There’s this question that I love asking my Giao Ly students on the first day of class every year. It goes something like: “Why are you here? What’s your motivation for being in this class? Why do you go to Mass?”
Since it’s the first day, and they’re all trying to make a good impression, it’s not uncommon to hear answers like, “I’m excited to learn more about God”, or “I want to learn how to be a better Catholic”.
These are good answers, but they’re not the ones I’m looking for, so I keep fishing. I’m patiently waiting for that one really honest kid in the class to raise their hand, and answer plainly:
“My parents made me!” Bingo.
It’s hard to admit, but most of the kids that go to TNF can sympathize with that answer. It’s important to realize that few of us chose to be Catholic in the first place. We were barely able to talk, much less make the conscious decision to pledge our entire existence to God.
We are Catholics by chance and attend church to satisfy the people we love. Just because we have become Catholics by the rite of Baptism, that does not necessarily make us believers. Perhaps that comes later in life. Perhaps not at all, which is why our current generation is not as attuned with the faith.
I was not a believer when I was Baptized as a child. Or, when I received First Communion as an adolescent. Or, when I was Confirmed as a teenager.
I don’t even know if I can call myself a believer today because, like many others, I am constantly in search of God everyday.
But, I do find it significant that I am still looking.
It is easy to distract ourselves when people are talking about something we don’t want to hear. We probably all do that quite often to the people in our lives. But, out of love, they will never give up hoping that we will eventually listen. God is always speaking to us, we just have to decide if we are willing to hear him. It’s an important choice that others cannot make for us.
If you have ever been to Tinh Huan, our November spiritual retreat with Lien Doan, then you have probably heard before that becoming an HT is like answering a call from God, which I find fitting. Not all of us are meant to be priests or nuns, but that doesn’t mean that God has nothing planned for us.
TNF will die out when its leaders no longer have a spiritual connection or goal. We teach about Mary and the Three Children because that is our way of bringing God to the people. Becoming an HT is not saying “Yes, I will believe”, but rather "I want to believe". You cannot teach what you do not believe in yourself, and you will never get there without trying.
Our kids have plenty of people in their lives that can teach them how to be Catholic, how to go to Mass, how to kneel and stand at the right times. That’s the easy part.
They depend on their role models to help them believe.
If you choose to be here as leader, it needs to be for the right reasons.
And, if you need help finding your way there, I will do my best to guide the way :)
Anh Peter
