Why Young People don't come to Church Today

Introduction :

Youth who come to Church regularly are a minority; it just isn't "COOL" to go to Church. But that's okay; because if we went to Church to be "IN" we would be going for the wrong reason.

Church is a place to worship, and a place of worship. When I was a "Young Person" I was told that the Church was the "House of God". It seemed to me that this was a positive approach because I realized that I had to touch basis with God, and what better place to do so than at "His House".

Centre of the Catholic Faith :

I'd be pretty insulted if I invited a group of friends to my house for a party, but they were so busy talking to each other that they forgot to talk to me.

Likewise, the Community can't forget that they have come to the celebration to pay tribute to the "HOST", JESUS CHRIST IN THE BLESSED SACRAMENT.

The "EUCHARIST" is Central or at least it should be. It is the ALL- Important reason for coming to Church. We can actually meet Jesus Christ on such a level that we can take "HIM" deep within us.

What a profound delight !!

Unfortunately, many of our Youth do not realize the impact and the privilege it is to receive the "REAL PRESENCE OF CHRIST IN THE EUCHARIST".

We must instill in our Youth a desire to "hear with their ears, see with their eyes and be converted".  (Mark 8:18)

It is imperative that each and every baptised Catholic Christian acknowledge their sin, and recognize their need for a Saviour. We must repent, accept Jesus Christ into our Hearts, and be converted !!

A Big step in this conversion is to speak it out. Romans 10:9 says : "If your lips confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and if you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead then you will be saved".

It is then that the full power and grace of the "SACRAMENTS" is truly released. When our Youth really come to know God in this way; we won't be able to keep them away from Church !!

Importance of the Sacrifice of the Mass :

Young People cannot slide into heaven on their parent's coat -tails. They need to develop a right relationship with God.

Scripture warns us that :

"Every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are proclaiming his death, and so anyone who eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will be behaving unworthily towards the Body and Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ".

It is the responsibility, therefore of each individual attending Mass and receiving the "Holy Eucharist" to be in an attitude of reverence and respect for Our Lord.

Holy Mass is first a sacrifice and secondly a celebration. We would have nothing to celebrate if Jesus Christ had not been brutally scourged and crucified and left to die for our sins.

We cannot save ourselves. Jesus Christ said : "If I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto me".

Many Youth do not attend Church because they have not been convinced of this overwhelming fact. They do not comprehend the profound victory the Mass brings us.

They need to be told, just as the Jews were told, "I tell you most solemnly if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you will not have life in you". ( John 6 :53)

If we are distracted and dreaming at Mass, we must not go forward to Holy Communion just to break the monotony; or go with the flow.

If we are bored it is because we fail to enter into full communion with Jesus Christ- not because the Mass is Boring !!

We need to pray that the Holy Spirit will reveal the "Spiritual Truths" to our Youth, so that they will be set free from the world.

The All - Encompassing Personality of God:

All too often we have introduced our Youth to a good - fairy God. A God of  Love and only Love. No matter what we do, he will continue to love us. This is a half- truth.

God is also a God of Wrath - a God who gives his children commandments and expects them to live by them. He is a God who loves us enough to chastise us when we are out of line.

We wonder why many of our youth are not spiritually tuned in, But the Bible tells us that "Fear of the Lord" is the beginning of Wisdom (Psalm 111:10) and we have failed to introduce them to the fearsome side of God's Personality; we have only given them half a God but it is not enough.

Conclusion :

When we are self-reliant in control, we see no need for God. Our Youth are encouraged to do their own thing, look out for Number 1, believe in yourself.

All good things if indulged in minute degrees; but when self gratification becomes a lifestyle, there is no room left for God.

We all want "Eternal Life", and eternal life is this : "to know you, the only True God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent". (John 17:3).

Let's introduce our Youth to Jesus Christ -- Who is the Divine Mercy Incarnate and who is present day and night in the Holy Eucharist Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity and when they really come to "KNOW HIM", they will long to attend Church.

Credits and References :

Why Johnny doesn't go to Church By Ursula C. Van Oosten
Pages 8-10
Don Bosco's Madonna, Mumbai
August 2010, Volume - 12, N0 - 4


Note : I have just one message for Catholic Youth today who live in Metro Cities in Western Europe, North America, or in any other part of the world.

