(upbeat music)
- [Man] Amid the growing
number of young people
leaving the church
and their faith,
it is easy to lose sight
of the millions
of young people in whom
the faith is taking root.
This episode of Catholic Extension
is about who these young people are,
what keeps them close to the church,
and their catholic faith.
In this program, you'll experience
how Catholic Extension walks
with young people in
their journeys of faith.
Including stories of transformation
among the poor in
California's Coachella Valley.
Ministries of and for young people
in rural Montana.
Becoming the here and now
of the church for the young people
of El Paso, Texas.
And the remarkable work
of a Catholic priest
in transforming a community
in Greenfield, California.
These stories take us
to where Catholic Extension
is awakening the missionary spirit
among our youth and young adults.
- When you think about all those moments
in history that called for
reformation or regeneration
of the church,
or a new way of experiencing
the meaning of church,
it's so often been driven
by youth movements,
young adult movements.
You know some
of the great heroes of the church,
St. Francis, St. Claire,
all the great religious orders
were really founded by young people.
- [Man] Innovative ministries,
funded by Catholic Extension,
are prioritizing young people
and feeding their faith
so that they might offer
the best of themselves
and lead the church today
and in the future.
- We are called to do God's work.
And this is a moment
that's very, very important.
And I think the Pope is picking up on that
and telling young people
you are the future,
but your moment is now.
- [man] All over America
young Catholics today are embracing
Pope Francis' call to dream great things,
seek vast horizons,
aim higher, take on the world,
and offer the best
of themselves to the building
of something better.
- Young people in a very particular way,
when they think about
their connectedness to God
and their prayerfulness,
their prayerfulness can be expressed
obviously whenever we
gather at the Eucharist.
It also happens when young people
pull together this experience
of their oneness with God
and their call to be one with one another.
And to express God's life
and God's love.
- [Man] They live their
faith reaching outward
into their communities,
with an energy and faith so great
that in a recent exhortation
the Pope joyfully encourages young people
to keep running the race before them,
recognizing the church
truly needs their momentum.
- There's an energy about it.
There's an activity about it
that says let's leap up
and make noise as the pope says.
Let's dance in the streets.
Let's let the joy that is in our hearts
be expressed beyond ourselves,
and do it in a sense of solidarity.
There's a way in which you can kind
of go off into the distance.
To the mountains, to the desert
to experience the mystery of God.
But there's another way
in which that experience
can be really powerfully felt
when we come together.
Come together for a party,
you come together for a social occasion.
You come together for a mission
or a ministry.
And you so often see
at this young moment of life
that desire of people
to take what's in them
and to express it out in acts
of service and care.
- [Man] In California's Coachella Valley,
young Catholic women experience
transformation in a community
characterized by both great wealth
and great poverty.
Encountering those who
labor in the fields,
they are beginning to discern
a deeper call to service.
With support from Catholic extension,
Brenda Noriega and Luz Elias
lead a group
of young Catholic women
from Chicago as they experience
a remarkable spiritual transformation
in communion with families
of the working poor.
- This valley is very interesting
because you have very wealthy communities,
as well as communities
that are in financial need.
So that reality right there is shocking.
- I come from an indigenous community,
it's called Purepecha.
I work in fields in the morning
and then after that I go
volunteer at the church.
And then from there I
say to other ministries.
We wake up and we usually
have to do breakfast,
like sometimes we have to prepare food
and then from there we go out,
and we start working in the fields.
At times it gets really hot,
depending on the type
of labor you're doing.
If you're doing grapes
of you're doing veggies,
it depends.
So we might work in a
place for like a week
or two weeks,
and then from there we
move to another place.
- We spend some time with
a very poor community.
A community that is in a lot of need,
but very full of faith.
Very strong and very focused on
where they wanna lead their children,
and that is to God.
So when I saw the women
bring out the clothing,
it reminded me so much of my mother.
It represents who we are
and it represents a big
part of our culture.
(foreign language)
- It's a different reality than
what we thought it was.
Now that I come here
and now that I witness how they live,
I feel like I can better represent them.
I can give them a voice.
Education can be the ticket to the,
how to end the cycle of poverty.
It's the ticket to success,
so they definitely need assistance
in education.
- [Man] Volunteering at a church school
in Mecca, California,
these young Catholics witness
the importance of shared faith
among the families
of the working poor.
- Being in mission, being here,
it makes me realize what my vocation is.
Like what I would love to do in the future
and even now.
(foreign language)
- [Man] Praying before an image
of Our Lady of Guadalupe,
they reflect on their
call to serve others.
- Something very, very
beautiful that happened to me
that definitely, I guess
fortified my faith,
was that I was spending
time with the priest
in the parish of Mecca,
his name is Father Francisco.
