PRODIGAL YOUTH

FALL 2021

Photo: The coexistence of youth, faith and joy: the Drejaj family at St. Lawrence O’Toole, Brewster.

WELCOMING A GENERATION BACK

FOR DECADES NOW, young people have been drifting away from the Catholic Church. To understand the impact of this trend and explore strategies for reconnecting with young Catholics, Archways spoke to Fr. Jim Mayzik, SJ, parochial vicar at Church of the Epiphany in Manhattan, a Jesuit filmmaker and educator who founded the Department of Film and Television at Fairfield University – and has focused in recent years on youth and young adult ministry.

Archways: Why has there been a drift away from the church among young people, especially young adults?

Fr. Jim Mayzik, SJ: I taught at Fairfield University for 25 years, a Jesuit college, and by the time I left, I think 10 percent of the student body was going to Mass. It’s not an unusual thing for kids when they get to college. They’re out of their family orbit so they should be questioning, you know? I think it’s natural.

Part of it is that the Church doesn’t know how to speak their language. You really have to understand who they are and what’s motivating them, what their fears are, what their desires and dreams are. There is still a real hunger for meaning in their lives. They haven’t felt welcomed in the Church or they’re thinking of an old church that they became disaffected from when they were younger. They are out there to be evangelized but you have to find them where they are. 

AW: What’s at stake if this trend continues? For the Church and for the folks drifting away? What’s the vision for the future if they don’t come back?

JM: I think it’s pretty grim. If we don’t focus on the young people, there is going to be nobody to be the Church. Just look at the numbers: whether it’s church attendance or entering religious vocations – there’s just no interest. We’ve got to pay attention.

AW: What can the Church – clergy, ministry leaders, the lay faithful – do to bring young people back to the faith?

JM: Fifty years ago the churches were filled, right? Because people believed that if you didn’t go to church on Sundays you would go to Hell. That can’t be the motivation for getting people to come. We should be providing something that matters to them. The homilies have got to be about their lives. The connection to who we are as a community has got to be about their world. It can’t be just that you leave your world and come to this holy place, then go back out and it’s disconnected.

I think the Holy Spirit is calling us to grow the Church. But that means we have to be really courageous about it. We have to go out and be inviting to people. In too many places, Catholic church is not inviting. It’s not just about the clergy. It’s the people in the Church – everyone  – who should recognize they have a role to play in sharing the faith, being open to people who are skeptical, to people who are wandering and looking for something. Listening to them. Not just saying, “Here’s a formula.” Jesus was open to everyone who was out there, and he met them where they were.

One of our main tools is a program called Alpha, which has been used at many Catholic parishes and dioceses. It’s great, particularly for young adults who are on the fence, who are hungry for something but don’t know what they’re looking for, who may be questioning and doubting about their faith. It’s a great way to begin a conversation with them.

The program runs for 10 weeks. You come one day a week and you have a meal, then there’s a 15- or 20-minute film. The real gold is the conversation that happens afterward. In our experience, the Holy Spirit uses that moment to convert hearts. It’s pretty spectacular. We have done maybe 15 of these Alphas in the past two years. Young adults in particular come to the program and are transformed. They develop relationships, then they see the connection to the faith. We’ve seen tremendous growth here in our young adult group.

Fr. Jim Mayzik (at left) at Bear Mountain with young adult hikers from Manhattan’s Church of the Epiphany.

AW: What about young married couples and parents?

JM: Most of our success has been with singles. The people who are married and have kids are a whole other group. Sometimes there’s a disconnect between the school or religious education program and the parents who have kids enrolled. Parents are doing the right thing by sending the kids to the school or dropping them off at religious ed, but sometimes their own faith isn’t deep. In our school there’s a tremendous sense of community, but a lot of the parents don’t come to Mass. It’s a big disappointment, because we need them as much as we need their children. We’re trying to prepare the young ones to become parents who will stay connected to the Church. 

AW: Are there issues of trust among young Catholics arising from the sexual-abuse scandals of recent years?

JM: I don’t hear that from the people in our programs, but sometimes they tell me that some of their friends are staying away because of the scandals. To get to those people, we should be reaching out.

AW: What gives you hope?

JM: I believe that the world and all of the universe are guided by the One who created and sustains us. We can sometimes get caught up in the small things. Maybe the Church is going to be different 50 years from now, but that doesn’t mean God isn’t going to be here guiding us through the changes, inviting us and encouraging us.

Our faith can be a joyous experience. Because there’s love there. In the end, love always wins. The Church has got to represent that, more than anything.
 

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SIDEBAR: LIGHTING THE WAY BACK

Young Adult Outreach volunteers at Port Authority Bus Terminal.

In addition to parish-based ministries like Fr. Jim Mayzik’s, the Archdiocese of New York’s Young Adult Outreach Office oversees a number of programs that connect with young Catholics. “Our programs operate on a two-pillar system: connecting with God and connecting with each other,” says Colin Nykaza, who directs the office.

Some of the events sponsored by the ministry, such as convening to pray the rosary or for eucharistic adoration, are pure acts of faith (connecting to God). Others are strictly social: a ministry-sponsored hike or group outing to a Yankees or Mets game (connecting to each other). Still other events mix the social and the religious, such as the monthly Young Adult Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral followed by a social at a nearby pub or restaurant. Many young people especially respond to service efforts like the You Did It to Me series, in which volunteers venture into a park or other public area to bring food, clothing and a caring word to homeless neighbors.

For busy young Catholic parents who may be letting faith fade out of their lives, the archdiocese’s  Office of Youth Faith Formation oversees a program that can spark a reconnection to the Lord. Family catechesis — primarily designed with the kids in mind — requires parents to participate as co-instructors in their children’s religious education. Often it reignites a devotion to Christ in parents when they see the response of their children to the curriculum.

This effect was especially evident during the pandemic, when many parents overseeing their kids’ Zoom sessions expressed a deep personal call back to Christ and the Church. Religious education directors hope to keep this channel open after a return to in-person instruction by using some of the technological solutions that carried their programs through the health crisis. (See “Teaching the Faith,” Archways Spring 2021.)