Post by guillaume on Oct 18, 2011 13:49:29 GMT
Interesting article from Alive!
‘We young Catholics expect our faith to be more demanding’A new brand of young Catholic is emerging today. Inspired by Pope Benedict XVI, they want to be, and to be known as, committed Catholics, and to celebrate their membership of the Church.
Members of the millennial generation, “they have concluded that the Church’s teachings are, in fact, true, and they’ve recognised that true freedom lies in self-sacrifice.
“Far from repressive, such realisations are thrilling,” wrote Anna Williams, a student journalist, in a punchy, opinion piece for USA Today. She herself attended World Youth Day in Germany (2005) and Sydney (2008).
At first glance, she wrote, studies suggest that Catholics aged 18-29 are “less likely to attend Mass weekly, less likely to pray daily, and less likely than older Catholics to consider religion ‘very important’.”
But those who do practise and value their faith are “spearheading a resurgence of traditional Catholic worship and disciplines that their parents and grandparents had largely abandoned.”
Thye “reject the views of 1960s liberationists in favour of something more substantial: the creeds, practices and moral codes that defined religious life for centuries.”
It was a trend that could be found among some Protestant groups and even in other religions.
Young people, Williams reckoned, sense they have been betrayed by the 1960s-style liberation from moral codes, family obligations, religious commitments. Hence their interest in orthodox faith.
“Sometime in the past century,” she wrote, “a new creed emerged, saying everyone should make his own creed.
“This tolerant, open-minded ethos seemed to promise freedom: safe sex with many partners, drugs and alcohol galore and quick, no-fault divorce.
“So our Baby Boomer parents partied hard, yet in so many cases left us only the hangover: heartbreak, addiction and broken homes, plus rising rates of teenage depression and suicide.”
Spurning such anything-goes religion and the social breakdown it brought, many millennials are looking for far more.
Orthodoxy, they find, is more demanding and intellectually more coherent than relativism.
“It makes us place others above ourselves, the truth above what we’d like to be true, the fight for virtue above the pursuit of pleasure. In a word, it preaches sacrifice.”
Recent research of Catholic religious orders confirms the trend among the young. A summary of the findings was reported in The New York Times.
Sr Mary Bendyna, who helped conduct the study, reported that millenials wishing to become priests or nuns “are much more likely to say fidelity to the Church is important to them.”
They are “more attracted to a traditional style of religious life: community living, common prayer, Mass together, praying together the Liturgy of the Hours (the Church’s daily cycle of Scripture readings and prayers).
“And they really are looking for communities where members wear habits,” the age-old garb of monks and nuns.
Pope Benedict has his finger on the pulse of the young and knows they desire more than what today’s culture offers.
“When he speaks to the young, he doesn’t water it down. His voice is quiet, even gentle, but he’s not afraid to challenge his congregation.”
And he is right, wrote Williams. “Young people don't need another meaningless affirmation of their worth. They want an explanation of how the world is and a mission that involves changing it.”
‘We young Catholics expect our faith to be more demanding’A new brand of young Catholic is emerging today. Inspired by Pope Benedict XVI, they want to be, and to be known as, committed Catholics, and to celebrate their membership of the Church.
Members of the millennial generation, “they have concluded that the Church’s teachings are, in fact, true, and they’ve recognised that true freedom lies in self-sacrifice.
“Far from repressive, such realisations are thrilling,” wrote Anna Williams, a student journalist, in a punchy, opinion piece for USA Today. She herself attended World Youth Day in Germany (2005) and Sydney (2008).
At first glance, she wrote, studies suggest that Catholics aged 18-29 are “less likely to attend Mass weekly, less likely to pray daily, and less likely than older Catholics to consider religion ‘very important’.”
But those who do practise and value their faith are “spearheading a resurgence of traditional Catholic worship and disciplines that their parents and grandparents had largely abandoned.”
Thye “reject the views of 1960s liberationists in favour of something more substantial: the creeds, practices and moral codes that defined religious life for centuries.”
It was a trend that could be found among some Protestant groups and even in other religions.
Young people, Williams reckoned, sense they have been betrayed by the 1960s-style liberation from moral codes, family obligations, religious commitments. Hence their interest in orthodox faith.
“Sometime in the past century,” she wrote, “a new creed emerged, saying everyone should make his own creed.
“This tolerant, open-minded ethos seemed to promise freedom: safe sex with many partners, drugs and alcohol galore and quick, no-fault divorce.
“So our Baby Boomer parents partied hard, yet in so many cases left us only the hangover: heartbreak, addiction and broken homes, plus rising rates of teenage depression and suicide.”
Spurning such anything-goes religion and the social breakdown it brought, many millennials are looking for far more.
Orthodoxy, they find, is more demanding and intellectually more coherent than relativism.
“It makes us place others above ourselves, the truth above what we’d like to be true, the fight for virtue above the pursuit of pleasure. In a word, it preaches sacrifice.”
Recent research of Catholic religious orders confirms the trend among the young. A summary of the findings was reported in The New York Times.
Sr Mary Bendyna, who helped conduct the study, reported that millenials wishing to become priests or nuns “are much more likely to say fidelity to the Church is important to them.”
They are “more attracted to a traditional style of religious life: community living, common prayer, Mass together, praying together the Liturgy of the Hours (the Church’s daily cycle of Scripture readings and prayers).
“And they really are looking for communities where members wear habits,” the age-old garb of monks and nuns.
Pope Benedict has his finger on the pulse of the young and knows they desire more than what today’s culture offers.
“When he speaks to the young, he doesn’t water it down. His voice is quiet, even gentle, but he’s not afraid to challenge his congregation.”
And he is right, wrote Williams. “Young people don't need another meaningless affirmation of their worth. They want an explanation of how the world is and a mission that involves changing it.”