Through faith development activities

179. For those who express a desire to deepen their faith and sense of belonging to the Church, we make available opportunities for more intensive experiences of prayer and of Christian community, and for joining in apostolic activities. ⁶ We initiate these ourselves or link with those that exist in the local Church. We take steps in the local Church to ensure that all young people find a welcome, are listened to, and are able to exercise initiative there. ⁷ We establish centres devoted to this ministry for our own programmes or as a service to the wider Church.

180. We tailor our style of ministry to the age, character, and circumstances ⁸ of the particular group with whom we are working: for example, those still at school, parish groups, youth in urban or rural settings, young workers, university students; those with a strong connection with the Church and those with little or none; those with financial means and those who lack them.

181. We adopt a pastoral approach which is simple and experiential. We show young people models of the Christian life which permit them to discover in their own lives what it means to be a Christian today. We arrange special activities such as seminars, festivals, prayer evenings, religious celebrations, retreats, and pilgrimages. Individually or in small groups, we help them to articulate their ideals and translate them into goals suitable to their age and social context.

182. We invite school-age youth, who have come some way in living out their Christian convictions to join us in youth ministry, for example, in catechetical programmes for children and as animators in youth movements and other activities through which they can evangelise other young people.

183. Our pastoral ministry to older youth and young adults emphasises their maturing in personal faith and commitment. Besides the activities already mentioned, we provide personal accompaniment in which we help them reflect on their experience of life. ⁹ We initiate them into Marist apostolic spirituality and how to live it out within the local Church. We offer them the support of networks with others of their age. Together with them, we draw up comprehensive programmes for the ongoing formation they need, and we dedicate sufficient time to providing these.

184. Furthermore, we encourage their involvement in volunteer and missionary programmes, either abroad or at home, in remote or deprived areas. We offer them the possibility of living for a time as a member of a Marist apostolic community. ¹⁰ We foster their sense of vocation, including the options of religious life and the priesthood. ¹¹

185. We form young believers as Christian leaders in society. ¹² We journey with them in their desire to be sensitive to and in solidarity with the problems of other peoples and other cultures. We offer them the possibility of studying the social teachings of the Church.

186. As youth ministers, we are convinced that we render the best service of all through the witness of our joyful lives, which model what it is to be a committed Christian in today’s world. We nourish our own spirituality through our personal relationship with Jesus Christ, so that we will be better able to share our faith with young people.

187. We keep ourselves up-to-date regarding advances in religious studies, in the social and educational sciences and in the theory and praxis of youth ministry. We develop competence in leading groups, as well as skills in spiritual direction and personal accompaniment.

188. With our friends or companions in ministry we share our experiences, the joys and sorrows involved, as well as how we have become aware of the presence of God in our work. In this way, as well, we are careful to be objective about the quality of our work and its impact on us personally.

189. We create links with and play an active role in the co-ordination bodies for youth ministry at the parish, diocesan and national levels.