"Life Teen is Irreformable"

**Karl Keating** · #1 Jul 28, '04, 4:14 pm

Leila Lawler looks at the recent decision to bring Life Teen's Masses into conformity with the General Instruction on the Roman Missal and says, in essence, "It's not enough. Life Teen, by its nature, can't be reformed. It needs to be rejected."

Here is the link to her column: http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=31139

The chief problems, she says, are that Life Teen Masses segregate teens from their families and cater to teens in terms of entertainment. Neither one, says Lawler, is good for the teens or for the Church.

Read her comments and post your reflections. Please limit your comments to what she has written. There have been other threads on Life Teen in general, and I'd like to see this one restricted to thoughts about her column.

MaryChelan · #2 Jul 28, '04, 4:40 pm

Hello,
I did want to read this article, however CWN requires people to subscribe to their service in order to read articles on their site. I am not interested in subscribing to more email publications so I was unable to read this piece. I am quite interested in it, though, because I have attended Lifeteen Masses a few times when I had missed Sunday Mass earlier in the day. The Lifeteen Mass nearby was offered at 6 pm and so I went to fulfill my Sunday obligation. I went twice and was quite disturbed by it both times. The Church was filled to the gills, with teens and their parents, but so many liturgical abuses happened. It was simply appalling. I am 49 years old next month and I grew up in the sixties and have always loved Folk Masses as much as Traditional ones, but this Lifeteen--it didn't feel Catholic even! Not one bit! And the priest was from Ireland, a very kind man, and when I approached him afterward and mentioned that I attend a Traditional parish nearby and had never seen such a thing as Lifeteen he merely said "we have to bring the young people in." When I was a "young people" I loved Mass however it was offered to me! I just find the reasoning behind Lifeteen false and misleading, especially about young men and women. They need the Traditional Church as it is, not something Protestantized to appeal to them...

RichT · #3 Jul 28, '04, 5:35 pm

I didn't read the article. Besides there is enough whining going on in this forum regarding the Life Teen Mass without having to listen to more.

I grew up in a protestant church and was very involved in the college aged ministry. It is common for protestant churches to cater to the youth. One thing I noticed is the amount of kids who stayed in church after they left college. I believe this was due to the church's dedication in providing a place for these kids. When I became Catholic, I was amazed at one thing. It seemed very typical for kids who were raised Catholic to fall away from the church right about the same age they moved away from home. They were more involved in the secular world, and were not interested in church. It wasn't until they got married and started having children that the church suddenly became important again. I'm not saying this happens with all Catholic families, but it is the case with many. It's too bad this happens, but what's worse is why it seems to happen. I have asked many people about this. Most of the answers were similar. Either they were bitter over being "forced" into attending mass or there was simply no encouragement to attend at all. I remember when I was going through RCIA. I often wondered why I was more excited about the church than those around me. My wife's grandmother gave me an old bible of her's as a gift. She said I deserved it more than her own children because I showed more love for the church than any of them. I guess my point is that we as parents have failed in the past in the ways we instill religion into our children. I keep hearing everyone say that teens shouldn't be seperated and treated special. Don't you remember when you were a teen? Wasn't there a time when you just didn't want anything to do with your parents? Teens need space, especially in our modern society. They need a place to call their own.

I happen to attend St. Timothy's in Mesa, AZ where it all started. I also support Life Teen. I understand the concern with liturgical abuses, but I also know there are liturgical abuses in many if not all parishes in some form or another. What I don't understand is why adults want to be selfish and not allow our youth to have something they can call their own. Maybe we should just get rid of LIfe Teen altogether. What do you think will happen to the thousands of teens who are currently involved? Do you think that they will just magically decide they want to go to mass with mom and dad? The United States has a rapidly declining birth rate. Our population is aging quite rapidly. One day we will see attendance start to drop at an alarming rate if we don't start somewhere. Maybe it's Life Teen. Maybe is parent's stepping up to the plate and instead of forcing mass down their kid's throats, instilling the love of Christ in the right way. Maybe it's time for ALL catholics to start walking the walk. I'm sorry but I had many catholic friends growing up and I can't name but a few who led a catholic life. I can name quite few, however, who were doing drugs, drinking, having sex while in high school, and are today shacking up with someone. I blame this on their parents. I can't help but think that a program like Life Teen would have helped with many of these issues.

