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youth ministry
Welcome to 2022 As we prepare to welcome 2022, Tom Carty from Animate Youth Ministries offers a reflection on the challenges this decade has brought to date. I have not written anything for the Catholic Pic since the pandemic began so, though Father Simon has no doubt written a lot about it already, I thought I would give you something of my perspective from these last two years. As I am sure was the case for everyone, when lockdown first came into effect in March 2020, we did not expect it to last beyond the Easter holidays. Obviously, we were wrong, and we all suddenly had a lot more free time than we were used to. I was planning to use the time stuck at home to start a new fitness regime, but after spraining my ankle one week in, I gave it up as a bad job. As a team, we were a bit lost. The bulk of our work is with schools and, since they were all closed, we had to
think of something else. We met up regularly on Zoom to catch up and think about what we could do. We settled on creating new day-retreat activities and Faith in Action Award reflection points that we could use when we were allowed to work with young people again. But as the weeks turned into months, it seemed to me like that day might never come. When restrictions were eased slightly in the summer of 2020, I was glad to return to Lowe House. Though we were still unable to work with schools, it was good to be back together as a community again. Things were looking up. After the summer holidays, we returned once more to St Helens and fortunately, this time, we were allowed to work
with schools again. We had to modify some of our resources and activities in order to comply with Covid regulations and make sure everyone was as safe as possible, but we didn’t mind. We were just happy to be working with schoolchildren again. However, not long after Christmas that year, we entered yet another lockdown. This time the team remained at Lowe House for a while, where we devoted ourselves to renovation and created a recording studio in one of the rooms. We thought that even if we could not physically work with youngsters, we could still spread the Gospel message via the internet. We created a plethora of videos for YouTube and not only did we have a lot of fun making them but they garnered a lot of interest from the youth and others in the Diocese. For the rest of 2021, after Easter, things began to return to a semblance of normality. We worked with many high schools and primary schools from all over the Archdiocese, and it was like we had never been away. Without wanting to come across as patronising, I have been very impressed by the resilience shown by the youth with whom we have worked. The past two years have not made them jaded or cynical in any way. I have witnessed so much enthusiasm, compassion, and generosity from young people that it gives me hope for the future. Though we have been beset from all sides by negativity and bad news, we must not let this wear us down, or harden our hearts. As Jesus said, we must ‘become like little children’. Not jaded or cynical, but humble, compassionate, and willing to trust in God. As we begin the new year, though it is still dark and cold, we can take solace in knowing that light is coming. The light of hope which entered the world 2,000 years ago in a stable in Bethlehem. And the light of hope carried by our young people today. Best wishes for the new year.
Catholic Pictorial
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