Youth — The Salt of The Earth
In this day and age, people strive for many different things such as success, fame, or money. The goals and reasons people have to live life are seemingly endless, but if you think about it, all of these boil down to one single theme. The desire for happiness. In the same way, animals live to survive and plants live to grow, human beings live for happiness. I desire to be happy, and so do you, everyone does. It’s an unshakable part of our human nature, and it cannot be removed; this is the way things are. The only issue is though, most of the things we strive for can only give us temporary satisfaction, and we end up wanting more and more. Well, lucky for us, there is a special kind of happiness; one so deep and so good, that it never fades. We Christians call it God. To be in perfect communion with God means to know the highest truth, to see the most beautiful beauty, and to experience a love everlasting. This is happiness.
Being a Christian means to live by the ways of the cross every single day of your life. On the cross, Jesus Christ has shown the perfect example of how to live a selfless and just life. To simply put, it is in being a Christian, where we accept the original vocation God has intended for us; to take care of creation and build a better world, as well as to love our neighbors and pursue the truth, the good, and the beautiful (God Himself). This is happiness.
A critical word I mentioned was “vocation”. What amazes me so much is how far humanity has come. Today, we can see that it’s actually the younger generation that’s leading the way for a more sustainable future. It’s now the youth who are driving social enterprises, charities, and community projects. Seeing that GenZ has grown up fully digital, they have acquired the necessary information-technology skills needed to address the mistakes of the previous generation through various advocacies.
This is great for the church, as the youth has the unique ability to empower its vocation in ways never before imagined. This being said, the youth can help strengthen the catechesis in simple ways such as writing and publishing articles, posting on social media, and orchestrating charitable work inside their immediate communities. We live in a technologically advanced society that’s connected online, and given the many platforms available now, anyone and everyone can take part in works of stewardship of the church spread around the world.
In the gospel verse Mt. 5:13, Jesus said “You are the salt of the Earth”, and so long as the youth utilizes technology and freedom of speech to promote and influence good stewardship, the church will be further enriched and empowered like never before.
References
- “Encyclical Letter Laudato Si’ Of The Holy Father Francis On Care For Our Common Home (English ver.). Retrieved 18 June 2015.
- Landrieu, Josey; Pierson Russo, Jessica. “The What, How, and Why of 21st Century Youth Development”.
