“Be generous in your hospitality,” St. Paul writes to the Romans in chapter 12, verse 3. From Abraham entertaining angels unaware, to Matthew, chapter 25, where Jesus calls us to see himself in all those we encounter, hospitality is central to living our faith.

We are called to extend hospitality to teens who live in a world where they are often viewed as too noisy, too messy, and just too unpredictable. We are called to help create a community that listens to the voices of our young people and helps them to discover and use their gifts in the parish community and the world. We are called to help them meet themselves and God in the center of their being, and then to learn to seek God through loving and serving others.

In youth ministry programs we spend a great deal of time focusing on the hospitality which happens at our youth getherings. Yet we must also work to create a parish community which welcomes and celebrates our teens and their gifts.

If our parish has the gift of hospitality, our ministry can flow from, and build on, that gift. Alternately, the hospitality we offer to those in our ministry can animate and inspire a deeper sense of hospitality in the larger parish community. At its core, this sense of hospitality flows from our belief that each person is created in the image and likeness of God.

We can consider:

• Are teens invited to serve in various liturgical ministries?
• Are young people invited to have more than a superficial role on parish council or on other planning committees?
• Could the teens help plan a parish-wide reconciliation service?
• Could the young people work with the men’s or women’s group to organize and facilitate a service project in the parish or in the community?
• Are teens involved in facilitating vacation bible school or Children’s Liturgy of the Word programs?

In addition to involving teens in the larger parish community, we need to consider whether we are making a hospitable space for young people to wrestle with their faith and their lives. Jesus provides an excellent model for us. He told stories and asked questions which often left people wrestling with their faith and their lives.

We can consider:

• Do we ask open-ended questions? Do we make time to listen?
• Do invite the sharing of stories which can help capture the complexity of teens lives and challenges?
• Do we invite them to make real world connections between Scripture and church teaching and their lives?
• Do we help them understand that doubt is often part of the faith journey?
• Can we help them identify and learn faith practices, resources, and ideas which help them put the pieces back together when they are struggling?

We are called to create an environment where teens voices are heard, their gifts are nurtured, and they feel comfortable raising questions about their faith and their lives. We can share the Christian story and invite them to recognize their part in it. As Ronald Rolheiser writes in The Holy Longing, “together we search for the face of God.”