A community stays alive by knowing its constants from its variables – ready to change everything else, and careful never to lose the core.

The Father Is Always Working

That is why Jesus says, ‘My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working’ (John 5:17) – creating, renewing, recreating.

Perhaps our little coffee shop group is not a story of decline at all, but an invitation: to notice where we have stopped, and to join the procession again.

How much of this recreation is taking place in my life and in the group to which I belong?

One of the pioneers of the Jesus Youth movement, an international preacher and author, Dr Edward Edezhath is a retired professor from St Albert’s College, Ernakulam. He is presently a researcher at Amoris Christi in Florida, USA.