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a safe environmentEnsuring a safe environment for youngpeople is an essential requirement of anyministry initiative. A safe environment is onewhere young people are protected fromphysical, emotional and spiritual harm.Anointed and Sent must be understood andenacted within the context of two documentsendorsed by the Australian Bishops and Leadersof Religious Institutes. Integrity in Ministryestablishes principles and standards for Catholicclergy, religious and seminarians in Australia.Integrity in the Service of the Church establishesprinciples and standards for lay workers andvolunteers of the Catholic Church in Australia.All Catholic youth ministry in Australia mustaccord with the principles and standards set outin these documents, ensuring a safe environmentfor young people at all times. Clergy, religiousand lay ministers (paid or volunteers) should befamiliar with these documents and abide by them.All youth ministry must likewise adhere to civiland ecclesiastical laws. Local dioceses, parishes,religious orders or communities may also havecodes of conduct and policies for youth ministryand these should be sought and applied bythose engaging in ministry in these contexts.we have to create the material and spiritual conditions for their[young people’s] full development; to guarantee their safetyand their education to be everything they can be; to passon to them lasting values that make life worth living.Pope FrancisWelcome Address, WYD Rio de Janeiro, 20138 anointed & sent. an australian vision for catholic youth ministry.

comprehensive youth ministryAnointed and Sent sets three goalsfor Catholic youth ministry: To foster the total personal and spiritualgrowth of each young person To draw young people into responsibleparticipation in the life and missionof the Catholic community To empower young people to live asdisciples of Jesus Christ in today’s worldThese goals are advanced in eight focus areas: Prayer and Worship Evangelisation Catechesis Pastoral Care Community Life Justice and Service Leadership Development AdvocacyThis comprehensive approach is flexibleand inclusive, and designed to affirmexisting models of youth ministry, providedirection and encourage local creativity.Youth ministries with people in any situation– indigenous, disabled, homeless, migrant,refugee, isolated and rural, suburban or innercity – should find their ministry reflected inthis document and be able to draw from it.Young people generally live within a familyenvironment, and planning for youth ministryneeds to acknowledge and incorporate thesignificant influence and diversity of families.Youth ministry must also respond toconstantly changing youth culture andenvironments, generational differences,technological change and new opportunitiesfor ministry with young people.our hearts and minds areyearning for a vision of lifewhere love endures, where giftsare shared, where unity is built,where freedom finds meaningin truth, and where identity isfound in respectful communion.this is the work of the holyspirit! this is the hope held bythe gospel of Jesus Christ.Pope Benedict XVIArrival, WYD Sydney, 2008anointed & sent. an australian vision for catholic youth ministry. 9

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Goal oneto foster thetotal personaland spiritualgrowth of eachyoung personGrowth in faith is a life journey whichengages the whole person.Adolescence and young adulthood are a crucial time inthat journey for asking questions and searching for truthand identity. The Church is challenged to foster in youngpeople a sense of Catholic wisdom and identity that willprovide a guiding direction for the rest of their lives.Moral and spiritual growth begins in childhood andcontinues through the young adult years and beyond.This development does not happen in isolation, andyouth ministry needs to be aware of and support otherministry with children, schools, young adults, parentsand grandparents, to enable a holistic approach.Young people need to be nurtured in developinga sense of self-worth, understanding that theyare created and loved by God, who has a planfor them. As a faith community we assist thisthrough prayer and example, and providing solidfoundations for character and moral development.People striving towards personal and spiritual growthencounter obstacles and wounds. Through the healingpower of the sacraments of Reconciliation and theEucharist we grow in relationship with God. The Wordof God is also key to fostering spiritual growth as weaccompany young people in their joys and sorrows.Obstacles to spiritual growth may include familybreakdown, poverty, discrimination and social injustice,the increasingly secular worldview promoted bythe media and popular culture, and the values of adisposable and consumption-oriented society. Ministrywith young people needs to address these issues.The goal of fostering the personal and spiritualgrowth of young people is that they “may havelife and have it to the full”. (cf. John 10:10)anointed & sent. an australian vision for catholic youth ministry. 11

