I consider that I have had a privileged life. I have worked for over thirty years as a teacher, retreat director, counseling-psychologist and chaplain, with delinquents to university students, in Britain, America and Europe, with individuals and with groups. I have had the privilege of witnessing the presence of God in their young lives, in what they have shared and done with others, and in which I have been privileged to share. I have also worked with other adults who minister to (and are ministered to, by) young people. I am overwhelmed by the reciprocity of God's love in ministry with young people.

Listening to young people talking about their life experiences, one is struck by their awareness (through personal experience or through the internet) of differences, divorces, broken hopes, injustice and exploitation. Their youthful joys of clubbing, of TV, videos, DVDs and music, of sexual activity, of sport, are just as apparent, as are their pains of isolation and abandonment, of violence, of rejection and abuse. Equally evident are their coping abilities, their compassion, courage, spontaneity, honesty, generosity and ambiguity. I hear their idealism and deepest hopes - for college, good jobs, good relationships, for making the world a better place - and their despondency and deepest fears - of being exploited, of loneliness, or of their inability to cope with difficulties. I see their energy, their struggles and their exhaustion. I hear their laughter and their anger. I observe their tears and their frustration. I am privileged to be invited into their world.

However, I find myself asking: Why do so many adults not see God's action in these experiences of young people? Why do society and its media representatives focus so unrelentingly on the negative aspects of youth, and so judgementally? Why does the Church so rarely celebrate young people as images of God, or reach out to them with signs, not just messages, of hope and encouragement?

As a De La Salle Brother, I started from a privileged position. I have been struck by, and have lived my life with young people, motivated by the recommendation of St John Baptist de La Salle, Patron of Christian Educators. " Recognise Jesus beneath the rags of the poor children whom you have to teach. Adore him in their person." ( Meditation for Epiphany)

This 300 year-old recommendation to teachers is still relevant to contemporary Christian educators, to today's Church, and to all associated with young people. It comes from a traditional and theologically sound perspective - seeing God in all things, in all events, in all people and in all situations. It is a perspective which invites us to take seriously the reality of the presence of a loving God in our God-created world, in the world where God's Son has redeemed all people, in a world where God's Spirit animates all peoples. All are invited to recognise the action of God in the lives of young people, and are challenged to respond to John Paul II's "Church of today and tomorrow". 

The experience of violence is the overwhelming issue affecting young people today. Violence comes in many different forms. It is experienced through abuse, physical, emotional, and sexual; through being bullied by peers and adults; in being mugged for a few pence or for a mobile phone; or simply by being "cussed". Pressure resulting from teachers, parents and society, who keep raising academic expectations of young people without raising appropriate emotional support, is another vivid experience of violence for many young people. The pressures to live up to the latest fashion standard as proclaimed by global businesses, through unrelenting advertising, is compounded by the pressure to conform from their own peers. Many of the young people born outside Britain feel insecure and displaced between cultures, especially if they are here only "with permission to stay". The violence of neglect is increasingly common. Students as young as twelve, usually from single parent families, often don't talk to an adult outside school for days at a time, or function as parents for younger children in their house! Sixty per cent or more of students in some Catholic schools, no longer have their own two parents, frequently having complex "care" structures, which try to meet their needs - often with limited satisfaction.

Such life-experiences undermine the self-confidence and self-esteem of many young people. Suicide attempts, running away, drugs, alcohol, addictions, and sexual activities are some of the ways some young people adopt in their efforts to cope. Yet often, they recognize that such activities are a denial of their God-given dignity, and that they are superficial and unsatisfying attempts to cope with a society using material goods to fob them off. "You have given me everything I want, but I don't have what I need." was the terrible message I read recently in a letter left for his family, by a 19 year old young man, who committed suicide. Many other young people in similar circumstances are deeply impressive by the way they vividly find or reflect God in their difficulties. They have, as Mary Craig wrote in Blessings, "not wasted their pain" and have grown through the situation. They reflect God's grace in their tolerance, forgiveness, graciousness, generosity, courage, faith and, above all, in their compassion toward others. Many have become, for me, living images of "God turning everything to good".

Tony, (not his real name) aged 13, talked to a group of 17/ 18 year old students about his father's alcoholism, his despair to the point of suicide and his sense of helplessness, until he found - Alateen! He enabled several of the older students to start talking of the similar pains which they experience in their own families. Quite spontaneously, they affirmed his courage to talk about things which thus far they had never been able to do. They recognised that they had been set free by this younger person. They felt enabled to deal with what was holding them back from "living their lives to the full"!

Working with some younger children following the tragic death of one of their class mates, I was astonished by their insights into his pain, the pain of his parents - and that of their own parents who couldn't talk to them about what had happened. They spoke directly, about what his death had brought to their minds - deaths of their own relatives and of pets; of the many positive qualities of the boy who had died, and of their own sadness about not being able "to be there for him when he most needed someone". I was deeply moved when, quite spontaneously, they broke into prayer - not just of petition but also of thanks for the blessings they had received through him!

Provided with the chance to celebrate reconciliation, or to talk to a priest about their worries, in schools or during retreats, many young people take the opportunity with a great openness and generosity of heart. Some of these opportunities last 15 or 20 minutes or longer. I have been invited several times to be with some young people, individuals and groups, when they have humbly admitted their faults, their need for God and when they received reconciliation through the priest. When asked why I was invited, they tell me that they "wanted to be heard" and that they trusted me to do that and still respect them! I can admit that the priests and I have ended up in tears, alongside the young people, on some of these occasions. The tradition of "Anam Cara" is not dead among young people - although they may never heard of it in those terms!

The vast majority of young people are searching for personal authenticity and meaning. They want to become better people and to make the world a better place, despite the ambiguities of the world in which they live. They desire to belong to a community where they know that they are loved and where they can be of loving service. They can, just as easily, make a mess of things and do the exact opposite - just like St Paul! One young woman said to a teacher, with some frustration but with a deep sense of her own journey, " Be patient with me, God isn't finished with me yet!" They need support to make progress not criticism of who they are. Many young people have a deep sense of God and a joyous and spontaneous spirituality unencumbered by the regulations of religion or by denominational boundaries, but they often feel frustrated by the lack of opportunities to reflect on God, or to share their faith within institutional religion. They want, as Pope Paul VI said, people who can give them "reasons for hope," and "people who are witnesses" - not necessarily teachers! For want of people who can empower them to live with ambiguity and remain hopeful, or sometimes to meet their own need for security, some young people opt for fundamentalist and narrow approaches to religion which give quick, if simplistic, answers which, sadly, do not satisfy for long.

Jesus didn't bring people to the synagogue for formal instruction, but he met people, particularly the most marginalised, where they were, and he talked, listened, drank, ate and made merry with them! He set them free of fear, brought them to a new life, and through them has transformed the world! Are we, today's adult Church, able to do the same for those who are probably the most marginalised of our society - for our young people, here and how?