Faith of Our Teens and Young Adults

The doom and gloom media coverage of our decaying Church and the straying young people away from the Faith of our Fathers, can be discouraging.  However true some aspects of these reports might be, there is another side of the story that does not make the headlines.
Yesterday afternoon I had a scintilating conversation with a graduate, a college sophomore whose Christian values and life-style have deepened during his college experience thus far, thanks to contact with other students with similar backgrounds from faith-filled families.  He participates in a weekly Bible Study group with other athletes which has helped him come to know and love Jesus, and attends Church weekly.  He and others like him are having a steady impact on other students who have drifted from their faith, but do not mock nor criticize those who practice theirs.  He spoke very optimistically about the future, and, although not Catholic himself, shares the global excitement over our new Pope.
The St. Marcellin Champagnat Society, a prayer and service organization at Archbishop Molloy High School in Queens, New York, spent their February Vacation digging sand and rebuilding homes in Breezy Point, Long Island, a community devastated by Hurricane Sandy.  The work was tedious and endless, but the joy of sharing manual labor and through it, building community, fit right into the pattern envisioned by St. Marcellin of not only helping the "least favored," but loving through hands-on service.
Next Thursday in Esopus, NY students will gather for the third and final Marist Youth Encounter Christ retreat, the majority of whose leaders are alumni of the Encounter retreats they made while students at our Marist schools.  It's their way of "paying back", as they say, and of keeping ties with their Marist roots. 70 of more Marist Young Adults have thus participated in and contributed to Marist life over the years.
Surely these three examples give us cause to rejoice in the faith of our teens and young adults, and to hope for a bright future for the Church and our country.
Bro. Rene