Scottish Catholic Observer

SITTING cross-legged on the wicker mat on the floor, feeling the humid Asian air pass through the open chapel doors as I gazed at Jesus on the altar, I thought about how different the air felt compared to the fresh chill of a Scottish breeze.

For eight months I had been learning and growing in the love of the Lord through youth mission work, prayer, community life and studying the Catholic faith at the Emmanuel School of Mission in Manila, in the Philippines.

It was then that I first experienced the call to serve God in youth ministry in Scotland.

There was only seven hours’ time difference and yet my home town of Dundee seemed a world away. It had been so long since Scotland felt like my natural habitat.

I was born and bred there, from good Catholic parents and the youngest of ten brothers and sisters, all of whom were back home in Dundee.

Before the Philippines, I lived in London for five years, studying and working in theatre directing and acting, but the thought of leaving this place was heavy on my heart.

I had lost touch with my faith and with the Church during my teenage years.

Now, sitting in front of Jesus, I felt like I was safe in a heavenly home. The idea of coming back to earth, returning to Dundee, a new and different person, challenged me.

Yet, I felt that I was being invited by the Lord to take Him back home with me to share His love with others— especially with young people—and, like the Prophet Jeremiah, I would be given the words to say. A wise woman once told me that our God is a powerful God, but a practical God.

After some prayer, it wasn’t long before He provided me with the opportunity to return to Dundee to work with young people in parishes and schools across the North East.

It was a new post that came with no blueprint. A blank canvas to which I could bring my theatre experience and a new found zeal for Jesus and His Church.

So, along with the support of the diocesan youth officer and the parish priest, I began to build something from the ground up.

For the youngest ones, I set up the Little Saints Club. Using songs and dance, drama and games, Bible-based media, arts and crafts, we would explore the lives of some of the saints in a way that captured their imaginations.

For teenagers, I organised regular youth activities, such as movie nights, campfire nights, diocesan fundraisers, trips to Christian concerts, and local events tied to the liturgy, such as a Pentecost party, a Passover meal, and an ecumenical creation service for the Feast of St Francis of Assisi.

All of these helped to foster a direct link between schools and parish life by providing a comfortable environment for young people to engage with their faith and grow in their sense of community.

Youth work is integral to the life of the Church. Benedict XVI and St Pope John Paul II both identified that the future of the Church belongs to our young people.

Our formative years are so important for discovering who we are and shaping us to be the adults that we become.

Without support to nurture this crucial time, young people are more susceptible to the many mixed messages of the world.

There is pressure to conform to a way of thinking that would make them believe that they are something less than a child of God.

There are so many joys to experience in youth work. One of the most touching moments for me was when a young person from the Little Saints Club invited me to attend her First Holy Communion.

I remember hugging her teary mother in the church that morning and feeling that the grace God had given me had come to benefit others.

I am glad He gave me the courage and the opportunity to return to Dundee to undertake this mission and also to reach out to young people who were previously on the margins of the Church and out of touch with Jesus.

One large-scale event in the Diocesan Centre for this year’s World Youth Day participants reminded me of just how influential Catholic youth leaders can be.

Ten years ago, I sat in that very place during my own turbulent teenage years and discovered Jesus for the first time during a youth retreat , through which I made lifelong friends and began a journey to a deeper relationship with God.

Who would have thought that with God’s grace and the encouragement of good people, I would find myself in that very role as a youth leader?

A parish youth worker can easily access the families of the parishes and schools. Along with the clergy and parishioners, the youth worker can be a familiar face of the Church who promotes the joy of the Gospel and ministers specifically to the youth of that area.

Then, through personal relationships and direct connection to the Church, the young people have the stable role of someone who can accompany them on their faith journey.

As with any ministry in the Church, youth work can be challenging.

It carries a lot of responsibility, can stretch us to our limits and we can be disheartened by the lack of numbers that attend events.

However, in the words of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta: “We are not called to be successful but faithful.”

Our Holy Father, Pope Francis said at the European Meeting of Youth Ministry: “Much more than promoting a series of activities for young people, this ministry consists in walking with them, accompanying them personally in the complex and sometimes difficult situations in which they are immersed.”

With these words still ringing in my ears, I found myself looking back on the World Youth Day in Krakow, where I accompanied young people from across the diocese as a youth leader on their way to the home of St Pope John Paul II, the founder of this great event.

The great saint—actor, playwright, poet and theologian—who had a huge heart for young people, has a special place in my heart.

I loved this pilgrimage. It was a chance for me to draw closer to him and be reminded that, in the eyes of God, we are all just children and the process of development does not end until we reach our true home.