Houston, we have a problem!

I have finally arrived in Lebanon. A long trip with over 18 hours of flight time and two stopovers before I finally made it to Beirut with my wife. Add the fact that I am bit of a nervous flyer and then you can imagine the fun I had. But I am here on holidays after I completing a Pruning retreat with 20 young people in Sydney.

Wow. Lebanon is full of Paradoxes. It is a paradox in itself. For the outsider or the ‘Westerner’ it is a place you should avoid at least according to smart traveller. I was in fact denied an upgrade on my life insurance because I was traveling to North Lebanon. The country is alive but in a political mess. Not unusual if you know the history well.

But this is not why I am writing this blog. It was a conversation that I had last night with a 27 years old young, beautiful and intelligent woman, a relative, that stirred my heart. It was a long conversation that was engaging and covered a whole range of topics including love, family, friends, dreams, hopes, relationships and not least of all spirituality and theology. We eventually walked on the streets of Byblos or in Arabic Jubayl. This is a Mediterranean city in the Mount Lebanon. It is believed to have been occupied first between 8800 and 7000 BC. It is one of the cities suggested as the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world and the site has been continuously inhabited since 5000 BC.

It was the next morning as I woke up at 6am that it hit me. I could not sleep. It is a revelatory conversation that I am still unpacking. I have worked with young people for a long time now from all nationalities, who come from different parts of the world, of varying ages. Yesterday more than ever I discovered few things in common that I want to share:

Firstly, that the famous line from Apollo 13: ‘Houston, we have a problem!’ is so true today. The Church has a crisis of Faith. I am stating the obvious. You knew that, right? We have a crisis of relating to young people. We have a crisis of language and clashes of ideologies, a crisis of communicating with young people. It is a crisis of faith education. It is a crisis as the aussie saying goes of ‘putting the cart before the horse’.

It is not so much a warning that we are about to crash cz we have already crashed in many aspects but rather it is a warning that we must relaunch again and again. A new beginning that began 50 years ago with the Second Vatican Council. Our faith which is gold and precious needs new cloth. We need to use new language. We need to wrap the message at the heart of the Gospel with new paper. New colours and styles that are recognised by our young people. The message will be essentially the same. Let me be clear, I am not suggesting that we need to change the teachings.

But we must listen to our young people, who they are, what they love, how they think, their desires, dreams and hope. Above all we must love them and accept them. This must come first! Love comes first! Then we teach. Then we Know how we should teach. The method, the language, the style. Then we can use NEW parables and analogies that they can relate to.

We do what Jesus did. He spent 30 years of being immersed in the culture, hidden, loving the people and growing in love for his Father. He accepted them. He learned the ‘language’ and then went out and began to use teach by using parables from everyday life and then CHALLENGED them.

We must spend time with individual young people and love them, listen to them, celebrate with them, share their hopes and dreams, learn their language and then teach and CHALLENGE them to be the best version of themselves. The best that God created them to be based on the values of the teachings of the Church.

Even by teaching we must explain and propose. There is no room for violence or forceful conversions. We must propose and wait with the anxiety of the Father of the Prodigal Son who waited and grew old waiting for the return of his beloved son. We cannot force people.

In saying this I fully understand that the old school of thought and is still prevalent and legitimate today that fear and punishment instruct us. They discipline us. We unfortunately sometimes do not learn any other way. Even parents would concur with that, and even more so governments. We all know what would happen if we have no fines for speeding in Australia or no punishments for crimes. It is sad but that’s how we work.

The Church understands and believes this and has Canon laws to regulate and as a means of discipline and protection of the earthly community. We cannot and must not throw the baby out with the bath water. They are needed but the question is how much can we use of this approach with young people, when it is excessive use of this approach that is driving them away from home and Church.

There is no perfect answer. But what is clear is that faith and teaching must always be PROPOSED not IMPOSED. We are not talking about Children here, we are talking about adults. Young people are intelligent, wise, creative and independent. We need to be too.

My second revelation is that we are underestimating the spiritual depth clarity, insight that young people who may not be committed to weekly ‘Sunday’ Church and may not be living in accordance with every precept and moral teaching of the Church or may not be engaged in devotional practices. They can teach and are already teaching us if we wish to listen and not be so defensive. These are men and women who may not even read theological articles or even academic articles for that matter, but young men and women who are are Spirit filled, love filled, hope filled. We institutional Catholics (including me) have an on going temptation to limit the scope of the Spirit.

We think cz we studied or went to more faith talks or our Mass odometer reading is high, this means that can offer more than ‘them’. Oh, how we forget that ‘The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit’ (Jn 3:8).
A lot learned! Things I knew a little before! I am tired now! Back to sleep. I am on holidays after all!

Thank you Mado!