PARISH YOUTH MINISTRY

The Parish Youth Ministry (PYM) has been the means by which the parish can bring together the youth as a distinct group with specific interests and needs. This ministry seeks to draw and welcome all young people into responsibility, understanding and participation in the life of the Catholic Church and community

PYM is a ministry “to” the youth because it is an exercise of the pastoral role of the Christian community on meeting young people’s needs. It draws out the time, talent and treasure of the adult community to provide opportunities for growth that young people need but cannot attain without assistance.

PYM is a ministry is “with” the youth because young people share with adults a common responsibility to carry out the Church’s mission. When the youth exercises this responsibility jointly with adults, God’s work is completed using the largest and most diverse means.

PYM is a ministry “by” the youth because in it the young people exercise their own ministry to others, particularly to their peers and those less fortunate than themselves.

The late Pope John Paul II in his apostolic letter to young people (in 1985) said that in the youth there is hope, for the youth belong to the future, just as the future belongs to them. The future belongs to the young people, just as it once belonged to the generation of those who are now adults, and precisely together with them it has become the present reality. He continued, “… to you belongs responsibility for what will one day become reality together with yourselves, but which still lies in the future.” Thus, the church has given priority and attention to the young.

In our local church also where the young comprise a large number of the population, the ministry of the young people is important. In 1991 the Second Plenary Council of the Philippines declared that the "youth ministry should be assured of the fullest attention and highest priority in every way by all in the Church" (Art. 50, No. 2).

Our speaker, the chairman of the commission on youth of the Archdiocese of Cebu, has informed us of the youth programs in the archdiocese. These programs are mostly on the formation. These also take into consideration that the young people are usually transient in the ministry. But the most important matter is that the youth are given the opportunities to avail the programs of the PYM even only once their lifetime. On the other hand there is also the need for the support from the parish priests because youth ministry entails a lot of financial resources. Young people have a very meager monetary contribution, but they can give their services in terms of manual work utilizing their talents and skills.

For the people in the youth ministry it is hard to implement ongoing formation program for the youth especially in the parish. But the most consoling part is the fact that some young people are seen volunteering themselves for the service of their fellow youth. In the youth ministry we can find committed young people ministering without seeking gain for their own selves. The church has never run out of committed young people. The only challenge here is how to tap them. Here, the priest as a pastoral minister of the Church has indeed a great role in putting forward the youth ministry. He has the authority and the power to gather financial resources for the benefit of the young and the weak.

Today the church must know how to respond to the expectations of the young people. It is clear in the gospel that Jesus wants to enter into dialogue with them. Through the Church, the body of Christ, the young will be open to the possibility of a choice, which will require a commitment of their lives. As Jesus journeys with the disciples of Emmaus, so the church must become the traveling companion of young people. This is youth ministry – becoming a traveling companion of young people. If, indeed, “it takes an entire village to raise a child,” then it certainly takes an entire church to journey with young people as they grapple with the Good News and respond in discipleship.