Focus Ministries for Catholic University Students

One of the most delightful online Catholic ministries is called "Focus Ministries for Catholic University Students" (here). They are an example of what could come out of young thoughtful Catholics. Pastors and their assistants may wish to use them as tools in conducting workshops for young adults and university students.

On their Blog Nathan Stanley wrote an article on April 3, 2019. Here is what he wrote:

This is a historic week. This week we’ve observed the anniversary of the death of Pope St. John Paul II. We’ve also seen the Church release the Apostolic Exhortation “Christus Vivit,”or “Christ Lives” (CV).

In the opening paragraphs, Pope Francis states that “With great affection, I address this Apostolic Exhortation to all Christian young people. It is meant to remind you of certain convictions born of our faith, and at the same time to encourage you to grow in holiness and in commitment to your personal vocation” (CV 3). This Apostolic Exhortation was born following his time of reflection and prayer in October 2018 with bishops throughout the world during the Synod on Young People, Faith and Vocational discernment. 

“Christus Vivit” is a historic document: It’s the first-ever Vatican document on young people. Just last week, I was blessed to be with a group of Church leaders in the United States. This group gathered to reflect upon the recent synod and the upcoming Apostolic Exhortation.

I was very excited to start diving into the Holy Father’s letter to young people. I have only been able to start reading, but below are a few key themes that have struck me during my initial reading of “Christus Vivit.”

1. Jesus was a young person.

Pope Francis writes, “It is important to realize that Jesus was a young person. He gave his life when he was, in today’s terms, a young adult” (23). 

This is a beautiful line for all young people to pray through. Jesus, our savior, took on human flesh and walked among us. He grew up and lived as a young person and even gave his life at the age of 33, as young adult man. As Christians, we are called to imitate Jesus. This is a call to total self-giving; it is not something that we should wait to answer until we are old, but something that especially starts in our youth. Pope Francis is inviting the youth of the today to live with that same sacrificial love.  

2. We’re called to return to the source of youth.

Pope Francis reminds us that being transformed in Christ is the source of the youthfulness of the Church. As he says:

“But let us also ask him [Jesus] to free her [the Church] from another temptation: that of thinking she is young because she accepts everything the world offers her, thinking that she is renewed because she sets her message aside and acts like everybody else. No! The Church is young when she is herself, when she receives ever anew the strength born of God’s word, the Eucharist, and the daily presence of Christ and the power of his Spirit in our lives. The Church is young when she shows herself capable of constantly returning to her source.” (35)

Young people are called to be leaven in the world — but we cannot be leaven without first being filled with Christ. We need to turn repeatedly to attending Mass, praying daily, reading the Bible and asking for Mary’s intercession. It is here that we will find the strength to be ever renewed in Christ and be a joyful presence in the world.

The Holy Father says that “we must dare to be different, to point to ideals other than those of this world” (para. 36). Our ability to point to these ideals comes from Christ, and only in Jesus will the human heart find peace, joy and freedom. 

3. Be a saint.

At the end of the second chapter of “Christus Vivit,” Pope Francis offers a litany of young saints that young people should emulate and request the intercession of today. He mentions St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Blessed Chiara Badano, Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, St. Dominic Savio and St. Kateri Tekawitha, among others. These are great saints for young people and all Christians to befriend today and ask for their intercession for the youth of the world.

We should especially ask these saints to help us to become saints ourselves. At the end of his litany, Pope Francis writes, “May these and so many other young people who perhaps in silence and hiddenness lived the Gospel to the full, intercede for the Church, so that she may be full of joyous, courageous and committed young people who can offer the world new testimonies of holiness” (63).

We live in a time that needs saints more than ever. There are many challenges of our times in and outside of the Church — but these crises can only be addressed by living out a holy life. Now is the time to be holy: We cannot put this on our “someday, maybe” list. Holiness cannot wait. God created each of us to be fully alive in Him.

As Pope Francis said, “The very first words, then, that I would like to say to every young Christian are these: Christ is alive and he wants you to be alive!” (1).

Pope Francis: Christ is Young - The Church is Young

The Apostolic Exhortation "Christus Vivit" (Christ Lives) by Pope Francis was released on March 25, 2019 just in time as this week we celebrate Pope Saint John Paul II who departed to God on April 2, 2005. In it, Pope Francis reflects on the meaning to be young and takes the example of Christ himself to remind us that we should never become sterile in the service of Him who served everyone, accepted death so that everyone may have life of eternal joy with Him, and rose from the dead to bring us to heaven.

Most impressive to me was Francis' reflection: As a Church, may we never fail to weep before these tragedies of our young. May we never become inured to them, for anyone incapable of tears cannot be a mother. We want to weep so that society itself can be more of a mother, so that in place of killing it can learn to give birth, to become a promise of life. We weep when we think of all those young people who have already lost their lives due to poverty and violence, and we ask society to learn to be a caring mother. None of this pain goes away; it stays with us, because the harsh reality can no longer be concealed. The worst thing we can do is adopt that worldly spirit whose solution is simply to anaesthetize young people with other messages, with other distractions, with trivial pursuits.

