Before I start, please be assured of the prayers of everyone here at Million Minutes. I hope you and those you love are staying safe and well at this very challenging time.

How do we respond to Pope Francis’ call at this time? This week is the first anniversary of his letter to all young people - Christus Vivit (‘Christ is Alive’). The Pope’s message rings out a fresh invitation in these difficult days

“Jesus loves you, dear young people, for you are the means by which he can spread his light and hope. He is counting on your courage, your boldness and your enthusiasm.” 

How could we know we would need their courage, boldness and enthusiasm so much right now?

Million Minutes had been planning to celebrate this week’s anniversary by offering Catholic communities training, support and resources to develop their mission to young people.  The time is not right for that. But it must be right for something.

Pope Francis says to young people:

“Make the most of these years of your youth. Don’t observe life from a balcony. Don’t confuse happiness with an armchair, or live your life behind a screen… open the door of the cage, go out and fly!” He calls on them to “not leave it to others to be the protagonists of change. You are the ones who hold the future!”

And he asks the older generations and youth minsters to be close to them, and to look for new ways to accompany them and to support them to discern their mission in the world. We must do this now as we tackle the coronavirus and the dreadful social consequences it brings.  So we invite you to join us as we explore this key question: 

How can the Church support young people both at this time, and into the changed times which will emerge?  

We consider how we can ensure young people have real accompaniment when we cannot do our normal youth work. How do we reach the most vulnerable and support them and their families? How do we share our faith and support the well-being of our young people?  How do we ensure their voices are heard as the world considers the longer-term view? How do we ensure that young people are the means of ‘light and hope’ that we know them to be?

So over the coming weeks we will be convening online discussions (and later, training) for those seeking to reach out and journey with young people. We need to innovate new approaches. We don’t have all the answers, but together we can work out some possible routes forward for the Church. 

It would be great to have your support and input during these new and challenging times. The first sessions will be on:

Complex Catholicism: Understanding different ‘types’ of young people and how to reach out to them in the context of coronavirus
Alone together: Accompanying our young people when our churches and schools are closed
Youth voice and action: How can our ministry help to include young people in the ‘adult world’s' response to Covid-19
Self isolation, faith sharing and sacramental preparation: new approaches
Discernment of our mission: finding ways to accompany young people on their unique journey

We’ll be joined by some special guests, including Abbot Christopher Jamison OSB. Register your interest now and we’ll work to find the right time for the online meet ups here.

In addition to our own sessions, we are also happy to act as a hub to offer other people’s conversations and training. Get in touch if you’re interested.  More details of training will emerge.

In Christ

Danny Curtin

PS More details will also be announced via Twitter (@Million_Minutes), Facebook (@millionminutes), and Instagram (@MillionMinutes11) so please do keep an eye out.