About Young People – Lessons from Pope Francis Michelle Tan

Every year, on July 1, we celebrate Youth Day. As we prepare for Pope Francis’ Apostolic Visit to Singapore from 11-13 Sept, perhaps it is timely that we take a leaf from his book, and celebrate young people instead.

One such book of his is God is Young: A Conversation with Pope Francis (2018, Libreria Editrice Vaticana), based on a series of interviews he had with Italian writer and journalist Thomas Leoncini.

Translated into English from its original Italian, here are some empathetic insights and enlightening words from the leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics – and great Catholic educator – that we might do well to ponder in our hearts.

1. A promise of life

“I like to think that youth does not exist, only young people. Just as old age does not exist, but old people do. Often, we allow ourselves to be overwhelmed by the ‘culture of the adjective’ without the substantiation of a noun. Youth of course is a noun, but one without any real substance… I see a young person as someone who is searching for his own path, who wants to fly on his two feet. He stands on two feet as adults do, but unlike adults whose feet are parallel, he has always one foot forward, ready to set out to spring ahead. A young person is a promise of life that implies a certain degree of tenacity; he is foolish enough to delude himself and resilient enough to recover from that delusion.” (Pages 3+4)

Let us reflect:

• How are the two feet of our students positioned – daring to take leaps of faith, or mired in low self-worth etc?

• As we encourage our students to put their best feet forward, do we know where our students would like to ‘spring ahead’ to, and how to inspire them to do so? “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”(Romans 10:15)

• What about our own feet – do they need spiritual reflexology to get them out of our own comfort zones?

2. Not pathogens!

“Adolescence is the most difficult yet the most important in a person’s years because it marks the first true conscious contact with identity, and represents a transitional phase not only in the child’s life, but also in the life of his entire family. It is like a bridge that leads from [childhood] to [adulthood]. For this reason, adolescents are neither here nor there, they are on their way, on the road, on the move. They are not children, and they don’t want to be treated as such, but they are not adults either – yet they want to be treated as such, especially when it comes to privileges. So, we can probably say that adolescence is a state of inevitable tension. At the same time, it is so intense that it is able to shake up the entire family. Adolescents seek confrontation, they ask questions, they look for answers, they challenge everything. Adolescents are eager to learn, eager to fend for themselves, and become independent. It is during this time that adults must be more understanding than ever and try to demonstrate the proper way through their actions, rather than insisting on teaching with words alone. Adolescence is not a pathology that we must ‘medicate’ i.e. solving all their problems, or by controlling their lives to make the most of their time, such that our children’s agendas become busier than that of a high-level executive! Adolescence is a part of a normal, natural growth in our children’s lives.” (Pages 4-6)

Let us reflect:

• As educators and parents, how do we view adolescence – as a problem to be solved, a virus to be vaccinated against, or as a phase of maturation that calls for our engagement and accompaniment, and the testimony of our own lived experiences?

• How do we ‘treat’ our adolescents? What do we need to change, if required?

3. Valuable and valued human persons

“I think we should ask young people for forgiveness because we don’t always talk to them seriously. We don’t always help them find their way or build the tools that could prevent them from being discarded. Often, we don’t know how to encourage their dreams, and we are unable to impassion them… Young people ask to be heard, and we have a duty to listen to them, and to accept them….

Today, not only are young people discarded, but young people suffer greatly because they were born and raised in the current ‘throwaway culture’ where ‘disposability’ is routine: we use something once, knowing that when we’re done, it can be thrown away. Our society is too powerfully and compellingly demonstrated by an economic and financial crisis that does not revolve around men and women, but around money and products created by men and women. We are in a phase of dehumanisation of the human being. In a society that seems to be swarming with double-dealers and ravenous wolves, young people can be convinced that there are men and women who still live by God’s principles, only through [the witness of] other young people. A young person has something of the prophet about him, and he must be aware of it.” (Pages 11,12+16)

Let us reflect:

• In Singapore, schools are called to provide a student-centric education. This calls for educators to put our children and youth at the centre. How does this call resonate with Pope Francis’ belief that a “young person has something of the prophet about him”?

• A prophet is not someone who is able to predict the future, but a messenger of God proclaiming the good news of the future he knows God has in store for everyone of us. “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11). How may we Catholic educators go about raising the awareness of this in our daily interactions with our students?

• Do we respect, love and dignify the young people in our charge by seeing them, not as a means to some end set by society or ourselves, but an end in themselves, beloved children of their heavenly Father?

4. In need of roots and tender, loving cultivation

“Today’s young people are growing up in an ‘uprooted society’, a society made up of individuals, families, who are gradually losing their connections, that vital fabric so important for us to feel part of one another, engaged in a common pursuit with others. A society is rooted if it is aware of belonging to a history and to other people, in the noblest sense of the term. It is uprooted, on the other hand, if the young group up in families without a history, without a memory, and therefore without roots; if there are no roots, any wind ends up blowing you away. For this reason, one of the first things we must think about as parents, as families, as pastors, is a course of action whereby roots can be put down, where bonds can be generated, and where the vital connections that allow us to feel at home can be cultivated.” (Page 17)

Let us reflect:

• Schools are extensions of the home, and school communities extended families, of our students. How can educators foster a “community school climate that reproduces, as far as possible, the warm and intimate atmosphere of family life?” (Archbishop J Michael Miller, CSB)

• How connected do you think our Catholic students to their local and universal Church family, one that has a rich history, long memories and deep roots, cultivated by Christ? Why?

5. Grounded in divine exchanges

“Today social networks would seem to offer an opportunity to connect with other: the Web makes young people feel part of a distinct group. But the problem with the Internet is its virtual nature: it leaves young people up in the air. A powerful way to guard against an uprooted society is through dialogue… A good educator asks himself this question every day: “Is my heart open enough to allow surprise to enter?” Educating isn’t just explaining theories; it is above all, and exchange of views, making dialogic thinking triumph. A good educator wants to learn something every day from his students, his children. There is no such thing as one-way education… we all have something to teach, but also much to learn: we must never forget that, at every age, every season of life.” (Pages 18+19)

Let us reflect:

• Our schools function in the real, and not the digital, realm – they are physical communities where our children and young people assemble, connect, put down roots, and grow. In our schools and classrooms, how can we provide fertile soil, open to receiving the seeds of faith sown by these young prophets, learning from them in humility, surprise and wonder?

• How can we, in turn, tend and prune these children of God into healthy saplings through “forming hearts capable of loving others, of engaging in genuine dialogue, and of making responsible decisions” (Pope Francis)?

Let us conclude our little July reflection with Pope Francis’ gentle reminder, to all of us who aspire to be true disciples of the Master Teacher every day, that: “God is young! God is the Eternal One which has no time, but is able to renew and rejuvenate Himself and all things continually. The most distinctive attribute of the young are also His. He is young because He makes all things new and loves innovation; because He astonishes and loves astonishment; because He dreams and wants us to dream.” May we be forever young and foolish for the Lord with our children!