From a Spirituality of Rigidity and Control to Freedom and joy - May 2023 (BJMM031)

Let us hold fast to this treasure in earthen vessels (2 Cor 4:7)

From a spirituality of rigidity and control to one of spontaneity, respect, and joy

(A note for reflection, to Jesus Youth International Council and International Vision Team, 10 May 2023)

I am at Amoris Christi

As most of you know, I am here in Florida, moving on to a new phase in my life. I already shared with some of you that my sojourn here is a time of a new search and learning for me. I was here for a few days last year when Sunil and Sindhu asked me if I could continue to be present here. After some reflection, I said ‘yes,’ realizing that the Lord is doing something special here, the like of which I have not seen in Jesus Youth elsewhere, and I need to learn from this new culture and dynamic. 

What highlights do I observe here that will be useful for Jesus Youth in general?

i. A deep relational community in which, though people live apart and have their own careers, they voluntarily share their lives and participate in the mission. A test of a good community is its patience with conflicting views. I see that tolerance here.

ii. Every person is visibly active in spiritual growth, daily participation in sacraments, and sharing in parish life, with a freedom to grow in one’s own distinctive path and pace. Interesting to see that several of them study theology. Surprisingly there is the slightest external pressure or urging for all these.

iii. Most of them receive spiritual guidance of their own choice. There are also clear plans to extend spiritual accompaniment even to the new ones. We had one training for accompaniment just last week.

iv. Individuals and families have opportunities to attend guided silent retreats, and they make use of it. This is attracting even people from outside the movement.

v. A lively and mature use of charismatic gifts is well in place here. There are enough opportunities to pray with one another, and almost everyone shares the messages they receive. Even routine office staff meetings are forums for the use of charisms.

vi. There is intentional support here to grow in inner freedom and not be intimidated by remote control and scrutiny. Here I see a search for ways to help youth to be self-motivated and self-directed in their interior journey. (Conversely, pressure to conform is intense in the Church and society. Interestingly, controlling takes a new form in Jesus Youth, sometimes with even greater rigidity.)

vii. I find an ongoing reflection on youth formation, its content, approaches, and modes. So many with varied approaches and talents are taking part in it. The weeklong “Summer in the Son” for teens, parish teen retreats, youth outreaches, online training called Anointed and Sent, the School of Nazareth - residential program, the Institute of Excellence research project, and much more constantly search for ways to share the Kerygma and do Catechesis using fast-changing youth language and in the context of the emerging social dynamics.

viii. The local Church looks to these initiatives with immense interest. The regional seminary, the local parishes, and dioceses steadily seek help, and an organic and enduring relationship is built with them. This is rapidly expanding.

ix. Mission initiatives are growing with clear direction, not just the Haiti mission, but to Canadian First Nations, other needy communities, and more.

x. A truly multi-cultural community and style is getting built up here. People from various cultural backgrounds are able to continue and grow as Jesus Youth, unlike in other places. I don’t know where else is a credible model of mixing of cultures and growing and deepening such a process.

Something quite fascinating is at the root of it all. Here I witness the Jesus Youth vision and charisms in operation with clarity, confidence, and sustainability.  

Some reflections on the movement

“The wind blows where it wills. . . . So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (Jn. 3:8) Moved by the Spirit, Jesus Youth movement has been growing steadily and rapidly. The Holy Spirit has invested a unique charism and gift in the movement. At the heart of the Jesus Youth style is living the Christian life and mission in a spirit of informality enriched by spontaneity. Are we gradually losing these charisms and becoming too rigid and overly organized? 

One of our significant gifts is to be vulnerable and humble, a “treasure in earthen vessels.” But such informal, friendly ambiance and joyfully dynamic groups may not immediately be seen as very ‘professional.’ Some ‘experts’ would comment that such styles are not sustainable nor repeatable. The wider Catholic Church and other movements do not function this way. The challenge of such comparisons has existed since our journey began.  On the face of it, we, the discerners, would gather, seek the Lord’s guidance, and feel reassured that we must be daringly faithful to the unique path the Lord’s Spirit has been inspiring. The greatest challenge the movement faces is that a good section of Jesus Youth leadership does not fully grasp the simple JY charism, deepen its understanding, or be in fidelity to that vision.