We were in his office
and he was asking me
what do you wanna study?
And I told him I'm interested
in studying theology.
And he said why?
And I said because I love God.
And he said why?
Like was challenging me to
get in touch with what I really wanted.
And I told him because I've been working
with the youth and I wanna continue
working with the youth.
And I feel like God's given me that gift
of teaching.
And I'm passionate about it.
And then I don't even know
why I brought it up,
but it kind of just slipped out
that I told him that I was interested
in entering the religious life.
And I had never told anyone that before.
- [Man] These young Catholic women
also work to build up the children
of the working poor.
Together they grow in faith.
- Being a missionary is part
of the Catholic identity.
We are called to be with the people,
to accompany the people,
to recognize a realities
of the people we serve,
and that's key for any,
any Christian really,
you know to be open to others
and other realities,
other communities.
And it's been wonderful
sharing with these five.
Girls from Chicago,
hopefully they will have
a transformation and a conversion
of mind and heart.
- The people here,
even though a lot of them
live in poverty, they're
really rich in love
and in community.
- It was a wonderful experience
spending time with people
who have the same interests as us,
that have such a God centered life.
All the love we receive
from those communities,
is something I'm never going to forget.
- One of the things I hope
is that we can learn
from the Diocese we serve
what a young church looks like
and then bring it home.
And I would love more and more
of our families that have been supportive
of us to really try to
engage their own children
and grandchildren in the efforts
to be aware of what a
mission church looks like,
and what it means when
we give young people
leadership opportunities
to be part of a young church.
- [Man] For decades Catholic extension
has supported ministries
for young people in rural Montana,
and the results are truly
humbling to witness.
- Legendary Lodge is built around a vision
of what John Paul called
Encuentro theology.
Encountering Jesus Christ
deeply and personally.
And young people come to the lodge,
sometimes knowing
intellectually about the Lord,
but it's a place where they meet him.
And it happens magically, wonderfully,
year after year.
The mountain climbing,
Eucharist at the top of the mountain.
The different water sports
that they are able to do there.
This is a, kind of a unique setting.
It's Montana at it's best.
- And what happens is I think a joy
is kindled and excitement and passion
that spreads actually to their parents
and to their grandparents,
and throughout the parish communities.
And all of a sudden you get a fire
in the church community
that in a lot of ways wasn't
kindled and began through
the evangelization of a young person
deciding to follow God.
I just see a resurgence
of this exciting time in Catholicism
when young people are starting
to really decide to follow God,
and there's a lot of hope in that.
♪ Here I am to say that ♪
♪ You're my God ♪
- That time in college is vital
for the growth in faith.
Because for so many it's the first time
they're really truly making
their faith their own.
We see young hearts are really hungry
for a relationship with God,
even if they don't have necessarily
the vocabulary to explain that.
But the desires of their hearts
are orientated toward God
because we're all orientated toward God.
St. Augustin said our hearts are restless
until they rest in you.
So all we're trying to do is make
a safe place for them
to explore their faith,
to go deeper into their own desires,
and then live their lives intentionally,
according to what God reveals to them.
- Let's just open our hearts
'cause the Lord loves us
and he has something for each
and every one of us.
- I've taken with me a lot
of amazing experiences
with the youth around me.
I'm taking a very powerful prayer life
that has grown over the course
of my years in ministry.
And I'm taking a desire to serve.
(upbeat music)
- There's a mountain
range outside of Helena
that looks like a sleeping giant.
So Bishop Thomas, at this coffee night,
he just shared to us,
the college students,
and he said I want to
awaken the sleeping giant.
And I've always remembered that moment.
And I know that it lit
a spark in my own heart.
- I think it's awakening a sleeping giant
in this church.
And there are hundreds and hundreds
waiting to be invited
to be activated in the life of the church.
- [Priest] Hollowed be thy name.
They kingdom come.
Thy will be done.
On earth as it is in heaven.
- [Man] Our hearts our restless
until they rest in thee
o Lord.
- Today and tomorrow is
what the gospel is about.
You know we're not there
just to remember the past,
but we're meant to bring to life,
and bring to flesh
and engagement the mystery
of what God is doing in the world.
And young people have a
special expression of that
and it lifts everybody up.
And I just wish everybody
that's been involved
in Catholic Extension,
as an investor in the future,
investor in the church
sees that what you really are investing in
is in the young.
Whenever a parent
or a grandparent thinks about
what's their life for,
it's always to bring forth life.
And to see that taking shape and form
in the young people that we serve is
just a special privilege.
- [Man] In El Paso, Texas,
remarkable ministries
supported by Catholic Extensions
have become the here
and now of the church,
creating opportunities
for young people to grow in faith,
ability and community.
