Early in February the Diocese of Tucson office of Youth Ministry sponsored a retreat for high school students called El Camino to Easter. More than 200 high school students from all reaches of the diocese attended. They came from Safford to Yuma, Casa Grande to Nogales. These young people gathered together in search of belonging, acceptance, forgiveness and love.
Belonging, acceptance, forgiveness and love are what we hope to find at the end of our Lenten journey together, no matter our ages. During Lent we are reminded of the new creation that begun with Noah, the display of unconditional love in the Prodigal Son story, and in a few weeks we remember the stories of the sacrificial love of Christ. How do these Lenten stories relate to our need for belonging, acceptance, forgiveness and love?
Belonging and acceptance
God so desires a relationship with us that God willingly recreated the Earth with Noah promising never to destroy the Earth again by a flood. God will be with us throughout any storms we encounter and, because of free will, God is with us even throughout our rejection of God.
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God is always waiting for us to reconnect. And, God so desires a relationship with us that through the incarnation became one of us so that this relationship could be more intimate. God is now with us, experiencing the same joys and struggles we face.
Our young people, like all of us, want to feel a sense of belonging to something bigger and greater than themselves. They want to be recreated into beautiful beings desirable of an intimate relationship with God and the community of believers. It is within this community then that they come to know acceptance for who they are, who they were created to be — a child of God.
Forgiveness and love
The story of the Prodigal Son shows us the depth of God’s mercy, forgiveness and love. After rejecting the life his father provided, the son seeking forgiveness, returns home and is joyously met by his father. The father calls for a celebration and clothes his son with a fine robe. This gesture restores his son’s dignity, welcoming him back and accepting him for who he is — a person restored through the forgiveness, mercy and love of his father.
This is what our young people yearn for. They know they have faults, have sinned, have rejected at times the ways of their parents, but at some point they realize how misguided and blinded they were and yearn for the acceptance that forgiveness brings.
Raymond Friel, in his book, “Formation of the Heart,” says “He (Jesus) came to bring us closer to God, to give us hope, to show us a more loving way of being together. Christians are committed to the transformation of the world…” As faith filled disciples we are called, just like Noah and the prodigal son’s father, by God to do the same. The call is not about us. The call is about responding to and cooperating with God to bring about God’s kingdom of hope and love here — today.
Our young people depend on the adults in their lives to walk with them in their journey towards the kingdom. Are you prepared to take that journey to experience a transformative moment with your young adults and teens?
They are eager to start. Do you have your walking shoes on?
Tucson faith leaders, we would like to include your original sermon or scriptures of encouragement. Sermons must be written by the person submitting them, not borrowed from another source or writer. If you are a faith leader from any religion or denomination, please contact Sara Brown at sbbrown@tucson.com.
Such traditions as the Procession of the Cross up "A" Mountain and Easter services are important to many Tucsonans. The youngest of us, however, are more interested in hunting Easter eggs.
Karen Brady