Sadly, prescriptive mechanisms and structures at different levels are gradually stifling the freedom of our movement.  Maybe only a few are resisting. Most people very faithfully “obey” these laws and directions. But a growing number of Jesus Youth are sensing that this does not align with a call to freedom which is the DNA of Jesus Youth. They want to have the joy of being guided by the Spirit and growing in a sharing and caring community. Indeed, this is an essential point for greater deliberation, reflection, and discernment.

Movement’s DNA

What is the kind of spontaneity that Jesus Youth is yearning for? Is it the contemporary youth trend of impulsiveness, resistance to commitment and continuity, or a rudderless drifting? That would be a degenerated worldly mode of resistance to order. Instead, the Charismatic revival introduced us to a new joy of being surprised by the Holy Spirit daily, often from unexpected persons inside and outside the community and in surprising ways. The focus we yearn for is on the guidance of the Spirit and fellowship of a community, and not on lifeless structures. But can we do away with structures and other tools for coordination? Surely, not! Instead, we must intentionally limit them to the extent we need them since “the Sabbath is for man” and not the other way. In brief, our eagerness for informality is only our earnest desire to be dynamic in the hands of the Holy Spirit as individuals and as groups.

Sometimes I wonder if the movement is impacted by a ‘councilocracy’ or ‘team-o-mania’! Are we gradually coming into a persuasion that Jesus Youth teams will plug all ailments of the movement? A team-centric or even an individual-leader-focused approach is growing in the movement, and it does not seem to be a healthy turn for Jesus Youth. 

How and why do we fall for it? We are concerned about the commitment of individuals and the organizational stability of our groups and ministries. The world thinks stability can be ensured through well-defined rituals and structures, organizational hierarchy, and efficient control through good leadership. I would equate it to the Lord’s remark on how the world ‘leads it over’ (Lk 22:25). I suppose such a top-down controlling approach will not go well with many and will eventually be rejected by most. In our movement, the Spirit is awakening missionary enthusiasm and enduring commitment through the steady interior journey of individuals and lively communities. This was why I became quite excited about the dynamic of Synodality that the Church recently proposed. In our movement, if we should talk of some approach that will lead individuals and groups to missionary enthusiasm, it is not an approach of control and external pressure but something closer to a synodal journey of groups.

In brief

Jesus Youth has been called by the Lord to effectively grow as a platform where people, especially youth and young families, receive support for their i) interior journey, ii) community belongingness, and iii) missionary fruitfulness. 

This interior journey, we know, is uniquely personal, involving ongoing healing and gradual maturing in the life of the Trinity. Accompaniment plays a significant role here. This was why there was an insistence on Emmaus-sharing, eldering, and pastoring early in the movement, which gradually came to be discouraged due to its immature practice. Now, there is a growing eagerness for spiritual guidance. This will facilitate a mature personal journey at an individual pace.  But, here again let us not be prescriptive, as this may be possible in various ways, like through trained guides, lighter accompaniment, peer support, and sharing.

Belongingness has always been stressed in Jesus Youth. Its forms have changed from time to time. The need today is to have vibrant communities of varied forms. The role of the Councils and Teams needs to be seen not as project implementation but as promoting and facilitating these different forms of communion. A good JY community will care for every member and go forth in its mission.

The talk about evangelizing missions has always been quite loud in the movement but often not sufficiently practiced or bearing fruit at the grassroots. Primarily personal initiatives and group ministries were seen as the path toward it. Later mission projects also emerged. The need of the hour is to understand mission not as doing but as being, which should mean not as a set of activities but as part of one’s personal identity and the Christian journey. Only this will result in a Jesus Youth getting transformed into a builder of the Kingdom of God in the place where he or she is planted.

(Dr. Edward Edezhath, 10 May 2023)