NEVER TOO YOUNG TO FOLLOW THE LORD
Jesus will never reject us if we approach Him, no matter how young we are. Jesus is always ready to embrace the impulsiveness of youth and to work with it to help it grow into mature faith. Jesus will never take the chance to lose someone because of inattention on His part. Therefore, we don’t need to worry that He will not give us due attention when we approach Him.
It is a joy to see young people surrendering their lives to the will and service of God. One of the best aspects of priestly ministry is working with young people as they discover their faith and open their hearts to Jesus. It is a very rocky road that they walk as the world around them does not want to lose them to a life of holiness. The pull for them to surrender themselves to the gods of materialism, consumerism and pleasure is too strong. The tentacles of the world are often very hard to resist and break.
The trouble comes when the youth do not feel welcomed by the Church and, thus, they go elsewhere to “find themselves,” often with disastrous results, as the world is quick to offer alternatives such as partying, alcohol, drugs, sex and so on. The Church, and that means all of us, must learn to be attentive to the needs of the various groups in our midst. I, for one, do not want to have to explain why I rejected someone who wanted to participate in the life of the Church for some spurious reason.
Jesus embraced all who came to Him, and so should we. We need to pray for the grace to be open to all and then act upon it. In this way, the Church will embrace all those who wish to follow Jesus as His disciples.Fr. Steve Tynan, MGL
REFLECTION QUESTION: How do you welcome and treat young people? Are they a nuisance to you or do you lead them to the right path?
Jesus, You are always open to those who wish to be Your disciples. Help me to be accepting of all who come to me for discipleship and help me to lead them closer to You.
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