FDLC Workshop on Liturgy

A PANEL OF YOUNG PEOPLE PRESENT A LITURGY WORKSHOP AT A NATIONAL CONFERENCE

"Teenagers want to be involved. You need to invite them and keep encouraging them…"

"Music drew me to the Mass. Then I paid attention to the words of the songs. Then I listened more to the words of the Gospel. Now I understand the importance of the Word of God…"

"Symbols are powerful. If you use the power of symbols, it makes a bigger impression at Mass…"

These wise insights are among many shared by a team of young people from Messmer High School and Marquette High School at the Archdiocesan Liturgy Day, co-sponsored by the Federation for Diocesan Liturgical Commissions at the Wyndham Hotel and Convention Center in Milwaukee on October 18, 2008.

The workshop was a summary of the eight principles From Age to Age; The Challenge of Worship with Adolescents, a paper published by the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry in 1997. Even though it is more than ten years old, it has timeless wisdom and practical suggestions that still need to be implemented in parishes.

The seven students broke open the Liturgical principles by telling their own stories and giving their own perspective and suggestions to over 40 workshop adult participants.

Vibrant worship with adolescents celebrates their involvement in the Church’s life and mission. Tom from Marquette talked about the way his parish, St. Margaret Mary, embraced the teens and adults who went on a mission trip. Not only did they help raise money, but they burned a candle every day they were away, and their departure and return were celebrated at Mass.

Vibrant worship with adolescents invites and accepts their authentic participation. Tom started out as an altar server, and was then invited to become a lector. He learned to read the readings ahead of time, not only when he was proclaiming the Word, but for all Liturgies. His participation was accepted before he understood what worship was all about, and he became more involved and then he participated more fully the more involved he became.

Vibrant worship with adolescents attends to the diversity of ages and cultures in the assembly. Marcos talked St. Casimir and how the Spanish speaking people join with the English speaking people for special liturgies, for example at Christmastime. He was asked to be “Joseph” and walk in a procession around the church, carrying the Baby Jesus in his arms. As he presented the figure for others to look upon, he felt that they were praying with him. He saw how proud his grandmother was that he was part of the procession. He recommends “Spirit and Song”  as a resource for songs that would appeal to the “youth culture.”

Vibrant worship with adolescents roots and fosters their personal prayer relationship with God. Jaquez understood more about how important his own personal faith was when his uncle died; he also realized how the rituals of funeral liturgy actually brought some comfort to him and his family and affected the way they prayed at home.

Vibrant worship includes effective preaching of the Word. Connor talked about two homilies he can still remember today, because the priest was able to connect the message of the gospel with the events and concerns of young people. He asked priests to please meet with young people once a month to discuss the readings and get the impressions of teenagers so their perspective could be woven into the preaching. At St. Monica’s, he assists with the faith formation of middle school students and enjoys getting them excited about their faith.

Vibrant worship has a youthful spirit in music and song. Lucinda talked about how upbeat music got her involved in Liturgy, after a brief absence when she first started high school and was feeling disconnected and depressed. After seeing family members get involved with the music ministry, she came out of her shell and started getting more involved.

Vibrant worship incorporates visually dynamic symbols and actions. José talked about two symbols that made a big difference in the way he saw his faith. Being aqua-phobic, he never appreciated the role of water in baptism until a Jesuit took the time to explain it to him. That same Jesuit told him that a spider was like the “paschal mystery” of the arachnids… they are as misunderstood as Jesus was in his day. He challenge everyone to be more bold with symbols, to pour wine and water in a more dramatic gesture so it can be seen and heard, and to even use technology, such as cameras and screens so people in the 54th row can see things up close and be touched by the symbolism.

Vibrant worship with adolescents has an interactive and communal dimension. Ramón talked about the importance of building community within the parish. He described a gathering with the pastor cooking on the grill, and everyone coming with a plate to share. Because everyone has these opportunities to get to know each other, they are more interested in coming to Mass. They come to see their friends and family, and often spend time together after Mass. It’s something he looks forward to every Sunday.

After their stories and insights, the group asked questions and engaged in a lively dialog. Most of the participants came from the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, but some came from as far away as the west coast. The adults were very impressed with the knowledge, confidence and ideas of the teen panel. One of the participants said, “I never use big superlatives like ‘awesome’ or ‘amazing’ but…  you are TRULY AWESOME AND AMAZING!” The group broke into spontaneous applause several times during the presentations.

Special thanks are due to Christine Nienhaus, who invited and helped prepare the students from Messmer High School, and Sue Sajdak, who invited the students from Marquette University High School.

Tomorrow’s Present brought “Youth Friendly Liturgy Workshops” to almost twenty parishes across the archdiocese when it first was formed in 1998. Contact us if you are interested in hearing more about user-friendly ways to bring liturgical catechesis to an intergenerational audience.