- Funding from Catholic Extension
has allowed this dream
of an Arts and Cultural Center
to become a reality in El Paso.
The idea behind the center
is how we work with middle school youth
to help them develop skills
within the culture
and within the arts
to develop themselves as a person,
as a Catholic disciple,
and then allows them to take that back
to their parishes
so that they share their skills
that they've learned,
whether it's in the culinary arts,
maybe the digital arts,
the visual music, dance, drama.
That they can take that
back to their parish
and share it within ministry.
They also serve in an apprenticeship
as catechist so that they're learning
at the same time as they're teaching.
- For us it was very important to find
a space after getting
their first communion
and before getting their
confirmation sacraments.
There's usually nothing going on.
So when Father, Monsignor Vanuelos
offered this project to us
we took it 'cause it was
a very good opportunity for our kids.
- You're developing this
relationship with God
and this is providing them
with something that they,
otherwise they wouldn't have it.
And so we're very grateful for that.
- They are growing into
who they're meant to be
as adults.
And the hope that they have is that
regardless of all the
crazy that's happening
out in the world,
they do have each other.
We have this little community
and when you have that
community and family,
it's almost like innate that
there is that hope for the future,
that yes we can do it here
and we can replicate it anywhere else.
- El Paso is directly on the border
and I think it's difficult for people
away from El Paso to understand
how close we are.
Not only is it a reality,
it's practically in your face.
And so I think it's important
for our kids to take
that into their living
of their catholicism.
If I am a Catholic,
if I am a missionary disciple,
then what does my location fit,
geographical location call me to?
- Okay so do connections matter?
- Yes.
- Big time right?
Providing a safe and caring
and loving environment for
them to express themselves
and to feel safe enough,
you can see that their voice
is coming out.
You can actually,
when you speak to them,
or you listen to them,
you can actually see that this is actually
coming from the soul.
This is actually their inner voice.
And that's the transformation I've seen,
and it's amazing.
- This is an opportunity
that you're not always gonna have.
If you let your kids go
to something like this,
they're gonna grow more into their faith.
- The thing that we need to go back to,
to our roots.
We need to go back to our faith
and to really strong,
and get a stronger family.
- We live in the desert
and this place is like an oasis
for our community,
for our kids.
That's what I see.
- I would hope that people feel
a deeper experience
of being American Catholic,
that we're concerned about our country,
we're concerned about leaving a legacy
to what our church
and what our country's gonna look like.
Part of that is to try to really create
young church,
and to let young people have this moment.
To be encouraging of them,
to be encouraging of what they're doing.
To be constantly looking for ways
to affirm people.
It's your moment.
You are on, you are the ones
that are through this moment here.
Marriage and family and friendships,
you're on now to express
to another generation
what it means to live
out the Christian vision of life.
That it's a powerful vision,
it's talking about
God's love in the world.
That even though all these other forces
are trying to diminish
or alienate or separate
people from one another,
we're the people that stand up,
and young people especially stand up
and say we stand for a God that is
bringing us together in solidarity
and calling us to do life
giving things in our world.
We think this is stronger than all
the powers of darkness out there.
All the divisiveness in the world.
We stand for something else.
It brings us together
and it's life giving.
- [Man] Catholic Extension supports
the education and placement
of young adult Catholic leadership
in mission areas throughout
the United States.
Both of and for the young,
these inspired ministries
are having great success
actively engaging the next generation.
The Catholic Extension
Young Adult Leadership Initiative
helps retain, educate
and develop outstanding church leaders.
- About a month ago I got hired
to be a full time youth minister
at a church about 20 minutes
away from where I grew up.
And I never thought I could do it,
but I'm working while
I finish my grad work
and help take care of my 10 month old son.
We're gonna do our
opening prayer right now.
Can you guys give all your papers
back to (mumbles).
- [Man] Nathan shared his experiences
in the young adult leadership initiative
with an audience of church leaders
at Catholic Extensions
recent spirit of St. Francis event.
- I went to Fordham and it was there
that I started hearing words
and phrases like the margins
and like the fringes of society.
And it was there that
I started hearing about
and meeting people
that were doing amazing work
in places that had been forgotten,
and with people that had been left behind.
And they teach you how to do that work.
And they teach you how our faith
demands that we do that work.
I learned where teens
and kids are developmentally,
and how they're so
vulnerable to the things
that are approaching them so quickly
in this world today.
And I thought maybe that
would be a place to start.
That maybe I could show
them how loved they are,
and how worthy and deserving
they are of that love.
And of so much more.
♪ You're feeling like you've got nothing ♪
♪ Or your faith is gone ♪
or you're not believing, right?
You can always sing a song like that.
And, you know, sometimes God comes
flooding in like that, right.
