Category Archives: focus on millennials

Christian or Muslim. Pro-life or pro-choice. Liberal or conservative. One of us or one of them.

      The list of the familiar dichotomies that divide us and change the way we think about ourselves and other people goes on endlessly — often to the point that I fear we cease to remember that we are all, in fact, people.  Continue reading →

I was thrilled to see the announcement that Pope Francis will canonize Blessed Paul VI and Blessed Oscar Romero during the upcoming synod on “Young people, the faith and vocational discernment,” and I was even more elated that their canonizations will take place on the same day.

      I read Pope Francis’ choice for this timing as a subtle signal that it’s time to turn the page on the tired division between “pro-life” and “social justice” Catholicism. Millennial Catholics intuitively grasp the integrity of the church’s sexual, social and sacramental teachings. Perhaps, then, this dual canonization is more for established Catholic leaders still caught up in culture wars than for emerging leaders engaged in missionary activity. Continue reading →

When you’re in your 20s and 30s, you often feel invincible — like there’s so much time to make mistakes because you’ll fix them tomorrow. It’s easy to boast that this is the time to do whatever you want.

      But then something happens. Maybe you lose your job or your longtime friend stops returning your texts. Or, maybe you learn at age 35 that you have breast cancer — and that’s what happened to me. Continue reading →

Many people have assumed that once millennials started to grow older and have kids, a large number would return to the church or become more actively engaged. This has not materialized — the numbers are troubling. And there are certainly many reasons why, from changing social norms to mistakes the church has made.

      As the church prepares for the upcoming synod on “Young people, faith and vocational discernment” and looks to “encounter, accompany and care for every young person without exception,” it would be helpful to consider what more the church could be doing to welcome and support young families. Continue reading →

It has been nearly a month since the beginning of the presynod gathering on “Young people, the faith and vocational discernment,” in Rome, and other than the palms from the Mass in St. Peter’s Square still sitting on my dining room table and the magnet of a Swiss Guardsman stuck to my fridge, the physical remnants of that remarkable trip have been put away.

My suitcase is unpacked, my (mostly) normal day-to-day schedule has resumed, and save for the occasional tweet about #synod2018, it seems that the presynod gathering of young people, the first of its kind, has largely faded from view. Continue reading →

The very fact that over 300 young people — joined by another 15,000 virtual participants via social media — came together to produce a document to be read and studied by bishops around the world in preparation for the Vatican’s 2018 synod on “Young people, the faith and vocational discernment” is no small feat.

The near-unanimous consensus on a range of issues facing young people in the church today also is a small miracle in itself and offers an example to the rest of the church at a time when some of its more established leaders, continuing to fight old battles, are adding to the climate of polarization rather than overcoming it. Continue reading →

“Can I keep you?” Casper whispers into Kat’s ear, and she ever so softly agrees. Somehow in that moment it didn’t matter that Kat was human and Casper was a ghost — an attraction crossed that very real divide. The most powerful messages of the movie “Casper” relate to love and belonging, giving and receiving … and even letting go.

      These themes always captivate the human heart. People are searching for love and ways to give themselves away. At times they are even eager to say “yes” when they hear the proposal, “Can I keep you?” Continue reading →