Ray Nonn O.

Mallorca Spiritual Direction

SThB – III April 29, 2019

What are the most important challenges and opportunities offered by the postmodern
society to the Church in the practice of Spiritual Direction and why?

Our world has changed drastically in these past centuries. Everything is transitioning not
only economically and technologically, but even culturally and morally. This change had been
shaping the society for the better and also at the same time for the worst. As the society develops,
cultures and values are affected. There is an alarming decline of the gospel spirit. Christian moral
virtues are becoming ambiguous especially towards the young. The effects of this change are more
significant towards the young people, because they will later on carry out these values, its either
they receive something positive for the society or something negative that will endanger the future
of the peoples. In other words, important challenges and opportunities offered by the postmodern
society to the Church are the spiritual and pastoral care of the young. This year we are celebrating
the Year of the Youth and it is very timely to talk about the challenges that the Church will be
facing in helping the young members of the society.

Who is the Youth of Today?

Filipino youth of the 21st century are life-given and want to be life-giving. They are
dynamic individuals, overflowing with blessings, willing and open to learn and to grow when
provided with opportunities to do so.1 They search for their identity, meaning and ultimately their
purpose in life. They know how to act but they need to be guided and formed. Some lack critical
thinking and decision-making skills that makes them hesitant all the time.

What are the challenges offered by the postmodern society to the youth?
Family
Family is where we first experience love, care and belongingness. It is also where we have
our first role models who guide and shape us as we are prepared to be launched into the bigger
environment. Our Filipino culture that influences our family plays a major role in shaping the
youth as young people. Practices and cultural behaviors, such as “utang na loob” and
“pagmamano”, are still very much present in us, as well as the values of respect, obedience, and
being family-oriented. However, there are many different family situations present for each of us.
Nowadays, due to the need for financial stability, some parents have to leave their children to seek

1
Sangguniang Laiko ng Pilipinas. (2018, October 1). An Open Letter of the Filipino Youth. Retrieved April 25, 2019,
from https://www.cbcplaiko.org/2018/10/01/an-open-letter-of-the-filipino-youth/
greener pastures. Through these various situations, we still see the family as a foundational aspect
of our lives. In our dreams for a better life, our families will always be part of our hopes and
aspirations.
Social Relationships and Communities
The youth of today want to belong, more than anything. Hence, they seek a community that
empowers, encourages, and challenges them. Friends and social relationships are very important
as they are part of the environment that we live in. These communities not only should journey
with them and encourage them, but also form and influence them. Despite of being hyperconnected
with the world, the youth still feels left out. They still sense that they do not belong. They also do
not see enough opportunities to actively participate.
Health
In many places, young people do not receive enough nutrition and the needed medical
attention. Depression and suicide are prevalent issues being discussed by the young and about the
young. Substance abuse, other forms of addiction, and HIV/AIDS also gravely affect our fellow
youth. We feel that there is an urgent need to address these concerns as these may involve us and
affect the people around us.
Education
Unfortunately, not all Filipino youth are given the opportunity for formal education. Some
even end up on the streets or find themselves before high-risk situations such as child labor.
Economic Challenges
Our national economy is said to be growing at its potential. However, majority of the
Filipino youth do not feel this growth nor understand what it means and yet are very much affected
by it. Many of them still experience difficulty in finding stable jobs to keep their future secure;
others even fall victim to human trafficking and other forms of exploitation. Most want to make a
living not just for themselves, but more for their parents who have given much for them. They
dream of a more inclusive economy that provides equal opportunities to people regardless of age
and gender.
Politics
Filipino youth comprise majority of the voters in the country. They seek honest and
authentic leaders who stand for truth, justice and integrity. We need credible leaders we can count
on and trust to lead and make moral decisions for the good of our country and its people. In the
same way, we feel that we too can be leaders ourselves in various ways. Although there are
opportunities to be the leaders we seek, we feel that these are limited, and at times even superficial.
Dialogue with Cultures
The youth are heavily exposed to many kinds of differences: in cultures (e.g. indigenous
peoples), faiths (e.g. other faith denominations), and ideologies (e.g. those rooted in same sex
attraction). In all these, we heed Pope Francis’ invitation to build a “culture of encounter”. We
seek to further understand them, and a concrete step is for us to have opportunities for dialogue to
face these differences and move towards a more inclusive world.
Our Social Circles and the Digital Community
Regular interaction with friends is now more of a need than a mere pastime as our elders
presume. We value much our peer group relationships or “barkada”. During this stage of our lives,
we seek to construct an identity of our own, one that may be independent from our family, but
defined by the peer group that we belong to. When we find a sense of connection between our
identity and the values that our peer group has, we feel a greater sense of belongingness. Unlike
before, however, our peer groups today vary from physical groups to digital communities. Most
of us live a part of our lives online as technology is already part of our daily life. We are a
generation that is very much connected, yet still disconnected. Most of us who are frequently
engaged online would rather express ourselves through “emojis” or posts on our social media
accounts as these appear to be separate from our physical selves. Some of our behaviors now are
also influenced by the number of followers we have online, or the number of “likes” that our posts
have earned. These online friendships could even bring about different pressures—to be popular,
to be “always-on”; these play an integral part in how we form and maintain our relationships both
online and offline.

