What must I do Jesus...?"

Abstract

I have been working for a long period of time with young ixople in educating them to the faith. I have been involved especially in the area of the pre-confirmation and confirmation programmes for young people between the ages of 14 to 17 years old. It has been my observation and the common experience among many religious instructors that young people at this age of their religious formation lack the personal experience of the person of Jesus, as well as knowledge and understanding of who Jesus is. When the time arrives for the young person to confirm his/ her intention to be a committed young disciple of Jesus, one wonders to whom and what the person is committing him/herself. I ask myself: " How can they follow the call of discipleship by Jesus, if they do not know who Jesus is, what He did or said?" This work has provided me with the opportunity to design and produce a user-friendly manual. It was not my intention to draw up a biography on Jesus, but rather, a manual to guide the young person to experience, through reading and reflection on it, the person of Jesus, what He did and said. From this position, the young person will be able to make an adequate response to Jesus and so face life's situations today as a committed young disciple of Jesus.