MINISTERING TO URBAN YOUTH THROUGH A MASS MEDIUM OF THEIR CHOICE
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Date
2005
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Tangaza University College
Abstract
Jesus says in the gospel of Mark, "let the children come to me; do not
prevent them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these." (Mark 10:14b).
Again in Mark, Jesus says, "Go into the whole word and proclaim the gospel
to every creature. Whoever believes will be saved; whoever does not believe will be
condemned." (Mark 16:15-16)
In Matthew, Jesus says, "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe
in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone hung around his
neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea." (Mt.18: 6)
The above sayings of Jesus from the gospels of Mark and Matthew and many
more, make ministry to, and evangelisation of the youth an imperative.
Youth ministry and evangelisation are not strange phenomena to the
Christian world, and particularly to the Catholic Church. Like the society in general,
Christianity and the Catholic Church in particular have always looked at the youth at
any contemporary time as the future of the church. No wonder then that particular
effort is made at various levels of the church to evangelise and create awareness in
young people of their belonging and role in the family of God.
The nerve-nagging question therefore is whether all these efforts are showing
fruitful outcome. Certainly, a lot more needs to be done.
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Competing with any effort to bring young people to focus on the gospel
message and Christian ideals are many other forces, notably the media. Today, it is
not uncommon to list the media as partial providers to the youth of morally
questionable and unwanted alternative values and models. This mentality presents
the media as an enemy to many parents, religious leaders and moral custodians.
Unfortunately, the more the perpetuation of this mentality, the more the media are
implicitly empowered to penetrate and infiltrate the minds of the young ones.
On the other hand, the media can effectively be used as tools for ministering
to young people. The church can evangelise and baptise the media for its (church's)
use. Regrettably, to date, the media is still called the enemy, among others, even by
those who hold positions of considerable authority in the Church. But they can be
re-christened and called the friend and put to positive use for the good of the
Church. To that extent, young people will also be netted by the Christian message.
Trouble is that not all media are equally effective in conveying the message
to the youth as it should be. And this is what needs to be examined
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MINISTERING TO URBAN YOUTH THROUGH A MASS MEDIUM OF THEIR CHOICE