Youth Session 4: Bridging the Gap Between Faith and Life
This is how all will know that you are my disciples,
if you have love for one another. (Jn 13:35)
To renew our commitment to create a culture inspired by gospel values, by living out our faith in all areas of life.
As Catholic Christians we are called to have the gospel values affect each aspect of our lives. Each day offers us an opportunity to be a witness to those around us. If this session is planned during the Easter season, take this opportunity to celebrate the resurrection and what effect such an event has on our life and culture. This is a time to search for the meaning of the Eucharist in our lives, this Sacrament that sustains us as we live. Are we part of the world and working to transform it? Do we truly believe that it is possible?
Search newspapers, magazines, Internet for stories of people who make a difference by living their faith every day. Share a story with the group.
Welcome the participants and ask them briefly to introduce themselves. Start the session with a simple prayer and a song, such as Cesareo Gabarain's "Id y Enseñad/Go and Teach" (Flor y Canto, #336, Oregon Catholic Press).
What does faith have to do with daily life and culture? Should there be a relationship between Sunday Mass and Monday morning; between what I believe in faith and what I live every day? People who live their faith in everyday life make a difference in our community and inspire others to do the same. Inspiring people are found in every community of faith. In many cases they are simple folk like the grandmother of the family, a youth of the parish, a neighborhood couple, or a teacher in the local school. Inspirational individuals do not always stand out by being the most popular or the ones who speak best. What is common to all of them is their commitment to live according to gospel values day in and day out, especially in adverse circumstances. Their life witness is the best example of discipleship. It is an enthusiastic invitation for others to live the good news of Jesus in every human situation (Go and Make Disciples, p. 2). On the other hand, many baptized men and women live their Christian faith without energy, while others have separated themselves from the Church (Redemptoris Missio, no. 33). Conversion is incomplete if we are not aware of the demands of Christian life and if we do not strive to live them (Ecclesia in America, no. 27). We are called to a "New Evangelization" and to make the connection between our faith and our daily duties in family, work, school, and with friends.
Discussion questions:
- Who in your community inspires others to live the gospel values in everyday life?
- Give examples of how you live the Gospel.
- What makes it difficult for you to live your faith in everyday life?
Jesus Christ is not an idea, but a concrete, historic individual: the Son of God who became the son of Mary in a given time, place, and culture so as to redeem us (
The Hispanic Presence in the New Evangelization in the United States, p. 20). Jesus lived the gospel challenge faithfully as he grew up in Nazareth in his own culture. He also had to challenge those who had expectations and attitudes different from the gospel challenges. The Gospel is full of examples where Jesus changed these situations by witnessing to them the values of the kingdom of God. With the healing on the Sabbath day, Jesus teaches that the Sabbath is for the good of the individual, not the individual for the Sabbath. In hanging out with known sinners and socializing with non-Jews, Jesus teaches that God's love and plan of salvation reach across cultural and geographic boundaries to everyone. With his miracles, Jesus witnesses to God's will of bringing forgiveness, reconciliation, healing, and liberation to everyone. With his teachings and deeds, Jesus brings faith, life, and culture together by affirming what is genuine and good in the culture, and challenging what is false, mistaken, and undesirable.
Evangelization consists precisely in continuing this good work: in transforming, in the name of Jesus Christ and with the power of the Holy Spirit, every belief, attitude, and behavior in our culture, so as to affirm the life and dignity of each person, in accord with the values and promises of the kingdom of God. This process of inculturation of the Gospel calls us to promote a new expression of the Gospel in accordance with evangelized culture, looking to a language of the faith that is the common patrimony of the faithful and thus a fundamental element of communion (
General Directory for Catechesis, no. 203).
Discussion questions:
- How does your community of faith give witness to Jesus' message of love, hope, and faith?
- Where does your community need to do some more work? Which attitudes, beliefs or behaviors need to be challenged?
Pope John Paul II warns that we live amidst a cultural crisis of unsuspected proportions, in which fundamental gospel and human values tend to disappear and give way to attitudes, deeds, and situations that separate us from God and from one another (
Nueva Evangelización, CELAM 1992, no. 230). Putting things before persons, getting rich at the expense of the weakest, fomenting racial contempt, and educating without moral values are some examples of the cultural crisis. John Paul II calls for a New Evangelization that will renew the commitment of the Church, and of each believer, to bridge the gap between faith and life. For a faith that does not build a culture based on gospel values is a sterile faith (
The Hispanic Presence in the New Evangelization in the United States, p. 16). To better respond to this challenge, the New Evangelization calls for a "new apostolic zeal" capable of generating "new enthusiasm" in the proclamation of the Gospel with "new methods" that effectively use imagination, creativity, and the technical and scientific resources available to share the good news.
Action step:
- Using the five areas listed below, identify actions that can bring about a New Evangelization. Example: Go on a one-day pilgrimage to a cathedral or a local shrine to pray for new understanding in living our faith in the world.
- In how we live as followers of Christ
- In how we celebrate the Mass and other prayer opportunities
- In how we learn about Jesus and the gospel challenges
- how we serve in the name of charity and justice
- In how we proclaim that Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, yesterday, today, and forever
- What helped you participate in this session and what made it difficult?
- What did you learn and accept about others?
- What did you learn about your faith?
- How did people make a commitment to implement a course of action?
- Opening hymn/song
- Invocation or invitation to prayer
- Scriptural reading
- Prayer of thanksgiving or petition
- The Lord's Prayer
- Final prayer and sign of peace
- Closing hymn
Attending such a gathering as WYD 2000 will undoubtedly change all who participate. However, time should be taken to reflect on our reasons for going in the first place. How can we be evangelizers if we do not willingly accept this challenge?
- Why did I sign up to attend WYD 2000?
- Am I ready to be changed?
- What is the difference to me between a pilgrim and a tourist or vacationer?
- Have I ever thought of myself as being able to evangelize? Why or why not?