Franciscan at Home

What is a ‘young adult?’

This is the question that plagues many people in young adult ministry in the United States. Young adults are often described by their age range: 18 to 30 years old. But Christian Smith, author of Souls in Transition: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of Emerging Adults, suggests the term young adult is a misnomer. He proposes we call this age group emerging adults. ‘Rather than viewing these years as simply the last hurrah of adolescence or an early stage of real adulthood, (this title) recognizes the very unique characteristics of this new and particular phase of life.’[i]

Previously, he and Melissa Lundquist Denton wrote a book called Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers. Published in 2005, Soul Searching became one of the most influential books in American Catholic Youth Ministry since the USCCB published Renewing the Vision in 1997.

Soul Searching studied the religiosity of American teenagers. Souls in Transition continues that study by looking at the lives of 18 to 24 year olds. ‘The features marking this stage are intense identity exploration, instability, a focus on self, feeling in limbo or in transition or in-between, and a sense of possibilities, opportunities, and unparalleled hope. These, of course, are also accompanied… by large doses of transience, confusion, anxiety, self-obsession, melodrama, conflict, disappointment, and sometimes emotional devastation.’

As well as visual appeal, YOUCAT significantly highlights the words of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, more than any other saintly inspiration. She has for many years had world-wide iconic status among all age groups, especially the young, for her relentless devotion to the poorest of the poor. Her prayer-soaked words marinate every section of the catechism. They need to be returned to often so as to savour them. By bringing Mother Teresa’s teaching together in this article I intend to allow the reader to view the full landscape of her thought, adding only brief commentary as a navigational aid.

The formation of the laity is a life-long process, consciously undertaken in faith, as Newman well knew, but there is a special problem in awakening, retaining and reviving the Faith among the young. The problem is not new. It faces every generation. There are several reasons for this youthful resistance. In the first instance there is the natural disinclination of the young to accept the beliefs and customs of their elders. But one of the more corrosive causes of unbelief in the young is the relentless barrage of secularist propaganda that bombards them. Another contributory factor can be the reluctance (often well intentioned) of adults to give ‘a reasoned defence (apologia)… with gentleness and reverence’ of the Faith they hold (cf. 1 Peter 3.15). The fact remains that many people fail to recover the Faith to which they were introduced when young. Catholics may form the largest religious group in the United States, but it is said that the second largest consists of lapsed Catholics.

Hollywood loves to blur the lines. One of the things I disliked the most about the Star Wars prequels is how it took a clear cut conflict between good and evil (Rebels/Jedis were good, Empire/Stormtroopers were bad) and turned it into a moral quagmire. This is a constant theme in Hollywood: make the good guys evil and make the bad guys good. But these past few years, a new genre has emerged that speaks to the heart of what it means to be good, the virtue of sacrifice, and the responsibility that comes with power. They are known as, ‘superhero movies.’