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Goal twoto draw youngpeople intoresponsibleparticipationin the life andmission of thecatholic faithcommunityIf young people are to encounter Christ andbe drawn into his life and mission, they must beimmersed in the Catholic community. For most youngpeople this includes the family, home, parish, school,youth groups or movements. In all these arenasyoung people should be encouraged to discover theirCatholic identity and to develop and share their giftsfor mission in the local faith community and beyond.Faith communities should strive to be placesthat draw in young people, give them a sense ofbelonging, and offering them opportunities tominister side by side with adults. Young peopleare more likely to gain a sense of identity in thecommunity when they are fully engaged as members,living their life in Christ. They need to be givenopportunities to contribute in areas where theyhave particular gifts and skills, to be apprenticedin developing liturgical and other parish ministryskills in each of the eight focus areas, and to beassisted to discern their personal vocation.Young people must be invited into relationshipswith all generations of the Church, not just theirpeers, and nurtured in their ongoing relationshipwith God. In a world where people increasinglycompartmentalise their lives, young people should beactively encouraged to draw upon God in word andsacrament, and to live their Christian mission in theworld in its personal and the community dimensions.The Church has a mission beyond that of thegathered worshipping community. Young people mustbe encouraged to develop their skills and passion asagents in sharing God’s mission in the wider world.anointed & sent. an australian vision for catholic youth ministry. 13

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Goal threeto empoweryoung peopleto live asdisciples ofJesus Christ intoday’s worldDiscipleship – following Jesus – is at theheart of the Church’s mission. All ministry withyoung people needs to be directed towardsdeveloping their personal relationship with Jesus,fostering an understanding of the Good Newshe offers, and inspiring them to embrace theadventure of discipleship towards Eternal Life.All Christians are called through Baptism, andempowered by the Holy Spirit, to life in Christ.This takes place within a supportive community,as members of the Body of Christ. We arecalled to reach out to young people, welcomethem, help them find their place in the Church,and accept and encourage the gifts theybring to the whole community. Without youngpeople, the Body of Christ is incomplete.The Church invites young people to see theChristian faith as a way of life that providesmeaning and direction in their lives.Discipleship calls us to live our Christian lives inthe broader world. Young people must be formedto make a difference in their local, national andinternational communities. They must be offeredconcrete experiences of the adventure and demandsof discipleship, stretched in their understanding andskills, and encouraged to deepen their understandingand practice of true Christian discipleship.anointed & sent. an australian vision for catholic youth ministry. 15

catechesisprayer &worshipcommunitylifejustice and serviceleadershipdevelopment

evangelisationeight focusareasThe three goals of youth ministry are expressedand evaluated in particular focus areas. These areeight dimensions of the mission for which Jesusand his disciples are anointed and sent (cf. Lk4:17-19). They are the critical arenas in which toproclaim the new freedom, vision and hope Christoffers the young people of Australia. They alsoprovide a context in which to identify strengthsand weaknesses in our current youth ministries.pastoral careWhile all eight focus areas are indispensabledimensions of ministry with young people,different communities will naturally haveparticular emphases and strengths as they seekto incarnate the Gospel in their time and place.‘Grace builds on nature’ and thus God inspirespeople to lend their particular personalities,histories and passions to the task. In practicethis means a particular community is likely toemphasise one of the focus areas such asprayer and worship, evangelisation or justice,more than the others. But every community willbenefit from critical reflection and intentionalengagement with all eight of the focus areas.Ministry in each of the eight areas can be in agathered format, where people come togetherfor a set program or event, or in a non-gatheredformat, where resources are provided forindividual reflection or action or through individualmentoring or engagement activities. They donot assume exhaustive resources in personnel,volunteers or finances. Involvement can leadtowards greater contribution to the faith life ofthe family, parish, school, group or movement,or encourage young peoples’ participation inthe wider community as Christian disciples.advocacytoday, we need a Church capableof walking at people’s side, ofdoing more than simply listening tothem; a Church which accompaniesthem on their journey but weneed to know how to interpret,with courage, the larger picture.Pope FrancisWYD Rio de Janeiro , 2013anointed & sent. an australian vision for catholic youth ministry. 17

