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At the Chrism Mass at Westminster Cathedral this year, Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor, called on the Church to pay particular attention to its young people. This is an edited version of his homily.
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Cardinal
Cormac calls on the Church to serve the Young |
One of the most urgent challenges for the Church is how to help our young people discover, or perhaps rediscover, their place in our midst. This is not just a matter of their spiritual formation, but also the whole emotional, physical and psychological well-being of those who are God's gift to his Church. We need to ask ourselves "What is it that young adults seek from us? We need to make time to listen and be with young people I was talking to a priest the other day about young people and he said that he felt what they wanted most from him is what he found most difficult to give, and that was - time. We are all so busy, overwhelmed by the demands of our domestic lives, keeping appointments, juggling pastoral and other responsibilities. But for love to thrive, being present to and for one another is necessary, and that means spending time together. Every wise Christian knows that if one is to grow in the inner life, aligning oneself ever more closely with God, one must give time to God in prayer. Laying the foundation of trust takes time too and this is particularly true for our young adults. Would that we were able to devise ways in which all of us, not just priests or religious, could spend more time with our young people - making more time just to listen to their concerns. I don't entirely accept that young people today are really so different to the young of our generation. During Lent I had a series of meetings here in the cathedral with between three and four hundred of the young people of the diocese. It was very moving to be with them and to hear of their great enthusiasm, their idealism, their great desire for God. And more than anything else, it was an experience of great hope to see how they so much wanted to make the journey together. How they felt encouraged by each other and were delighted to hear one another's faith story. They are searching for the same things that we all search for. At the deepest level they are searching for meaning. What truth is and what love is. Like us they look around them and ask how it is that humans treat each other the way we do. Youthful idealism some will say. Yes, it is but it is more than that. It is a striving towards the reality of modern living with the prompting of the Spirit giving encouragement to that search. That's why it is incumbent on us - bishops and priests in particular - to take our young people seriously, and join them in their search because although we may find ourselves joining the search from a slightly different path, their search is our search too. And increasingly, as I discovered recently, young people are looking to the Church to provide support. And frankly while they look to us for reassurance, for guidance, for teaching - and they do; we would do well to look to them for rejuvenation, for inspiration, for enthusiasm and for laughter. This is a two-way street we are travelling down. Liturgy, silence and listening - the powerful secret of Taize Years ago I visited the ecumenical community of Taize with a group of young people. As anyone who has been there knows, Taize is a powerful demonstration of the very strong attraction that music and silence exert in the spiritual lives of young people. It was exciting to sit among 5000 young people alternately chanting, praying and silently contemplative. And in Latin too! The silence was extended, profound and palpable. At Taize, in an atmosphere of candlelight, icons, kneeling around a cross, young people find something to assuage their hunger. That something is the Spirit of God. And after prayer, the community stay behind, ready to listen to young people unburdening their hearts. This is an inspiring model for us - myself included. There is no doubt that ritual and liturgy play a vital part in our spiritual development. They open up for us the reality that God is much greater than our normal patterns of speaking and acting. This is something which young people accept instinctively. The liturgy can be a means to help them discover the face of God in their lives. We must continually explore ways to help young people participate in these life-giving celebrations of Our Church, so that they can more readily and generously embrace the demands of the Gospel. Let us pray for the wisdom and courage to be good guardians, good co-disciples, good parents, good pastors. It is in moments of silent listening and prayer that we will discern how best to become the loving bearers of wisdom and authority that our young people need and how to become the communities of hope and love that the world is looking for.
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