What makes your eyes light up?
By Steven Polley
Director, Offices of Youth Ministry and Religious Education
In one of my past articles, I spoke briefly about the Charism that I discerned during the "Called and Gifted" weekend last March. As I completed the interview process with Sherry Weddell, the co-founder of the "Called and Gifted" program, she told me that I was one of the most difficult interviews she ever had. This was because each time she asked a question, I would answer it, but then follow up an additional thought or concern that always began with the word "but."
As we talked about different things and youth ministry in the diocese, she finally asked me point blank: "What do you really want for the youth of the diocese?"
My response was quick and simple: "My deepest desire, my ultimate goal is to, in some way, lead our youth to a deeper appreciation of the Eucharist and the Body of Christ." As I completed this statement, she said, "For the first time your eyes truly lit up." She then said that she thought that there was a great possibility that my charism might be evangelization.
Of course I have already spoken on this component of "Renewing the Vision". However, as I begin to address the last of the eight components for a comprehensive youth ministry program, I want to move more deeply into the statement in the previous paragraph, "to lead our youth to a deeper appreciation of the Eucharist and the Body of Christ." This statement takes us directly to the last component, Prayer and Worship".
From "Renewing the Vision" we read, "The ministry of prayer and worship celebrates and deepens young people’s relationship with Jesus Christ through the bestowal of grace, communal prayer and liturgical experiences; it awakens their awareness of the spirit at work in their lives; it incorporates young people more fully into the sacramental life of the Church, especially Eucharist; it nurtures the personal prayer life of young people; and it fosters family rituals and prayer."
In a future issue, I will speak more directly to this paragraph. And as I end my writing for this issue, the above paragraph calls each of us to respond in ways that will lead our young people more deeply into the ministry of prayer and worship. It gives me great joy to read this and know that in many ways this is already in the works. In the past two issues of the SKR, you have seen information on the "Youthful Music Workshop", Oct. 26. The organizer of the event, Mary Jane Goebel, is answering the call to this component. This music workshop promises to be a day that will make our eyes light up and the words in the previous paragraph truly come to life.