I admit to shamelessly eavesdropping on my flight the morning following the election. The two men in front of me were engaged in animated (and loud) conversation about the results from the previous evening. The conversation went like this:

“The whole of America did not elect a president. Did you see the results? The crowd in Chicago?”
“Oh sure, the young people got out to vote. And the African American community, and the Latino community, and it seems that women supported him, oh, and seniors were a mixed result.”
And then the first man repeated, “But the whole of America did not make him our president-elect.”

I could not help but wonder who in America was left.

During the months prior to the election, we were inundated with demographics, statistics, studies, exit polls, and projections from every aspect of media and political life. In these fractured numbers it became easy to lose sight of who really makes up ‘the whole of America.’

This is not unlike the many times I become caught up in my own roles, ministries, and agendas and lost sight of what my call really is—to share the Good News, to invite young people to respond to the call of baptism, discipleship, and to God’s loving invitation to live life in covenant with others.

Of course, we need our specific groups and ministries, faith communities, campus ministries, parish youth ministries, religious formation programs, and others that make up the reality and work of our Church. We also need to recognize we share in this call, and we are all about the same task. We are all called to this work, we are all expected to respond to our baptismal promise, and it is not an easy task.

To use campaign language, “It is time to mobilize our bases, to come together, to communicate, to share the message, and do the work.” To use the language of faith, “It is time to evangelize, to spread the Good News, and to invite young people to community and discipleship.”

On election night, in his acceptance speech, Barack Obama called us together. He reminded us we will be kept in the loop, but the work needs to be shared.

Today, in our own faith-filled and ongoing work and ministries, we may have much to learn from the moment.

Many thanks for sharing in the ongoing work of evangelizing young people. Many thanks for sharing in the work and building of NACYML.