Maybe kids look at Life Teen as a sort of surogate parent that provides a place where they can fill comfortable. Bottom line is, all those who complain about Life Teen need to look at why it has become a necessity in order to keep our youth involved. Before you kill the messenger, ask yourself what the message really is. Like it or not, until we as parents figure out how to communicate the love of Christ to our children, Life Teen will be a necessity.

#4 Jul 28, '04, 5:46 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by RichT

I didn't read the article.

So much for Mr. Keating's request "I'd like to see this one restricted to thoughts about her column."

Karl, is there any chance you can get permission from CWNews to repost the article here?

MaryChelan · #5 Jul 28, '04, 5:50 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by tcj

So much for Mr. Keating's request "I'd like to see this one restricted to thoughts about her column."

Karl, is there any chance you can get permission from CWNews to repost the article here?

Good idea!

deogratias · #6 Jul 28, '04, 6:05 pm

I too would love to read the article and enter the discussion but there is a 30.00 annual or 2.98 monthly fee to subscribe and access the full article. Sorry Karl, I don't think it is reasonable to ask us to do that.

James0235 · #7 Jul 28, '04, 6:26 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by tcj

So much for Mr. Keating's request "I'd like to see this one restricted to thoughts about her column."

Karl, is there any chance you can get permission from CWNews to repost the article here?

According to Mr. Keating

Quote:

Originally Posted by Karl Keating

The chief problems, she says, are that Life Teen Masses segregate teens from their families and cater to teens in terms of entertainment. Neither one, says Lawler, is good for the teens or for the Church.

This is simply untrue. It would be a waste of time to read the article because, if the summary Mr. Keating gave, is accurate then the article is obviously poorly researched.

dream wanderer · #8 Jul 28, '04, 6:47 pm

I'm married to a Protestant who is interested in youth ministries. He gets all kinds of literature about youth ministries and how to implement them. The Protestants have no problem with having rallies, camps, concerts or anything they can use to get young people to attend and yes..that includes Catholic young people. Yes..I agree its a lot of flash and bang....but the idea is they are working hard to get the kids.

What will we do to counter-act this is the debate.

dream wanderer

RichT · #9 Jul 28, '04, 7:06 pm

I should have mentioned that after the Life Teen mass at my parish, the parents are invited to meet and discuss the same topice their kid's are discussing. The teens don't all attend alone. For many it is a family affair. Many of the teens attend mass in the morning and go back for Life Teen, and many go back with their parents.

By the way, whats so bad about segregating the teens and giving them a chance to talk, and share there fears with their peer's. I'd rather see this happening in a church setting and not during lunch at the local public school. Believe me, I can tell you some stories about what happens when teens have to vent their frustrations to thier friends at school where prayer isn't allowed.

RichT · #10 Jul 28, '04, 7:12 pm

By the way Karl, sorry for not following the rules of your post, but unless your can pull some strings and get me a free subscription, I wont be signing up just to read an article that by your description alone appears to be a poorly researched article. C'mon, a guy like you ought to be able to get a copy posted for us.

Tanais · #11 Jul 30, '04, 3:42 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by RichT

By the way, whats so bad about segregating the teens and giving them a chance to talk, and share there fears with their peer's. I'd rather see this happening in a church setting and not during lunch at the local public school. Believe me, I can tell you some stories about what happens when teens have to vent their frustrations to thier friends at school where prayer isn't allowed.