"ACCEPT JESUS CHRIST AS YOUR PERSONAL LORD AND SAVIOUR IN THE BLESSED SACRAMENT".

The Blessed Sacrament is a "Precious Treasure" of the Catholic Church. It is your precious treasure and my precious treasure.

In this precious treasure, Christ continuously gives, and gives, and gives, and gives of himself.

"HE IS OUR TREMENDOUS LOVER IN THE HOLY EUCHARIST".

Let us never forget that. Let us never desert "CHRIST IN THE BLESSED SACRAMENT" for the seductive pleasures of the world.




 

A Reflection for Christmas Day 2015

Introduction :

God willed to share in our human condition to the point of becoming one with us in the person of Jesus Christ, who is "True Man and True God".

However, there is something even more surprising. The presence of God among men did not take place in a perfect world, but rather in this real world, which is marked by so many things both good and bad, by division, by wickedness, by poverty, by arrogance, and finally by war.

He chose to live in our history as it is, with all the weight of its limitations and of its tragedies.

In doing so, he has demonstrated in an unequalled manner his merciful and truly loving disposition towards humans.

He is God - with us. Jesus Christ is God- with - us.

Jesus Christ is God with us always and forever with us in history's suffering and sorrow.

The Birth of Jesus Christ reveals that God "sided" with man once and for all, to save us, to raise us from the dust of our misery, from our difficulty, and from our sins.


Conclusion :

This is the great "gift" of the Child of Bethlehem. He gives us a spiritual energy, an energy which enables us not to despair in our struggles, in our hopelessness, in our sadness, for it is an energy that transforms us.

Indeed, the Birth of Jesus Christ brings us delightful news that we are loved immensely and uniquely by God, and he not only enables us to know this love, but he communicates it to us !!

Credits and References :

"A Place for the Poor on Christmas"
by his Holiness Pope Francis
December 2013
Don Bosco's Madonna Mumbai,
Vol -16, N0- 8
December 2014
Pages 18-19

Note : Please read an excellent meditation for Christmas.

The Nativity of Christ.

http://www.ecatholic2000.com/cts/untitled-590.shtml#_Toc349936255




 

An Indian Princess who became a Catholic Christian

This is a simple story of an Indian Princess who lived in North India from the Mid or Late - 1700's to the early 1800's and who was a fervent Catholic Christian.

She was a Catholic Christian out of conviction and not for "Material Benefits" as she was quite rich in her own right.

I am talking about Begum Yohanna Sumru of Sardhana.

She converted to Catholicism after a number of years. She was married to a French Colonel by the name of Walter Reinhardt Sumru.

She had a great devotion to Our Lady and built a Church -Shrine in honor of Our Lady of all Graces.

Note : Begum Yohanna Sumru is the only "Royalty" in India who became a Catholic Christian.

Read the whole story here.

http://www.sardhanachurch.org/theshrineof.aspx

Merry Christmas 2015 and a Happy and Blessed New Year 2016

Dear Friends in Jesus and Mary,

The Year 2015 is drawing to a close but there are important feast days coming up before the year is over.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all the readers of my blog a Merry Christmas 2015.

May the Christ Child bless you and your family abundantly.

This is also the time, to wish all the readers of my blog a Blessed and Holy New Year 2016.

Note : Please watch out for my Blog Post on Christmas Day.

 

Article for January 2016

Dear Friends in Jesus and Mary,

I will be posting just one article in January 2016.

It is as follows :

"Why Young People don't come to Church Today".

THEOPHANE VENARD

A Little Hero of Christ

Introduction :

Theophane  was born in a little village called Saint Loup in France. When he was nine years old and looking after the goats of the family a companion read out a piece of news to him from a recent missionary magazine. It was the narration of how the missionary Father Charles Corney was martyred in TongKing, Indo - China (now present day Vietnam).

Little Theophane had tears in his eyes on hearing of the tortures this holy priest had undergone. "I too will go to Tongking and shall die for Christ !!" he said.

Soon after, that Theophane  joined the Seminary and was ordained a Priest. His mind was now set on Indo-China. He went to the South Seas, and in a Chinese Junk managed to get to Tongking.

It was 1858, these were difficult times for the Catholic Church there. The French Missionaries had succeeded in winning over to "Our Lord" 140,000 souls but now due to fierce persecution all this work seemed to be wiped off !!

