Here & Now! by Craig Gehlhausen
Wow. I’m not really sure how else to start this but with a wow.
Two weeks ago St. Isidore Youth Ministry took a group of 18 to the Catholic Heart Workcamp in Knoxville, TN. We gave up a week of our summer to help those in need by painting fences, interior walls, and entire houses, building a few wheelchair ramps (including one almost 100 feet long), replacing or repairing a few decks, organizing food in pantries, spending time with nursing home residents, cleaning off tombstones of veterans from as far back as the civil war, and so much more. We also gave up a week of our summer to sleep on the floor of a classroom, suffer quietly in the summer sun, wait in long lines for food, get covered in paint, dirt, and who knows what that lives under decks, have a territorial fight with a raccoon, and get stuck in a van for hours at a time with full bladders.
We did all of this for the experience that is Catholic Heart Workcamp. We helped the people in Knoxville. Yes we put in the hard work to physically help them with the projects mentioned above but most importantly we talked with them, grew in relationship with them, and practiced being more like Jesus by loving them. The Goals of Catholic Heart Workcamp are to Love, Serve, and Connect. This past week was spent Loving our residents, agencies, and those in our work teams and our youth group. Serving those in need in Knoxville, and Connecting with others around us but most importantly with Jesus Christ who was so present.
The theme of the week was Here & Now. We are being called to live our faith Here & Now. Not to wait until we are older or “have more time for our faith” but live it in every aspect of our lives now. We are being called to lead others to Jesus right now, and in order to do that we must first have a relationship with Jesus. You can’t share what you don’t have. Over the course of a number of years I have heard a multitude of people say that students and our children are “the Future of the Church.” I have heard this many times and the more I hear it the more I realize that Catholic Heart’s theme was perfect last week.
Our Students of St. Isidore Parish are NOT the future of the Church. They are the Church of Today.
We need our students. Not tomorrow, not years down the road, but Here & Now! We need them to lead our church into the future. To guide us to a create a welcoming community that doesn’t wait for new people to join us but actively invites others to join us. We need them to show us how to love Jesus and to love like Jesus. We need them to show us how to give everything you have for the betterment of others. We need them now.
We need our students Here & Now but we, as a parish and adults, have to allow and give them the space and opportunity to lead our parish. We have to listen to them, truly listen to them, and let their voices guide us. We need them as leaders but we have to give them the opportunity and encouragement to be the leaders that we need them to be. Our students last week gave us an amazing glimpse at what great potential we have for the leaders of our parish. They willing gave their time to Love others who they just met and those they came with. They Served others in the community of Knoxville but also the camp itself by cleaning up the cafeteria area with smiles, and even served the camp staff by helping pack up all of camp on their Free Day. They Connected with those they served, those they got to know at camp, and especially with Jesus Christ in the Sacraments.
A recent study says that 24% of young people say they “never feel their life has meaning or purpose.” If you add just 1 adult into the life (outside of their home) who invests in them that number drops to 6%.
Let us work together as a parish to love our students, to encourage them to live out their faith every single day, and to give them the opportunity to be the leaders that we want them to be. Let us pray for the students of our parish who are willing and desiring to take on this role of leadership. And let us pray that God shows us the way to invest into our students here at St. Isidore so that all of our students feel their life has meaning and purpose.
Some of my favorite photos from our week are below
