Empowering youth to live as disciples of Jesus

By Tex Phelps
For The Catholic Week
When I was young, I always thought of myself as a leader. I would make decisions, organize activities, assign people to do tasks and give advice. I did not have leadership training but it seemed to come naturally to me. Even though I was an introvert, I was able to go outside of my comfort zone when I was focused on a specific task or activity. When an adult would ask me to lead something, it felt good to be given responsibility and intensified my focus.
When I went into youth ministry, my main focus was to help develop and equip youth to become leaders. My hope was to empower young people to share their faith and lead by example. As a parish youth minister, I would look for opportunities to give responsibility to young people and put them in a position to succeed. If there were struggles or something did not go as planned, this offered a teaching moment. I feel very blessed with all that God has given me and I feel a responsibility to help develop young leaders in the Church.
“Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.” — Luke 12:48
This scripture can be very challenging but it also can be very inspiring. If we look at our circumstances and how we are blessed in our lives, we can look for opportunities to share our blessings with others and share our faith. We can be role models to young people by showing the joy we experience by living out our faith. Young people can be role models for their peers and share their faith in a positive and inviting manner that encourages others to want to be a part of something that is inspirational. There are a lot of faith-filled young people and we need to make sure that we are empowering them to live out their own faith and lead others to a relationship with Jesus. When young people participate at Mass and in their parish, there is an energy and excitement. 
“Christ is alive! He is our hope, and in a wonderful way he brings youth to our world. 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!” — Pope Francis from Christus Vivit
How do we show our young people that Christ is alive? We should set the tone and invite them to join. "Renewing the Vision: A Framework for Catholic Youth Ministry" lists three goals that should be a foundation for ministering to youth. The first is “to empower young people to live as disciples of Jesus Christ in our world today.” The world is constantly changing so we need to make sure that young people are equipped as disciples to share the Good News of Jesus Christ. The second goal is “to draw young people to responsible participation in the life, mission and work of the Catholic faith community.” We can do this by offering a variety of opportunities to match the different talents and gifts represented in our young people. The third goal is “to foster the total personal and spiritual growth of each young person.” We are responsible for each young person in our parish and need to make sure that we do not lose sight of them. The earlier we start with this goal, the stronger the relationship will be with Jesus Christ and His Church. When we have a strong foundation for our youth, we can truly show them that “Christ is alive!”
— Tex Phelps is the Director of the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry for the Archdiocese of Mobile. He may be emailed at [email protected]
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