How, when the world is saying otherwise, are young, adolescent women and men to live in love?
At the Fourth Annual School of Theology and Ministry Religious Education Lecture on Thursday, October 18th, Theresa O’Keefe, Associate STM Professor, attempted to answer this question. She suggested that the answer is the key to actualizing a meaningful life in the Church’s adolescents.
The spiritual vivacity of our Church’s youth is critical to constructing the Kingdom of God on earth, since they are the body which will shape the Church’s future. Adolescence, which O’Keefe defined as a “long transitional space” of motion and change, can be a time of difficult self-consciousness—even nakedness—for many. But in that exposure is an opportunity for self-awareness which adolescents can capitalize on to make more reflective of their place in the world, their relationships with the others, and their relationships with themselves. Adolescence is the process of beginning to see the wider world, O’Keefe argued. It is marked by the provocative questions of “Who am I?’’ and “What is my purpose?’’
O’Keefe acknowledged that there are obstacles to this formation. Church scandals, lonelier pews, and the desertion of our spiritual vocabulary can make faith often unattractive and unorthodox. However, O’Keefe contended that the Church plays a critical role in providing a “community of belief, offering a meaningful horizon.” This “horizon,” she continued, is ever-changing, but is nonetheless critical for adolescents to develop so they can measure the significance of their experiences and work towards lives of meaning and purpose. That is the goal of adolescent faith formation.
O’Keefe argued that this all-important, self-discoverable horizon is the awesome mystery of God—that we even exist; that nothing is outside the expanse of God; that God continually gives and we perpetually return; that mankind thrives when it loves.
One member in the audience suggested that her horizon is “what I have when everything is swept away.” And when all is swept away, O’Keefe argued, all we are left with is our identity: we are individuals of infinite and unique value, tethered to equally to the value of community and the Church.
Justin is a sophomore studying English and Communication, discerning life in law or as a priest, to name a couple. He spends an exorbitant amount of time playing guitar and listening to the greatest rock band ever—Pearl Jam.
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