prayer and worshipPrayer and Worship deepen youngpeople’s relationship with God in JesusChrist. They include the celebration ofliturgy, communal and personal prayer.all depends on prayer.begin with it and end with it.St Mary of the Cross MacKillop, 1890Through Prayer and Worship, young people’sawareness of the Holy Spirit at work in their livesis awakened and they are incorporated more fullyinto the sacramental life of the Church. Prayer andWorship nurture the personal prayer life of youngpeople, their families and the whole community.In this focus area the Church invites youngpeople to discover the joy and sacredness ofDivine Liturgy, encouraging “full, consciousand active participation in the Eucharist thesource and summit of the whole Christian life”(Vatican Council II, Sacrosanctum concilium10,11,14,19; Lumen gentium 11). Here young peoplerepent of their failings, are challenged by theWord of God proclaimed and preached, offerthemselves with the gifts, and are immersedin the mystery of communion with Christ.Encouraging and forming young people inservice roles in the liturgy is an important partof youth ministry. These will include teachingthem how to engage well in ministries ofmusic, welcome, multimedia and serving, inaccordance with liturgical norms and withrespect for the presence of members of thecommunity older and younger than them.prayer is pure receptivity toGod’s grace, love in action,communion with the spirit whodwells within us, leading us,through Jesus, in the Church,to our heavenly father.Pope Benedict XVIFinal Mass, WYD Sydney, 200818 anointed & sent. an australian vision for catholic youth ministry.As youth ministry opens up various formsof prayer to young people, there shouldbe opportunities to engage their personalexperiences and integrate active listeningand responding to the Word of God.In Prayer and Worship we stand tall on theshoulders of those who have gone before us,marked with sign of faith. It introduces youngpeople to classics of spiritual reading and tosaints they can model their lives upon. It explorestraditions of devotion such as Eucharisticadoration, the Divine Office and the Rosary,various forms of prayer, and sacramentals suchas icons. It offers opportunities such as retreats.It encourages young people to find their ownway to pray, recognising that each must findtheir path to holiness. The expression of prayermay include music, art, dance and drama.

evangelisationEvangelisation calls young people to apersonal and life-changing encounter withJesus Christ through the Church. It encouragesthem to hear the Gospel and deepen theirunderstanding of the teachings of the Church,to apply that wisdom to lives of Christianwitness, and in turn to evangelise those aroundthem and the culture in which they live.evangelisation meansbearing witness to thepersonal love of God it is serving by bendingdown to wash the feetof our brothers andsisters as Jesus did.Pope FrancisFinal Mass, WYD Rio de Janeiro, 2013Evangelisation reaches out to youngpeople ‘where they are’, physically and intheir life situation, and responds to theiryearnings. It provides hospitable spacesand opportunities to hear the GoodNews of Jesus Christ, to uncover andname the experience of a God alreadyactive and present in their lives, and todraw them into a fuller discipleship.it is imperative that the Churchproclaim the gospel to theyoung in ways that they canunderstand, ways that canenable them to grasp thehand of Christ who neverceases to reach out to them,especially in their dark times.St John Paul IIEcclesia in Oceania #44Youth ministry today must be animatedby the call of recent popes to a “newevangelisation” – of persons and groupsformerly or formally Christian but oftenliving at some remove from the life of theChurch. It thus requires a language andmethods appropriate to contemporarytimes. Youth ministry must be concernedto engage with the large numbers ofyoung baptised Catholics who do notidentify with the Church or practice theirfaith. We are called to find new andcreative ways of reaching out to theseyoung people, inviting them to encounterChrist and to become his disciples.Young people are called to be agents ofevangelisation, working in collaborationwith their local community, to reachout and witness to Jesus Christ in thepower of the Holy Spirit. They are tobe encouraged and assisted to usemany creative means to bridge ourancient faith and the contemporaryworld, the tabernacle and the street.anointed & sent. an australian vision for catholic youth ministry. 19

