Sons and Daughters of the Light
August 3, 2025
“But the Lord answered me, ‘Say not, I am too young. To whomever I send you, you shall go; whatever I command you, you shall speak. Have no fear before them, because I am with you to deliver you.’” -Jeremiah 1:7-8
As we continue the Jubilee Year of Hope, this weekend we celebrate the Jubilee of Young Adults. When the Vatican speaks of “youth” or “young people” they are usually speaking of people from around the age of 18 through 35. In April, we celebrated the Jubilee of Adolescents and Teenagers. This Jubilee Day is for adults who are attending college or vocational school and beginning their careers and perhaps families of their own. A number of years ago, the United States bishops published a pastoral plan for ministry to and with young adults entitled Sons and Daughters of the Light. They began their plan by addressing young adults, “It is not easy to live as a Christian in contemporary society. The influences of media and some elements of popular culture do not always support Christian values. People can have convictions that are opposed to what we cherish. We are challenged to let the Gospel, rather than society or popular culture, define what it means to live a successful life.”
On this Jubilee of Young Adults, I am grateful for the young adults that God has put in my life that inspire my faith and ministry.
Growing up as a parishioner at St. Anthony Parish in Fisherville, I was trained as an altar server by a young man named Joseph Beeckman. Joe was about five years older than me. He had a deep love for Jesus, Mary, and serving daily at Mass. He was always very patient with the younger servers, and he trained us to serve with reverence and dignity. Not much of an athlete, Joe loved science. I remember going to his house and him showing us his latest science kits or transistor radio sets. He was very easy to talk to, and he would share his faith quite readily. He inspired the faith of a number of the younger altar servers at St. Anthony’s. 40 years ago this week, on August 9, 1985, Joe fell off his plastic flotation device while at Stratford Woods Park. His asthma had kept him from learning how to swim, and he drowned. He was scheduled to enter the seminary to discern the priesthood just a few weeks after this tragic accident. His love for his Catholic faith and his desire to share it with others still inspires my faith and ministry to this day.
“To know the will of God is the greatest knowledge. To find the will of God is the greatest discovery. To do the will of God is the greatest achievement.”
Almost a decade later, during my first year after college, I was hired to lead a family center in Syracuse, New York. My roommate was a young man about five years younger than me named Brian Bisgrove. Brian had just graduated from a high school seminary but had discerned that he wasn’t called to pursue ordination as a priest at that time. Brian grew up in nearby Auburn, New York. He was dedicating a few years to starting clubs for boys and girls to grow in their Catholic faith and in friendship with each other. Brian was very smart, but I don’t remember having many deep conversations with him. He was an athlete and loved sports, a young man of action. He used his love for sports and outdoor activities to gather young people around him, teaching them about Jesus and forming virtue and character. At age 19, Brian was diagnosed with a sinus tumor. He continued to minister to young people, uniting his sufferings to the sufferings of Christ for the benefit of the adolescents he served. On February 10, 1998, Brian died of his cancer at age 21. His funeral Mass had over 20 altar servers. He asked that the following quote be printed on his funeral holy cards, “To know the will of God is the greatest knowledge. To find the will of God is the greatest discovery. To do the will of God is the greatest achievement.” Brian’s father continued his ministry and now there are numerous clubs for girls and boys throughout North America using his model of youth accompaniment.
In just about a month, on September 7, Pope Leo XIV will canonize Carlo Acutis as a saint. Carlo was born in May 1991 to Italian parents in London, England. His parents were successful in business but not particularly religious. His maternal grandfather died when Carlo was 3 years old. Carlo believed that his grandfather appeared to him in a dream and asked Carlo to pray for him. Carlo had a Polish Catholic nanny who helped form his early faith. Carlo, like many young people, loved video games like Mario and Pokémon. He learned computer programming languages and over two years built a website cataloging Eucharistic miracles and Marian apparitions. He became involved in his parish youth ministry, becoming a catechist to other adolescents. In October 2006, as a high school student at the Pope Leo XIII Institute in Milan, Italy, he was diagnosed acute promyelocytic leukemia and died later that same month. His final words to his mother were, “Don’t be afraid. Since Jesus became man, death has become the passage towards life, and we don’t need to flee it. Let us prepare ourselves to experience something extraordinary in the eternal life.” St. Carlo Acutis has been named the patron saint of computer programmers.
No matter what age we are, we are called to “not hesitate to make Jesus the center of our lives, the focus of our choices in life . . . through our anxieties, doubts, hopes and dreams of happiness.” (Sons and Daughters of the Light) Young people can witness to the joy of redemption in Christ in the midst of suffering just as well as any disciple can. Today, we celebrate and are inspired by the energetic faith of young people. They are not “the Church of tomorrow.” They are also the “Church of today.” May their faith help all of us to grow in deeper intimacy and communion with God and neighbor in love.