Fighting The Good Fight

"Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." (Romans 12:2) These profound words of Saint Paul present a difficult challenge for today's youth. How is it possible to live in the world yet not be directed, enveloped and ultimately overcome by its ways? When one is a child, he is a part of a family. His parentsteach him obedience and love. They bring him tothe Church, take him to school, teach him, scold him, praywith him, love him. A child is wrapped is this warm, close-knit family life. He follows its ways and habits and lifestyle. He may step outside this community, but never with both feet. When the "world" is too much, he can return; he is never alone. These years of childhood quickly pass. The young person is readyto step outside his family. As he does, the world pulls on him. It proclaims this person's newly found "freedom" and then begs him precisely to "conform to this world." For a young person "setting out in the world," so to speak, while truly struggling to remain apart from its fallen nature of destruction and senselessness, this time may be very difficult and often painful. He often feels alone; ironically this feeling is usually when he is surrounded by his peers.

But of course, the world is not all evil. There is much joy and friendship to be found, many people to speak with, much beauty and love to be experienced, and of course sadness and disappointments. A young person must be able to discern what to partake of: what will edify and not destroy, what will uplift and not depress, what is of God and what is not. He must attempt to prove what "the will of God is." This is a hard task. It is more difficult than it ever has been, especially for the youth who are pressured ceaselessly by the world, in this country of the "free." For what is freedom? It is not being 18 or 19 and free (finally!) to do what we want, when we want, how we want. Freedom, ultimately, is saying yes to Jesus Christ and His Church. Only once we are "within thisyes" are we free. Otherwise we are enslaved to this world. This realization must be experienced bythe Church's youth.

All this does not mean, obviously, that young people in the Church must reject the world and center in on their own lives in a selfish, judgmental manner. It is, to use a strong word, the duty of young people to be witnesses: it is possible to live in the world, to work, to go to school, to get married, to meet with people, yet to remain within the life of the Church, to remain loyal to and to practice the values and beliefs learned in one's childhood, while constantly growing spiritually, to pray, to fast, to go to Church - ultimately to live as a Christian. When this task is not accomplished (for that is very difficult, but then again all things are possible with God!) but undertaken, and a true struggle is made to overcome the evil with God, then youth may truly be educators for the Church. Young people are pressured by the world to find their identity, make their career choice, choose their character type, and experience their "freedom". They must hold fast to the anchor of faith in order to survive this tumult!! Then they will be examples for their sisters and brothers in Christ showing that only through much struggle and discipline, through faith and hope, through oneness with Jesus and His Church, may the demons of this world be battled. "If God is for us, who is against us?" (Romans 8:31).

Young adults within the Church may actively and obviously be educators for others. A main attribute that youth possess is their ability and willingness to adaptto change. They usually do not wish to remain static, as they constantly strive to evaluate the situation in which they find themselves. If this attribute is utilized in a positive manner, in an uplifting manner, then their example may be good for everyone. While older members of the parish may still remember the ways of their youth and find it difficult to part from obsolete practices and ideas, theyouth of today, in actuality, have no pastto referto. Thus they are not tied down to former ways, and must function simply in reference to today and eventually the future. This is a very valuable quality of the youth; it may be extremely edifying for the Church. But young people must be careful to stay "within" the teachings and traditions of the Church; they must respect the elders of the Church. Again, they must discern what is useful, what is upbuilding, what is of the Church. They must prove "what is good, acceptable and perfect."

By their vitality, and interest in building up the Body of Christ, young people may be a continual inspiration for the older members of the Church. While the older adults' beliefs and attitude toward the Church may grow stale, they may be counteracted by the fresh ideas and exuberance of younger persons, and even more importantly, by their real zeal and love for Christ and His Church.

While the younger person's example may be profitable for older adults, it is also beneficial to children who are growing up in the Church. Simply, the fact that the youth are older, yet are not "parents' age", shows the children that there is a time of being active in the Church between childhood and parenthood. It is possible to grow and remain in the Church. Just because your parents won't be there to wake you up for Church, and you yourself won't be waking your own children to go to Church, does not mean that you simply do not go. One can live the life of a young person, "exploring" different aspects of life while remaining completely faithful to Jesus Christ and His Church. As previously mentioned, by the youth's strong participation in the love for the Church, he serves as an example of fidelity for everyone.

Going hand in hand with the young person's involvement and growth within the Church, is his external example to the world. His life cannot be superficially involved with the Church just at 9:30 every other Sunday; he must be a thread intricately interwoven in the Church, never to be loosened or broken. Onlythen is he able notsimply to project a Christian "image," but essentially to be a Christian very obviously and thoroughly, in the way Jesus has taught us. Thus he becomes a judgment, in a good sense, to others by his lifestyle and beliefs. But he must always remember that he will be persecuted as Jesus was, and he will be despised, as Jesus was. Ultimately, if he "survives" all the bombardments of the outside world, while continually striving to build up the Church, he, by his person alone, will be an example for anyone who meets him.