Each hour that you pour yourself into the lives of the youth, remember that you are snatching an hour from their experiment with drugs, violence, addiction, street fights, emptiness, boredom... Many of our youth today have an emptiness, and lots of questions. They are aware of the outside dangers, however, once they find a relationship that can fill their emptiness, they will go for it. This is why we need to keep our hearts open for the youth, to be with them, and allow them to make mistakes, to help them stand up again and continue the path of their faith, to maturity.
However, we need to believe that we are the salt and the light, and that we are doing His work, His will, and that we serve His big vision. The hour that we're spending with the youth, specially junior youth, is not in vain, it is for the development of the spiritual dimension, for the special and personal relationship with God.
That is the big picture that Christ invited us to share when he narrated about the Good Samaritan, the great question of Who Is My Friend? The kids, the youth have the thirst for relationships, for grown-ups to spend time with them, to love them, to advise them. They are not shy about it as we were in our times. Today, they come to you and they tell you that they want to spend their time with you, to learn from you, to become your mentee. You are special in their lives.
Along this path, we are not perfect and we will never be, and they need to see that you are not perfect, however, what they need to see more is that you are working on yourself, you are thriving to be better, to walk your talk, and keep your faith alive. You are part of His vision, and we are not alone in this path. Our relationship with Him will reflect in our relationship with our youth.
Raffi Chilingirian