And for the first time in my life
I go to work excited.
Excited to see what God can do through me.
♪ Here's surely alive ♪
♪ And he's living on the inside ♪
♪ Roaring like a lion ♪
- To watch that happen among
the poorest of the poor
in the United States
is a huge, huge thing.
When these young people say
we're more than our circumstances.
You know even though we're facing
poverty, even though there are issues
of gangs and drugs and violence,
we're not choosing that.
We're going another way.
And we stand for God's life giving love
and God's promise that love is stronger
than all the forces of darkness out there.
And that they're caring for each other,
caring for their communities,
and we at Catholic Extension,
especially the people that are
in this new season of their life,
as the seasoned adult
look on this and say our greatest gift
that we can give is to invest
and to encourage this beautiful movement
of God that's at work in every generation,
and it's worked now in
this young generation.
- [Man] A Catholic priest in California's
Central valley is doing incredible work,
bringing a town together
to help young adults
reach for their dreams
as they grow in faith.
- I've been at this parish
for like 40 something years,
and it's never been this active,
this full.
There's something going on every night.
- We must have had like
60 kids in confirmation,
now, I don't even, I can't
even count 'em anymore.
The Bishop have to come
do two masses in one day
because there's so many.
- When I came to this town,
I saw the reality,
the parents working on the fields
with no time to take care
of their kids.
And the facing of these challenges
of crimes, gang affiliation, drugs.
Half of the population here
are under 18 years old.
More than 446 kids did
their first communion
this past May.
That's why I started doing
all these activities and programs,
just to help support our kids.
I love Jesus.
- Jesus loves me.
- I'm working with the school district,
the superintendent, the
teachers of the schools,
the chief of police
and the police department,
the city council,
and with the mayor.
We are working together to face
all the challenges
because a majority of the population
here are Catholics.
To the Catholic church we can help them
to have good Christians
and good citizens.
- Just like Father Enrique
is the perfect example of a mentor,
and I wanna do that.
I wanna come back to my community
and be a teacher,
possibly even be a
confirmation teacher as well
to help people learn
about their faith in God
and what it is to be a Catholic.
- he's definitely brought in a whole new
set that's definitely
reamped the whole program,
and definitely made it more popular
and more exciting for the kids.
- I think Father Enrique has done a lot
for this community because
he reaches out to the kids.
And by reaching out to them,
I think that's what's
changing Greenfield right now.
I've been talking to my kid.
Now the high school doesn't
talk like before he says.
And gang members or whatever,
it's going down.
It's not as bad as before.
When he got here Greenfield
was very tough to live in.
(upbeat music)
- It's a funny story
that one of the directors
principals at UCLA, they saw a big number
of teenagers from a little
town called Greenfield,
and he asked where is Greenfield?
Because he saw the energy the enthusiasm
and the positive energy
of this group of kids.
- My hope in 10 years is to see
that all the kids and teenagers
will be Catholic people
participating fully in the life
of the parish.
They will be here.
And we are doing something now for them,
teaching them the Catholic faith.
And in that way we can
transform the community.
- I believe that what you have watched
and what you have experienced
in these simple stories
and these beautiful people
is the work of God
and God's spirit in them.
And that is transformative.
I really believe that this mystery of God
happens in the smallest hamlets
and the most challenging places.
The God life and God spirit
is in these people.
- [Man] We have seen the living Christ
in these inspiring stories
and in the mission areas we serve.
The young people who are carrying
the church into the future
are those who work hard,
raise families, build parishes,
and carry the work of
mercy into the community.
This hopefulness was beautifully
expressed again as the Pope
concluded his exhortation
to young people.
"The church needs your momentum,
"your intuitions, your faith."
Catholic Extension is proud to support
this often pioneering
work among the young,
whom the Pope describes as the now of God.
- They are making a beautiful difference.
They are young.
They're life giving.
They're inspiriting.
They're making a huge difference
in the communities they are working in
and involved in,
and care deeply for.
And it's going to lift the whole
human experience forward.
One of the best gifts
that we have as Catholics
is a Catholic imagination.
And whether you are Catholic
or whether you're friends
of the Catholic experience,
I think you understand that one
of the things that means most to us
is that we walk together,
and we walk in solidarity.
One of the great gifts
of your participation
in Catholic Extension
is your understanding
that we make a difference
in one another's lives.
And the things that we do,
they really are transformative
and they really are impactful.
And I really pray
that what you have experienced
in this episode will give
you a greater understanding,
and a greater experience of the difference
you are making by being part
of this great movement
called Catholic Extension.
God bless you all.
- [Man] If you would like to learn more
about how Catholic Extension
is building up vibrant
Catholic faith communities
across the United States,
please visit us at catholicextension.org.
(upbeat music)
