In my years of Catholic Youth Ministry I have embraced the concept of having high expectations of the young people we are trying to lead closer to Christ! As leaders we can’t sell young people short and expect less. Yesterday at a Catechetical Symposium I helped lead in the Archdiocese of Boston, there was a fishbowl sharing experience that included some college students. At the end we asked them to give the youth leaders, DRE’s and Catholic school teachers present a word of advice. One young man simply said “If you expect a lot – you will get a lot!”

It reminds us all of the importance of not dumbing down the faith for teens. They want our faith in it’s fullness with all the smells and bells that our faith offers. If we indeed expect teens to go deeper, to read scripture, to discern a vocation, to pray more, to sacrifice, to serve selflessly and to become radical disciples for Christ – They will!

Questions? Are you challenging the teens at your parish? Do you expect a lot from the teens and families that you serve? (Of course it will be hard to expect more from others if we are not expecting more from ourselves)