"We are like birds on the branch of a tree, always on the alert", Father Theophane wrote. We hide in little boats, or in caverns, or in the tombs in the mountains, where we run the risk of being buried alive. "One day we had to remain in one of these tombs for eight hours, being able to breathe only through a bamboo tube".

Then for a space of two years, Father Theophane was on the run. He hid in the mountains, moved from village to village, all the time teaching, preaching, and administering the sacraments.

He saw the Catholic Christians being put to death by the most horrible tortures, and the Catholic Schools and Catholic Churches destroyed.

Conclusion :

In November 1860, Father Theophane was caught and in chains taken from village to village. The executioner asked for a tip to do the work quickly. Poor Father Theophane who had no money replied "Take your time, friend!! The good Father was then stripped of all his clothes, except the trousers and by a blunt sword the head was severed.

The Blood of this young priest drenched the sands of Indo China !! (now present day Vietnam).

All this happened not very long ago !!

Note: The Catholic Church in Vietnam is red with the blood of martyrs. There are at least 100 canonized martyrs in the Catholic Church in Vietnam.

The most prominent Vietnamese Catholic Saint is Saint Andrew Dung Lac. He too was martyred for the Catholic Faith.

Today, in North Vietnam and in the Highlands in Central Vietnam large numbers of people are embracing Christ and the Catholic Faith.

May God bless abundantly the Catholic Church in Vietnam. It is often said that the Blood of Martyrs is the seed of the Church -that is so true in the case of Vietnam.

Vietnam has approximately 8 Million Catholics roughly 10% of the population and growing.

Credits: Don Bosco's Madonna,
             Mumbai, India
             October 1975
            Page 17
           "Theophane Venard"
           By Father Cajetan Lobo S.D.B.

 

Our Lady of Guadalupe Patroness of the Americas

Introduction :

The Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe is December 12. The one request that Mother Mary made to the Bishop through Saint Juan Diego was that a chapel be built so that all of her children could come to her "Beloved Son" in the Blessed Sacrament.

When we see a picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe she appears to be standing in the midst of glorious rays coming from the sun. In Fact, these rays are not coming from the rays of the sun in the sky, but rather the divine rays of the Son in the Blessed Sacrament.

The higher meaning of the "Woman clothed with the Sun" is Mary's perfect union with Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. This is what is meant by the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Mary. These two hearts are perfectly united and now beat as one.

The meaning of Our Lady of Guadalupe is this. She is proclaiming the "Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament" giving witness to his healing rays, represented by the glorious rays surrounding her.

At the same time, she is announcing to the world the great "Eucharistic Miracle" to come when the divine rays of his mercy and love will shine out from the Blessed Sacrament in radiant splendour.

This "Eucharistic Miracle" will be brighter than the Sun and it will take place in every chapel of perpetual adoration where Jesus Christ is loved and adored day and night without pause.

This is why we meditate during December on the prophetic words from Isaiah : "No Longer will your teacher hide himself ". (Isaiah 30:20) "He will destroy the veil that veils all peoples". (Isaiah 25:7).

The "Veil" is what prevents us from seeing the glorious "Presence of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament".

The first thing that Saint Juan Diego saw was a brilliant light. Out of the light the Blessed Mother appeared.

It is the "considered opinion" of many associated with the devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe that the light that Saint Juan Diego saw was a "Glorified Host" from which the Blessed Mother appeared.

Everything that this marvellous light touched was transformed. For Example, the rocks on the mountainside were transformed into precious stones. From the snow in the cold of winter, grew the loveliest roses Saint Juan Diego ever saw.

Conclusion :

When Saint Juan Diego took the roses to the Bishop as proof that he had a heavenly vision there was a great surprise. His clothing was transformed into the "Image" of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

This Image of Our Lady of Guadalupe is known as "The Tilma".

Our Lady of Guadalupe is the "Patroness of the Americas".

Happy Feast to one and all.

FYI- Guadalupe is situated in Mexico City, Mexico. There is a magnificent Basilica dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe there.

Credits and References :

"Our Lady of Guadalupe"
 Could you not watch one hour with me
 By Father Martin Lucia
Missionaries of the Blessed Sacrament
Newsletter No-3
December 1997