Mass is not about isolation of a particular group, be it teenagers, adults, etc. It is about the unity of all the Church, the Eucharists being the sacrament of unity. Neither is Mass about sharing of feelings and discussion. Both of these things you speak of, specialized groups and discussion, could be more easily achieved in a different setting. My parish does not have life teen Mass but it does have young adult groups and youth groups who have dinner some nights and meet every week or month or so. Mass is about worship, not discussion.

RichT · #12 Jul 30, '04, 3:53 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tanais

Mass is not about isolation of a particular group, be it teenagers, adults, etc. It is about the unity of all the Church, the Eucharists being the sacrament of unity. Neither is Mass about sharing of feelings and discussion. Both of these things you speak of, specialized groups and discussion, could be more easily achieved in a different setting. My parish does not have life teen Mass but it does have young adult groups and youth groups who have dinner some nights and meet every week or month or so. Mass is about worship, not discussion.

You have taken this out of context which is unfortunately to easy to do in a forum. Yes, you are correct, that is why parents are encouraged to attend. They are definately not forbidden to attend, nor are they required to attend. And yes, the teens are segregated into group discussions after the mass has taken place. Probably very similar to your youth groups that meet.

mark a · #13 Jul 30, '04, 5:31 pm

Lifeteen is ok. My kids prefer it only because they would rather go to Mass in the evening. My seven year old daughter actually prefers the regular Mass because it's shorter. Boy are those life teen songs loooooong.

One of the Priests there does a good job of including apologetics, theology, and history in the homily.

Deacon Ed · #14 Jul 30, '04, 5:15 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tanais

Mass is not about isolation of a particular group, be it teenagers, adults, etc. It is about the unity of all the Church, the Eucharists being the sacrament of unity. Neither is Mass about sharing of feelings and discussion. Both of these things you speak of, specialized groups and discussion, could be more easily achieved in a different setting. My parish does not have life teen Mass but it does have young adult groups and youth groups who have dinner some nights and meet every week or month or so. Mass is about worship, not discussion.

Tanais,

You are quite correct -- the Mass is about unity, albeit unity in diversity (male, female, Jew, Greek, freeman and slave). Yet unity is not achieved by sitting together, it is achieved by uniting ourselves with the sacrifice offered by the priest. We are united in the Eucharist.

In the LifeTeen experience the Mass is not used as the place and time of discussion -- that usually follows in what's called LifeNight where the teens, under the supervision of the LifeTeen Core team and the parish youth minister (often with a priest or deacon in attendance).

For example, the last time I participated in LifeNight we had what's called the "Hit Seat." Nothing is off-limits and the kids are invited to ask any question they want of the deacon and/or priest. We will give them the straight teaching of the Catholic Church along with whatever explanation they may require. Questions have run the gamut from premarital sex to ordaining women to "how far can I go." The kids also get input from their peers, and we have to make sure that input is consonant with the Church's teaching.

Deacon Ed

RichT · #15 Jul 28, '04, 7:31 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by MaryChelan

Yes, we parents are usually the first to communicate the love of Christ to our children. If we do not do so it is not up to some other group to lobby the Church to alter Mass for these kids whose parents may or may not have failed them. The practice of the Catholic religion does not need to be changed for anyone.

In all the parishes I have been involved in there have been youth ministries. This does not mean Mass is altered for them; it means there are activities and Catholic education made available to them. They become involved in Mass by becoming altar servers, ushers, singers, musicians, or just plain attending.

When I was a teen I often went to Mass without my parents and went with my friends. We didn't clamor for Mass to be changed! We went often whether our parents went or not, because we enjoyed going together on our own. My parents never attended! I went because Christ had more power in my life than anything my parents ever could say or not say to me!

And when I attended Mass, it was in the sixties and seventies and there was no Lifeteen!!

I would dare say you are among the few. I too had no problem going to church on my own, and would have gone even without the special services for the youth. Most of my school friends, however, were busy drinking, doing drugs, doing each other, and had not one urge to attend church. It's a sad state of affairs...