Youth and young adult leaders encourage connection of Eucharist and works of social ministry

St. Jude School fourth-graders Samantha Curtis, left, and Alexandra Lawson of Indianapolis sing during the opening session of the “Spreading Hope in Neighborhoods Everywhere” conference on Oct. 1 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. In their workshop, archdiocesan youth and young adult ministry leaders Mary Schaffner and Kay Scoville urged parish leaders to connect the Eucharist to works of social ministry. (Photo by Mary Ann Wyand)

By John Shaughnessy

As they try to inspire youths and young adults to lead lives of service, Mary Schaffner and Kay Scoville know their efforts must start with one essential approach:

Connect the celebration of the Eucharist to works of social ministry.

“Start to make the connection between service and the sacramental life,” said Schaffner, the archdiocese’s program coordinator for young adult and college campus ministry. “It’s important that we engage this approach in our lives.”

Schaffner delivered that key point during a workshop session on Oct. 1 at a kickoff conference for a yearlong social ministry renewal in the archdiocese that is known as SHINE—“Spreading Hope in Neighborhoods Everywhere.”

When volunteers come together to share in the Mass, they see a real sense of how they are Christ’s witnesses to the community, according to Scoville, the director of youth ministry for the archdiocese.

Schaffner and Scoville offered that advice to teachers, youth ministers and campus ministers during the event at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, which drew more than 600 people from parishes, schools, agencies and other institutions throughout the archdiocese.

The workshop also offered these tips for helping children, youths and young adults develop a deeper spiritual connection in their works of service:

• Remind service participants to focus on the human dignity of each person they are trying to help.
• Try to make a human connection with the people who are being assisted.
• Reaffirm the importance of prayer in their lives, emphasizing how taking time to pray draws them into a deeper relationship with Jesus.
• Spend time reading Scripture as an important way of understanding the message of hope that Christ offers the world.
• To create a sense of solidarity with people in need, give service participants a taste of what the poor and homeless often experience. As an example, serve the volunteers the same simple lunch that the poor and homeless often get.

The workshop also provided some specialized tips about service for teachers of younger children:

• Have the children plan a bake sale to raise money to help families in need at Christmas.
• Have the children volunteer at food pantries.
• Contact people who have benefited from service efforts and have them come to the school to share their experiences of how a service project has helped them.

“People need food, they need clothes, and they also need humanity,” Schaffner said. “They need to have that connection with us as people.” †