You can find it here: 

http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_exhortations/documents/papa-francesco_esortazione-ap_20190325_christus-vivit.html  

Reconciliation and Renewal

It is not easy for Christians to hear the Holy Father, Pope Francis, Bishop of Rome exhorting missionaries in Morocco to abandon their activities to convert Muslims to the Christian faith. His statement can be found here.

All what we can do is to pray for him who, with his predecessors since St. Peter, is required to tend the sheep of the Shepherd of our souls Jesus Christ our Lord. St. Peter, and so too his successors the Bishops of Rome, received the promise of our Lord "You are rock and on this rock I shall build my Church" (Matthew 16:18)...It is the Pope's mission to lead the Church in the good times as in the dark times. If he fails, then we must pray for him and with him. I must therefore remind everyone of the important development of doctrine in the Church as follows:

Following the insights of Blessed John Henry Newman (expected to be canonized this year), there is a development in the doctrine of the Church that remains essentially the same as Christ's commandments to the Apostles and  particularly to St. Peter and his successors...In my following opinion, I stand to be corrected by theologians familiar with the history of the Church.

I believe that Pope Francis is implementing the directives of the Ecumenical Second Vatican Council but probably to a liberal stance more than ever thought before in the Catholic Church in stepping closer to Muslims. Note in the Council's Constitution "Lumen Gentium" the following important point:

Wherefore to promote the glory of God and procure the salvation of all of these, and mindful of the command of the Lord, "Preach the Gospel to every creature",(130) the Church fosters the missions with care and attention.   

 

Simple Muslims that do not know Christ can attain eternal joy with God if, by the grace of God made possible through Jesus Christ, they follow the dictates of their conscience. This is traditionally called Baptism by desire.

In 1949 the Holy See excommunicated the American Jesuit priest Fr. Leonard Finney since he denied the possibility of salvation for non-Catholics (no salvation outside the Church). In fact, Pope Blessed Pius IX in the 19th century had justified the possibility of salvation of those who did not hear the Gospel. See this little article in "Catholic Culture":

https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=2650

The Second Vatican Council took Pius IX statement as a reference in stating the same doctrine in Lumen Gentium here:

http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19641121_lumen-gentium_en.html

In  a section related to non-Christians, the Council Fathers state:

16. Finally, those who have not yet received the Gospel are related in various ways to the people of God.(18*) In the first place we must recall the people to whom the testament and the promises were given and from whom Christ was born according to the flesh.(125) On account of their fathers this people remains most dear to God, for God does not repent of the gifts He makes nor of the calls He issues.(126) But the plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator. In the first place amongst these there are the Muslims, who, professing to hold the faith of Abraham, along with us adore the one and merciful God, who on the last day will judge mankind. Nor is God far distant from those who in shadows and images seek the unknown God, for it is He who gives to all men life and breath and all things,(127) and as Saviour wills that all men be saved.(128) Those also can attain to salvation who through no fault of their own do not know the Gospel of Christ or His Church, yet sincerely seek God and moved by grace strive by their deeds to do His will as it is known to them through the dictates of conscience.(19*) Nor does Divine Providence deny the helps necessary for salvation to those who, without blame on their part, have not yet arrived at an explicit knowledge of God and with His grace strive to live a good life. Whatever good or truth is found amongst them is looked upon by the Church as a preparation for the Gospel.(20*) She knows that it is given by Him who enlightens all men so that they may finally have life. But often men, deceived by the Evil One, have become vain in their reasonings and have exchanged the truth of God for a lie, serving the creature rather than the Creator.(129) Or some there are who, living and dying in this world without God, are exposed to final despair. Wherefore to promote the glory of God and procure the salvation of all of these, and mindful of the command of the Lord, "Preach the Gospel to every creature",(130) the Church fosters the missions with care and attention.  

In 2000, The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith published "Dominus Iesus" approved by Pope Saint John Paul II. In it, the faithful are reminded that salvation is possible only through the Lord Jesus Christ. 

http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20000806_dominus-iesus_en.html

Of particular relevance is this paragraph:

Nevertheless, God, who desires to call all peoples to himself in Christ and to communicate to them the fullness of his revelation and love, “does not fail to make himself present in many ways, not only to individuals, but also to entire peoples through their spiritual riches, of which their religions are the main and essential expression even when they contain ‘gaps, insufficiencies and errors'”.27 Therefore, the sacred books of other religions, which in actual fact direct and nourish the existence of their followers, receive from the mystery of Christ the elements of goodness and grace which they contain.

 

The above including daring steps by Pope Francis could be, in my opinion, part of the development identified by John Henry Newman after he studied carefully the Fathers of the Church.

We must not despair nor attack the Holy Father but only do what we can to ensure that he is within the mandate of the Successors of St. Peter and continues to follow the Tradition and Scripture as interpreted by the successive generations of Church Councils and Doctors of the Church.

The Church must continue to use every good means to bring to the fold those who are outside her visible boundaries and oppose the oppression of Islamism and Terrorism so that at least they could receive the Sacraments that nourish us in the mystical Body of Christ for eternal life.