YOUTH AND SPIRITUALITY

 UNDERSTAND YOUTH AND THEIR CULTURE

 - YC = Fun culture - entertainment - creativity -
imagination - media grammar is not linear, but fast
and colourful
YOUTH AND SPIRITUALITY
YOUTH AND SPIRITUALITY
INTER-PERSONAL MEDIA

STAYING IN TOUCH
YOUTH AND SPIRITUALITY
 MULTI-MEDIA
DIGITAL CONVERGENCE – INTERACTIVE
YOUTH AND SPIRITUALITY

NEW MEDIA
YOUTH AND SPIRITUALITY

 NEW MEDIA
 Vin Crosbie (2002) described three
communications media in “What is
new media?”. He saw Interpersonal
media as “one to one”, Mass media as
“one to many” and, finally New Media
as Individuation Media or “many to
many”.
THE MASS MEDIA CULTURE
 An Image Culture

“You are your image.”

 The Culture of the ‘External’

The body and physical appearance

becomes an obsession for many.
Culture of noise

 Audio - Video
GENERATION
 Music
 Noise
 Pop Icons
 A Culture of sensationalism

“If it is not selling, it is not worth telling.”

 A culture of acquisitiveness

“Grab as much, however, as quickly as you can.”

 A competitive culture:

“The other is my rival”

 A visual culture

“Seeing is believing.”
A culture of ostentation

“If you got it, flaunt it.”

A “no-morality” culture

“Any means justifies the end”

 CONSUMER CULTRE
The value of will-to-live is turned into will-to-power and
often using extreme doses of violence and violence is
acceptable if associated with efficiency and success. The
value of sports and recreation is changed into multimillion-
dollar competition

The media transform the value of sexuality

into sexual appeal; sex becomes a
commodity.
A USA-dominant culture

“West is best”
A CULTURE OF ENTERTAINMENT

Externalisation and passivity

YOUTH AND SPIRITUALITY
YOUTH AND SPIRITUALITY
YOUTH CULTURE
 Quick-fix culture - interactive and instant (fast food,
throw-away culture - children of 30 secs.
Communication
 They are looking for success and wealth
 An Image culture - brands define them - peer pressure
and media pressure
 The culture of the external
YOUTH MEDIA CULTURE
 Form is more important than the content - the
atmosphere is important - it’s cool
 The body is a central feature of youth culture -
enjoy being young
 New role models
 Mass culture, pop culture and music is at the
core – Vibration – immersion - THE AURAL
SENSE – letting yourself be grabbed!
 The way of pleasure
 A permeation of knowledge and activity by the
imaginary and the affective (less of intellect,
reason)
Youth Spirituality
 Young people are looking for something
beyond flat dogmas, formulas, lifeless
rituals…
 They are looking for meaning, participation,
lived experiences, emotional bonding
 There is a search for spirituality
Youth Spirituality
 1. Help youth to distinguish between faith and religion
and help them to bring faith to their religion
 Clarify the concept of God - Who is Jesus? – feeling of
being grabbed – absorbed!
 All this happens in a supportive community - the
atmosphere is very important
Youth Spirituality
 2. Propose a new spirituality
 Holistic, integrated spirituality (After Vat. II - two
trends)
 Spirituality is the style of a person’s response to Christ
before the challenge of everyday life in a given
historical and cultural environment.
Youth Spirituality
 3. Introduce them to contemplation and silence - inner
search - nature - awakening of interiority - the inner
mystery of “I AM”
 The beauty of solitude (not as an end in itself)
 The wonder of nature…. INTERIORITY
Youth Spirituality
 4. Spiritual growth is developed in
relationship - friendship is important … live
the parable of the community
 5. Spiritual growth is developed is
demonstrated in behaviour - it is a process -
leads to choice of values and commitment
 Spiritual growth leads to solidarity
Youth Spirituality
 6. Meaningful spirituality - connected to life - the
Spirit emerges from the ground - not intellectual
reasoning, dogmas
 Understand symbols, make the symbols come alive
immerse in the sacraments, personalize spirituality,
experience to expression
 Importance of the Word of God
 Offer them a variety of experiences – silence to service
of the poor – to understand even suffering and death
Youth Spirituality
 7. Openness to the universality of love - ecumenical -
plurality of the spirits - without barriers and frontiers
 8. Spirituality of Joy - expressive spirituality
Youth Spirituality
 9. Youth need spiritual guidance - need for “gurus” -
not administrators
 Availability, acceptance, authenticity, unlimited
listening, sharing of rich, inner experiences, warm
atmosphere, sharing our vulnerability
Youth Spirituality
 10. Sensorial is a holy way
 Make use of the positive elements of this new culture:
form, music, colours, vibrations, friendship, emotional
bonding, storytelling, creativity, participation,
atmosphere, imagination, affectivity, dreams, pleasure
Youth Spirituality

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