All this week, we are going to celebrate something essential to our community: You.
This Sunday is World Youth Sunday. It’s a day the Catholic Church (here in England and Wales, and across the world) uses to celebrate, honour, and engage with the voices of young people.
You’ve probably heard the sentiment that young people are the ‘future of the Church.’ Pope Francis challenged this perspective, stating that you’re not just the future; you are the ‘now of God.’
This perspective means your faith, your questions, your energy, and your ideas aren’t just for ‘later’. They are vital right now. This week is about making space to listen to your voices, recognise your gifts, and reflect on how God calls each of us, right now, regardless of our age.
This week, we’ll make space for your ideas and your hopes, and reflect on the positive message at the heart of our faith.
Day 1 – The call…
We invite you to start with the Sign of the Cross.
Response: In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen
A reading from the Prophet Jeremiah
The word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”
“Alas, Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am too young.”But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to rescue you,” declares the Lord.
The Word of the Lord
R./ Thanks be to God
The principle God shows with Jeremiah is the same one extended to us. It’s a common feeling to believe we’re not old enough, articulate enough, or ‘holy’ enough to make a significant impact.
The message here is profound: ‘I am too young’ is a self-imposed limitation, not a divine one. God doesn’t call those who are already ‘perfect’ or ‘ready’; He calls us, exactly as we are, and provides the strength we need along the way.
Discussion Questions:
- Why do you think ‘being too young’ is such a common excuse, both for Jeremiah and for people today?
- What specific skills, talents, or positive qualities do you recognise in your friends and in this form group?
Click below to “Add Comment” and capture some of what has been said in your form for others to see or add them to your form scrapbook if you have one!
Lord God, Thank you for the gift of youth. Give us the courage of Jeremiah to say “yes” to you, even when we feel afraid or unprepared. Help us to hear your call in our lives and to know that you are always with us.
Amen.
Day 2 – You are the “Now of God”…
We invite you to start with the Sign of the Cross.
Response: In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen
We invite you to start with the Sign of the Cross. Response: In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen
When Pope Francis talks to young people, he often challenges them not to be “sofa-youth”—individuals who remain passive, comfortable, and consume life as spectators rather than participants.
He challenges us to be protagonists: the primary agents in our own stories, getting involved in building a better world, not mere spectators.
It’s a theme we see echoed in our own culture. Think about the film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Miles Morales spends most of the film feeling unready, afraid, and overwhelmed. He is the ‘sofa-youth’—watching, learning, but too scared to act. He doesn’t feel he can live up to the title.
This clip is his “leap of faith.” It’s the moment he stops being a spectator and becomes the protagonist of his own story.
How do you interpret Pope Francis’s term ‘sofa-youth’ in the context of your own lives and society?
In the clip, what was holding Miles back? What finally gave him the courage to take that “leap of faith”?
What issues are you genuinely passionate about? What “leap” would be required for you to move from being a spectator to an active protagonist on that issue?
Think of ideas and post them in the comments box or put them into your scrapbooks.”
Think of ideas and post them in the comments box or put them into your scrapbooks.
Holy Spirit, Fill us with your fire and your energy. Grant us the courage to move from passivity to action, using our gifts to serve you and to serve others. Inspire us to build a world of justice, peace, and joy, starting today.
Amen.
Day 3 – Keeping Open the Doors of Hope (Jubilee 2025)
We invite you to start with the Sign of the Cross.
Response: In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen
We invite you to start with the Sign of the Cross. Response: In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen
As you know, this year has been the Jubilee Year (theme: ‘Pilgrims of Hope’). A Jubilee is a special Holy Year for the Church. A central element was the opening of “Holy Doors” all over the world.
The act of walking through one of these doors was a powerful symbol: representing a conscious choice to leave past burdens behind and step into a future full of God’s mercy and hope.
Now, this special Jubilee Year is coming to a close, and the official Holy Doors are being sealed. However, this closure doesn’t signify an end to its message of hope. As young people, you are a vital source of hope within the Church. Our shared mission now is to keep open the doors of hope in our own lives, in our school, and in our community.
To symbolise this, we are going to make our Form Room Doors a sign of this lasting hope.
In your forms, we’d like you to create ‘signs of hope’ to decorate your own form room door, showing that this space remains a ‘Holy Door’ for our community—a space that signifies welcome, mercy, and hope.
These signs will decorate your form door, demonstrating to everyone who passes that your form is committed to keeping hope and welcome alive, long after the Jubilee has ended.
God of Hope, We thank you for the graces of this Jubilee Year. As the physical Holy Doors close, inspire us to open the doors of our hearts ever wider. Empower us to be pilgrims who carry your hope into every day, and may our form room doors be a constant sign that your welcome and mercy are always open to all.
Amen.
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