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 When you meet someone for the first time, one of the first questions he (or she) may ask is "Who are you?" This is the question that
the Church poses to the youth today. However, many youth of the Church have a
problem answering that question. Today's culture pushes and pulls young people
in so many directions opposed to the values of the Gospel and the teaching of
the Church that they begin to lose their sense of identity as Children of God.
In today's world, youth are pulled down the roads of
drugs, sex, and violence. They are pulled down these roads, because the world
creates false images of wealth, power, and pleasure. The paths are adorned with
the superficial ornaments of money, cars and clothes. However, when the young
people turn down these paths, they experience no power, or pleasure but pain and
suffering. Their pain and suffering is in a drug addiction or AIDS. The world
appeals to the youths' superficial pleasure which results in a lifetime of
separation from God and the very thing that created the pain, the world.
Therefore, how do we combat this problem when we,
ourselves, do not have a true grasp on our identity as Children of God? The
answer is very simple; it is found in 1 Corinthians 14:15, "So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my
mind; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind". It is
through prayer all things are possible. It was through prayer and faith that
people of Israel were led out of slavery. As Christian people, we have the
responsibility to show the world, most especially the youth, the power of
prayer. Our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, said in his response to questions
posed to him by the bishops of the United States: "Young people, if they know
how to pray, can be trusted to know what to do with God's call." How do you
teach young people how to pray? In Luke 11:1-13, Jesus says to simply call upon
God as Father. It is through prayer that God reveals himself to us. It is also
through prayer that God reveals to us who we are.
 Now, this requires not only the efforts of the young
people, but the efforts of the whole church. Each of us, young and old, has a
special part to play in the body of Christ. 1 Corinthians 12:12-30 stresses the
importance of each part in the body, "As a body is one though it has many parts,
and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body, so also Christ". As
many in one, we have the responsibility to teach, to preach, and to pray. The
world is a growing distraction in our faith life, but God told us that we would
be faced with opposition and hardship. However, he gave us many gifts and
blessings, the power of prayer and the Holy Spirit. The identity of the young
Church lies in the faith of the older church. Therefore, the church has the
responsibility to show the young people the beauty of the path of salvation, "In
My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told
you; for I go to prepare a place for you" (John 14:2). So, the next someone asks
you who you are make sure you tell them "I am a Child of God".
Ajani Gibson is a junior at St. Augustine High
School in New Orleans, LA. He is a very active member of St. Peter Claver
Catholic Church. He also a member Archdiocese of New Orleans's Imani team, a
black catholic leadership team.
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