Transcript 'Good master, what must I do to inherit eternal life?'

"Good master, what must I
do to inherit eternal life?"
Young people, believing in Jesus
and the challenge of discipleship
today
Young people, believing in Jesus and the
challenge of discipleship today
 the challenges which faith in Christ
presents to young people today
 the attractiveness of faith for young
people today
 and how we can help those young
people who are on the threshold of faith
enter through the door of faith
Young people, believing in Jesus and the
challenge of discipleship today
What does your experience tell you…
 about why young people today find
believing in Christ challenging?
 about what schools or the Church more
generally can do to help those young
people standing on the threshold of
faith to pass through the door of faith?
Young people, believing in Jesus and the
challenge of discipleship today
“The Lord who calls us to evangelise does
not call us to say or do something, but
above all to be something…. We should
ponder deeply on this because it lies at the
heart of the call to evangelise. We cannot
help, liberate and calm others unless we
ourselves are first of all liberated, calmed
and saved by the presence of Jesus, by our
abiding in him as liberator and saviour”
Cardinal CM Martin SJ
Young people, believing in Jesus and the
challenge of discipleship today
“ For most of our students and our families
their Catholic school is now de facto their
primary Christian community”
Do you agree and does it matter?
Young people, believing in Jesus and the
challenge of discipleship today
The faith formation of our young people
in schools is very important – but it is
faith formation of a particular type
The faith formation of our young people in
schools is very important
“Only when we meet the living God in
Christ do we know what life is...there is
nothing more beautiful than to know him,
than to speak to others of our friendship
with him. The task of the shepherd, the
fisher of men, can often seem wearisome.
But it is beautiful and wonderful, because
it is truly a service to joy, to God’s joy
which longs to break into the world.”
Pope Benedict
The faith formation of our young people in
schools is very important
“All the anguish and all the longing of the
human heart find fulfilment. The joy of
love, the answer to the drama of suffering
and pain, the power of forgiveness in the
face of an offence received and the victory
of life over the emptiness of death: all this
finds fulfilment in the mystery of his
Incarnation, in his becoming man, in his
sharing our human weakness so as to
transform it by the power of his
resurrection.”
Pope Benedict
Young people, believing in Jesus and the
challenge of discipleship today
This work of faith formation in schools
is quite complex
This work of faith formation in schools is
quite complex
“For Christ plays in ten thousand places,
Lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his
To the Father through the features of
men’s faces.“
Gerard Manley Hopkins SJ
Young people, believing in Jesus and the
challenge of discipleship today
The young people with whom we work
certainly find faith challenging
The young people with whom we work certainly
find faith challenging
A greater challenge to the faith of young
people than arguments against religion is
the all-pervasive consumerism.
Do you agree? If not, what else matters
more?
Young people, believing in Jesus and the
challenge of discipleship today
So far as the faith formation of young
people is concerned, this is a time of
opportunity
This is a time of opportunity
“Very many people, while not claiming to
have the gift of faith, are nevertheless
sincerely searching for the ultimate
meaning and definitive truth of their lives
and of the world. This search is an
authentic ‘preamble’ to the faith, because
it guides people on to the path that leads
to the mystery of God. “
Pope Benedict
This is a time of opportunity
Do you detect similar signs of opportunity
with young people?
Young people, believing in Jesus and the
challenge of discipleship today
Meaning, Reflection, Witness
Meaning, Reflection, Witness
“Look upon Jesus as your friend, as your
confidant. Learn to go and see him, to visit
him, to remain with him, and you’ll see
how many things you learn. It’s a wisdom
only he can give you; the true knowledge
that makes people wise, holy and even
happy. If you go with Jesus, if you remain
with Jesus, you will yourself become
another Jesus”.
Pedro Arrupe
Young people, believing in Jesus and the
challenge of discipleship today
“Do you ever pray that you might see
these young people, their teachers
and their school as the Lord sees
them – and act accordingly?”
Young people, believing in Jesus and the
challenge of discipleship today
What does your experience tell you…
 about why young people today find
believing in Christ challenging?
 about what schools or the Church more
generally can do to help those young
people standing on the threshold of
faith to pass through the door of faith?