I thought I would take a moment to update you on a topic near and dear to my heart. Several weeks back, I wrote an article about finding a place for my family in terms of Young Adult/Family Activities at our local parish. I expressed a concern that, as a thirty year old mother with a child, there weren’t many parish activities geared toward my peers and I. I had expressed hope for a parish setting where my husband, my son and myself could all participate in a social event without feeling out of place or awkward.
I noticed that there were a lot of comments on my post, some positive, some less so. It seemed that, for the most part, people fell into two basic categories. First, there were the people who felt similarly situated – youngish Catholics, single or with children, who didn’t feel like the Church in general (or their parish in particular) really made an effort to schedule events that catered to them.
Second, there were the people who felt that categories such as age, gender and marital status shouldn’t matter, and that more inclusive events should be scheduled, rather than activities designed for specific participants. For some, the lack of peer-oriented activities was the problem. For others, having certain activities designed only for specific groups was the problem. I suppose it depends on your perspective, and there are valid points in both camps.
At any rate, I think we may have found an amicable solution at our parish. Last Friday night, we attended a Lenten Holy Hour as a family. The bulletin that week advertised the Holy Hour as intended for teens and young adults, but the advertising made a point to state that even thought the event was geared for younger people, all were welcome to attend.
In fact, that’s exactly what ended up happening. When we first got to the church, there weren’t many people inside, and certainly not many “young” people. Our toddler was the only person in his age group. The great part, though, was that everyone was able to participate. There were beautiful songs of praise, quotes from the tweets of Pope Francis, and more and more parishioners of all stripes came as the hour continued. Everyone was free to be in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, young or old, single or married. While there were a number of younger Catholics in attendance, we didn’t feel like sore thumbs because we brought a baby. We were part of a larger, unified group.
It seemed like the parish even found a way to accommodate a younger crowd while still inviting all parishioners to participate. There was a fellowship component (very Southern even though we live in New York) after the Holy Hour ended, with pizza and other refreshments in the parish basement. There was even a KanJam competition happening for the kids. For those of you not familiar with KanJam, it’s a game featuring yellow Frisbees and black buckets that is often played on the beaches during the summer.
While everyone was invited downstairs, and no one was excluded, the kids obviously gravitated toward the game, and the adults toward the food. The little man in particular enjoyed his pizza and loved watching the “big kids” play – he even accidentally caught one of the Frisbees! We ran into another young couple we knew and ending up making small talk about wedding plans, corned beef for St. Patrick’s Day and movies (specifically “Son of God” and “Noah”). We actually had a great time.
I think that part of the reason the Holy Hour worked was because of the efforts of the parish priest who organized it. This priest happens to be on the younger side, but he made an effort to make sure everyone who attended felt welcomed. In addition to leading the group spiritually, he served as a sort of “master of ceremonies” or host, and this eliminated any potential awkwardness. He even brought music downstairs to accompany the KanJam competition. Thanks to his efforts, a lot of parishioners and even a few visitors had a faith- and fun-filled Friday night.
Hopefully, this type of event will become more commonplace in our parish. Have any of you hosted events like this in your community? It seems like a nice compromise and a way to include the whole parish in an evening of prayer and friendship.
