Does life really begin at 40? Society tends to brand the younger generation as an apathetic lot, and yet the vast energy pumping through the hearts, minds and bodies of young people begs to differ.

The focus thrown onto those young people who choose, or fall into, a culture of death, and the limelight that is focused on ‘adult’, ‘powerful’ and ‘financial’ interests, obscure where true life actually lies.

In a world where individualism and fragmentation seem to dominate, what space is afforded for the hopeful ideals of youth? The restless search for reconciliation with others and with nature is a universal call that we all feel, no matter what name we give it.

This desire to truly ‘journey together’ jars in an artificial world which constantly tries to convince us that ‘my’ journey is all that really matters. This pervasive self-centred attitude needs to be nipped in the bud, and it is the responsibility of all of us to do so.

Committed as they are to accompanying youths through their formative years, Jesuits worldwide are renewing their focus on this ‘journeying together’ in the years to come, committed, as Pope Francis said recently in his letter to youths, to “experience the miracle of the culture of encounter”. (Christus vivit, 169).

The Society of Jesus (Jesuits) gave a strong message to all of us to recognise the huge potential in young people. The Order recently committed to focus its energies on accompanying youth as one if its new four preferences for its mission across the globe. The other three were the promotion of discernment, accompaniment of the excluded, and care for our common home.

So much happens to us in today’s technological reality, and it happens fast. We tend to buy into what social networks promote, follow courses the economy ‘needs’ and focus our attention on the messages given to us by our smartphone.

This often drives out our inner peace, or the possibility to develop our full potential, diverting our attention from the real people around us to our virtual world. How many of us actually stop and try to find out where our deepest desires lie, which ultimately translate into God’s dream for each and every one of us?

This is where the Jesuit gold lies

This is where the Jesuit gold lies – a journey of self-discovery where those they accompany are encouraged to find out their true potential in a world of encounters with others. Youths in the Eucharistic Youth Movement, Christian Life Communities and those who look for accompaniment at the University Chaplaincy know the difference and the creative turn their life can take when true ‘discernment’ (a process of encounter with God on their decision-making process) is allowed to happen. It leads to a ‘path of freedom’, a life, a job which makes beautiful sense even beyond the pay.

A total of 120 students responded to the University Chaplaincy’s offer of opportunities for voluntary work this summer. Why? As summed up by one of the students, it might look strange: “I don’t know what to expect from this experience but I am ready for it.”

In the experience of Jesuits and youths together there is an innate understanding that walking with the excluded, with the poor, is one encounter that will bring positive change in the world and growth in one’s own journey.

The choice for the other, specifically for the excluded, is a choice for life. It is a choice which brings true, hopeful and authentic life to our society today, while “resisting the pathologies of consumerism and superficial individualism”. (CV,174)

In this young culture there is another call: the care for our common home, the natural contact with nature which nourishes every human person, the dream of a place where people and our world’s fascinating natural environment can complement and sustain one another.

In a country where conservation of nature is being sacrificed for greed, in a global moment where whole nations are forgetting their faithfulness to their land, a decisive action for the love of nature, and for a change of heart, is felt in the corridors, classrooms and driving forces behind Jesuit initiatives and institutions.

The emphasis on decisive concrete actions to be embraced by Christian Life Communities and in our college, works and communities, advocated for by the Jesuits, all augur a ‘new and universal solidarity’ for the planet, our home. They are certainly not the first to do this but how great to see a strong and influential force taking the care of our common home as one of their priorities!

Only last week, in the 36 th edition of the Convegno Jesuits & History, this year entitled ‘Journeying Together’, St Aloysius College Sixth Form hosted over 50 students and staff from colleges across Europe to respond to Pope Francis’ call to this culture of encounter, this journeying together. All students gave their share and had their say.

There is an option to choose abundant life and these students have chosen it! Whether in our personal lives, as families, friends or as part of society, we can make the choice for a world where encounter will be the response to a fragmented society in a suffering world.

In such an interconnected world, youths still yearn for this deeper encounter with themselves, with others and with the natural world around them. How good to see Jesuits worldwide emphatically renew their decision to stand at their side, in this common, hopeful journey into the future.  

Anthony Mifsud is lay chaplain at St Aloysius’ Primary School.

This is a Times of Malta print opinion piece

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.