catechesisCatechesis aims to help young people deepentheir personal relationship with Jesus Christ,becoming more fully his disciples in theCatholic community. It is an apprenticeship inCatholic faith which recognizes that people ofall ages and stages of faith are on a journeytogether. The catechesis process relatesthe Gospel to questions in the minds andyearnings in the hearts of young people.Catechesis is about informing our faith morefully and developing a way of life that enactsthat faithfully. It therefore seeks to initiateyoung people into the believing, celebrating,living and praying Catholic community.It is through faith communities such as families,parishes, schools, groups and movements thatyoung people are formed in what it means to beCatholic, at the levels of head, heart and hands.it is essential that Churchleaders study the culture andlanguage of youth, welcomethem and incorporate thepositive aspects of theirculture into the Church’slife and mission.St John Paul IIEcclesia in Oceania #4420 anointed & sent. an australian vision for catholic youth ministry.on the lips of the catechist,the first proclamation mustring out over and over: JesusChrist loves you; he gave hislife to save you; and now he isliving at your side every day Pope FrancisEvangelii Gaudium #164.Those who evangelise and catechiseyoung people must be authentic disciplesthemselves. “People listen more willinglyto witnesses than to teachers, and if theydo listen to teachers, it is because they arewitnesses” (Paul VI, Evangelii Nuntiandi #41).Sound catechesis requires awareness of the livesof those in whose footsteps we follow, from Christand his saints to ordinary members of our faithcommunity, who are models of fidelity to God.It includes praying the Scriptures, celebratingthe sacraments, deepening appreciation ofCatholic teaching, reflecting on daily life in thelight of the Gospel and growing in the life ofChrist, who dwells within all the baptised.

pastoral carebear one another’sburdens, and in thisway you will fulfillthe law of Christ.Galatians 6:2Pastoral care is fundamentally a relationship:a compassionate presence, modelled onJesus’ care for people, especially thosehurting and in need, and nurturing theirgrowth toward wholeness. Young people needsuch care and are in turn called to activelycare for others. This requires a higher orderof authentic relationship and maturity.Pastoral care guides young people intheir emotional-spiritual development andaccompanies them as they build moralcharacter and discern their vocation. It equipsthem to deal practically and prayerfully withlife situations, fostering the link between faithand decision-making. It promotes life-givingchoices, including those around sexuality,relationships, life-plans and problem-solving.Pastoral care involves compassionate outreach,loving each individual in their situation.It requires personal support, for and by youngpeople, especially listening in a spirit ofcompanionship. It requires regular access tosacraments of Reconciliation and Eucharist.Pastoral care creates networks of support foryoung people in times of crisis and beyond.It provides direct aid to youth at risk, promotesdevelopment of communication and other lifeskills, and links services in the wider community.if we have love in our hearts,we shall have God with us.St Mary of the Cross MacKillop, 1890anointed & sent. an australian vision for catholic youth ministry. 21

community lifeThe good news of Jesus Christ is realised whenit is lived out in relationships and community.It is through loving relationships, lived out truthfullyand authentically, that we discover ourselvesand the mystery of others in God. Only in andthrough community can we be fully alive.Community life flows out of who we are, howwe interact, and whether we are open toinviting others in. Young people value buildingcommun

an australian vision for catholic youth ministry. anointed & sent. “the Spirit of the Lord has been given to me, for he has anointed me. he has sent me to bring the good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives and to the blind new sight, to set the