Youth Seeking Purpose/ Meaning in Life through Role Models

Filipino youth will always find meaning in the reality of the family. Dreams of prosperity
emerge as we aspire to improve the plight of our families. However, aside from laboring for our
parents and families, we also acknowledge our need to be devoted in discerning our vocation. We
feel at times that our purpose and meaning are imposed on us by those in positions of power and
authority, whom we often sense as doubtful over the goals we set in life. We yearn for people in
authority whom we can look up to as regards integrity and credibility, as well as look to for
guidance and accompaniment.2
Our hearts are open to see and embrace role models who give witness to the goodness of
life while rooted in the family. We want our elders to journey with us, to be approachable and not
untouchable, to level with us to a certain extent, to walk the talk, and to make us sense that we are
all equal. We are persons capable of contributing in the way others do—with our own skills,
knowledge and wisdom. It is our ultimate hope that as we seek our purpose, we are given much
life in order for us to share our lives with and for those around us. We wish to be given more
opportunities to share ourselves: not just with and for our families, but with and for the rest of the
community, our country, and the Church.3

2
Ibid.
3
Ibid.
How can we Help the Youth in Spiritual Direction?
The theme of the Year of the Youth is: Filipino Youth in Mission: Beloved, Gifted,
Empowered. In the Letter of Bishop Romulo Valles, D.D. as the president of the Catholic Bishops’
Conference of the Philippines, He acknowledge the youth’s open letter to the Catholic church (A
letter containing those concerns above).4 As pastors, we should know the vital part of the young
people in the Church, and this vital part is being challenged in different dimension, either social
or spiritual.

Some Objectives for Spiritual Direction

Youth in Formation
Many of the young of today are very easy to be discouraged and very easy to fall into
despair. Depression is a number one culprit that brings the young to thinking that they are worthless
to the point of taking their own life. As spiritual directors we should let them be conscious of their
giftedness, transformed by a personal encounter with Christ, and growing and maturing through
youthful formation and activities. Our presence definitely helps them giving them ears that they
can talk to.
Youth in the Community, Church and Society
The young should become a family-oriented youth whose image of oneself is patterned
after the life of Jesus, and who is actively involved in the life of the Church and society through
their vocation, profession and stage in life. The Christian community should provide a place that
the young can grow living out the Christian spirit. It is a place where the young can be formed and
guided. The Christian community can become also a spiritual director that takes care each other as
brothers and sisters.
Youth in Mission
A Christian that is renewed and lives with the gospel message is Christian that is in mission.
This means that the young are not only recipients of spiritual direction but also can become an
agent of comfort and healing to his or her fellow youth. A youth should be inspired by the church’s
missionary spirit, who, like the Blessed Virgin Mary, courageously shares Christ’s message of joy
and hope to people in difficult situations, rekindles the faith of those who drifted from the Church,
and promotes dialogue with other faiths. A good spiritual direction bears fruit and should reach
other people that are not given the opportunity to have a spiritual director or pastors that they can
approach to.

4
Valles, R., D.D. (2018, December 2). The Filipino Youth in Mission: Beloved, Gifted, Empowered. Retrieved April
26, 2019, from http://cbcpnews.net/cbcpnews/the-filipino-youth-in-mission-beloved-gifted-empowered/
Youth Ministry and Youth Ministers
The youth ministry is a particular place that can look after more the young. By giving them
a place that they can be formed at the same time serve in the Church, it becomes a place of spiritual
direction. Youth ministers are given the tasked to take care their spiritual and social growth. A
preferential ministry for the young is animated by youth ministers who are filled with the spirit of
the new evangelization and equipped with pastoral skills and resources, ably responding to youth
issues.
Conclusion
All of the challenges of the postmodern world can be summarized in one word –
faithlessness. When we become faithless we become far from God. And when we become far from
God, we become unhappy. Despair is the feeling of becoming disconnected with the rest of the
world, including God. To be separated with someone is more painful than to be separated with
something, or someplace. Happiness is being with the presence of God. Spiritual Direction can be
seen simply as the apostolate of presence. Spiritual directors are making themselves present for
the people. This presence is very important for it radiates the presence of God. And the presence
of God is happiness.
The world has really change much but the message of Christ and his teachings remains the
same. The challenges of time to the Church may change, but the Holy Spirit is always with us to
guide and to help us. The message that we should convey to people are the same, we would only
need to have to know the right methods and approaches, because the gospel, even it is the same as
always, it is also ever new and fresh. We only need to discover its freshness and bring it to people
that need it. The mission is to give the faith to people, to give them hope, to give them happiness,
to make them feel God’s presence.