June 2009: Youth Ministry

Lost Children

By Mary Lou Rosien

My daughter is good friends with a young lady who has been all over the news lately.  Her friend is the missing teenager, Brittanee Drexel.  As I write this, she has been missing nearly three weeks and there are no new leads.  Our hearts break for her family and we continue to pray for them.

As I have pondered this and prayed constantly, it reminded me of a time when my own son had left home at seventeen.  We knew where he was, but we couldn’t be assured of his safety.  It was a gut wrenching, fearful time for our family.  He was unhappy with our rules and probably even more unhappy with some of the choices he had been making.  We were left with nothing else to do but pray and trust the Lord.  I am sure that Britt’s family find themselves in a similar place now.

While praying a litany of Our Lady, I was struck by one of her titles; Mother of a lost child.  This title jumped out at me and spoke to my heart directly.  We all wonder sometimes if our children are or will be lost.  Will they be lost into a difficult culture?  Will they disappear as Britt seems to have?  Will they lose their faith?  Will they lose their life?

It’s easy to fall into the thinking that Mary is a sinless Saint, that she couldn’t have struggled with the things that the rest of us do.  That thinking is incorrect.  How did she feel when she was told that, “A sword would pierce her heart?”  How did she cope for the three days her beloved son was missing?  How did she watch her son’s agony and death on a cross?

When we as youth ministers and parents struggle with raising children, we can be assured of Mary’s constant prayers for us and with us.  She has worried as we worry and loved as we love.  We can gain strength from her and courage from her example.

From a practical standpoint, we can use our positions in youth ministry to remind our young people of the dangers out there and how to prevent them.

1. Have a speaker come in to discuss internet safety.

2. Explain why the buddy system helps keep teens safer.

3. Enroll teen drivers in defensive driving seminars.

4. Go over rules of field trips, NCYC behavior and other conference expectations.

5.  Talk openly and honestly about how choices can affect their futures.

6. Have drug prevention program information available for teens in our groups.

Above all, we can remind our students to pray for God’s guidance and protection.  Now, six years later, our son is doing well and going to school in New Mexico.  We are proud of the progress he has made and we pray for him and his six siblings every day.  We trust that God will watch them, even when we can’t.  We continue to ask God to protect Britt and be with her family during this difficult time. God bless.

Mary Lou Rosien writes from North Chili, NY.  She is the author of Managing Stress with the Help of Your Catholic Faith (OSV Publishing). Email her at mrosien@rochester.rr.com.