Young adults must be strong for church’s future

Stat crux dum volvitur orbis. “The cross stands while the world turns.” 
The monks of the Carthusian order who reside in the hills of Cologne, Germany hold this phrase deep in their hearts. 



The Catholic Church has seen an innumerable amount of changes through its 2,000-year history. Empires and nations have risen and fallen and history has changed, yet the church remains built on rock, rather than sand. 

Modern society is nothing like humanity has ever experienced. The interaction between peoples is unprecedented as we grow into a more globalized economy. Catholicism has reached every part of this world and sits at more than 1.34 billion people, according to the National Catholic Register. Forbes said Pope Francis is the sixth most powerful person in the world.

I am almost 21 years old and a senior at LSU. I am also from the Denver, Colorado area. Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila, who was installed in the Archdiocese of Denver in 2012, has repeatedly said we live in a “post-Christian world.” 

Being a young person in the church feels countercultural in our ever-growing secular generation. The increase of mistrust in church hierarchy and the pursuit of individualistic ideals result in countless people my age leaving the church in which they were raised by their parents. That’s the problem right there, however. The Catholic faith for many kids is their parents’ Catholic faith, not their own. 

Our Lord Jesus Christ has come to be my best friend, and I am learning to let him be the love of my life. That’s the root of my faith. The creator of the universe loves me so much that despite all the times I’ve broken his heart through my sins, he will never abandon me.

College is a time where people of my generation are trying to discover what the rest of their life will look like. Anytime you meet someone, they often ask, “What do you want to do?”

Everyone has an answer for what their life plans. I think there’s a better question to ask: “What does our Lord want you to do?”

Our Lord’s will is something very hard to trust. You’re not in control and you have no idea where the road leads. So I understand why people have a hard time trusting our Lord. Mass (can seem) boring (at times) and organized religion (seemingly) a thing of the past.
Having a personal relationship with Christ, the type where he’s someone you talk to and spend time with just like any person, changes the game. Our Lord’s will for each person’s life is the most fulfilling and most joyful life one would be able to live. The more time you spend with and get to know our Lord, the more your will becomes his will.

A relationship with Christ doesn’t mean your life will be butterflies and rainbows, however. There will always be suffering. I even have trouble accepting my suffering and I still have a long way to go to align my will with our Lord’s. 

St. Paul tells the Romans “for the wages of sin is death.” God is justice and each and every one of us is subject to death as the just exchange for our sins. 

Our Lord loves us with such a fiery passion that he contradicts his justice. According to Pope Benedict XVI in his encyclical “Deus Caritas Est,” “his death on the cross is the culmination of that turning of God against himself in which he gives himself in order to raise man up and save him. This is love in its most radical form.” 

God believes he is married to us. His love is so resemblant to betrothal that pursuing other “gods,” whether it be money, influence or even astrology, is adultery and prostitution against our Lord who loves us so much. 

So as I make my way through college and prepare for life, it never should have been about what I want to do. It is all in the hands of our Lord and how he will use me to lighten the burdens of the crosses the people around me are bearing.

Just as Archbishop Aquila said, our world is post-Christian. The days of Christendom are dying. The church is facing challenges she’s never seen before modernism. Pope St. Pius X said “Modernism is the synthesis of all heresies.” 

But the church is built on rock. Just like every trial she’s faced in her history, she will prevail. This depends on young people like myself. The people of my generation must share the good news to people who probably have already heard of Jesus and maybe even grew up listening to the Gospel, it just never actually touched their hearts.

This isn’t an evangelization where we share Christ with people who have never heard of him. People already know about him, they just believe other gods will make them happier. 

The mission for young Catholics is tremendous and will be very difficult, but nonetheless invaluable for the salvation of souls. Let us be strong and of courage; for the Lord our God is with us wherever we go. 

Lem is a senior at LSU.