The Value of a Student's Soul

By ZACH RAWSON

With the arrival of a new school year, the start of a new faith formation year follows in many, if not all, of our parishes. Please pray for all our parish directors, coordinators, catechists, and other faith formation and youth ministry volunteers. All of them have been on my mind and in my prayers the past couple of months because I know how difficult their task is in this current age.

At a recent fundraiser for the Mankato Newman Center, Monsignor James Shea questioned those in attendance about the value of a college student’s soul. “How much value must one single college student’s soul hold if the evil one is willing to do so much to attack it, and the Lord is willing to shed all of his blood for it?” His question was a reminder to me of the infinite worth of every human life and soul.

We are loved so much, and, because of that, we, especially our children, teens, and college students, are attacked most cun- ningly by one who hates us with part of his being. In the face of that evil, God came to protect and redeem us and continues to do so every moment of every day. So many of our children and teens are longing to experience the healing and redemption that the Lord has to offer, but we adults, who are wounded as well, often feel ill-equipped and unable to share the Lord’s healing and redeeming power with them.

Parents and catechists play such an important role in the lives of the souls of our children and teens. Your brokenness, your refusal to give up, your resolve to keep running back to the Lord, and the witness you give to your own children and others is crucial to the eternal destiny of our children’s souls. It doesn’t have to be more complicated than that. As we begin this new formation year, as we get into the details of curriculum, content, and lesson planning, let’s remember what Pope St. Paul VI reminded us in Evangelli nutiandi, “Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses.”

Share the love you have received from the Lord with your children and with those whom the task of catechesis has been entrusted to you. Teach them how to grow in a relationship with him through meeting him in Sacred Scripture and in prayer. Invite them into a life of discipleship by walking with them and showing them how you live with and relate to him. Remind them of the power of the Sacraments, especially Reconciliation and Penance and the Eucharist. Be a witness of what it looks like to persevere through your own brokenness and sinfulness. Bring them close to the Divine Physician who heals all wounds and redeems all ills.

The soul of even one child is of infinite value, so much so that there is a cosmic battle of epic proportions raging in the spiritual realm and spilling over into the physical. Parents and catechists, your witness is more valuable than is often acknowledged. Know of my prayers for you, for your children, and for the task of catechesis which has been entrusted to all of us in every parish of our diocese.

Zach Rawson is the Director of Youth Ministry & Faith Formation for the Diocese of Winona-Rochester