\tAccording to a recent study from Georgetown University, young people in the United States, ages 18 to 24, are leaving religion in greater numbers than ever before. And the numbers of fallen-away youth are highest among those raised Catholic or mainline Protestant.<\/p>\n
\tThe study reports that although just 11 percent of today\u2019s youth grew up in non-religious households, more than twice that number \u2014 one in four \u2014 are now religiously unaffiliated.<\/p>\n
\tBucking the trend<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n \tYuri Beans, a sophomore accounting major at the University of Alaska, Anchorage, converted to Catholicism about a year ago. Growing up in remote Mountain Village, he had attended Sunday Masses with his Catholic father but was never baptized. After his family moved to Anchorage, however, he started attending Lumen Christi High School where he learned about church teachings and history. This eventually inspired a conversion.<\/p>\n \tIn college, however, Beans has seen firsthand the trend of Catholics moving away from the faith.<\/p>\n \t\u201cAt university, especially here in Anchorage with it being so secular \u2026 you have a lot of students with that mindset,\u201d Beans told the Catholic Anchor. \u201cAnd they\u2019re baiting other students to get in with them. They want them to have that life it seems because they\u2019re not happy on their own. They\u2019ll hook \u2018em in.\u201d<\/p>\n \tBeans said connecting with fellow Catholic peers has helped keep his faith strong while in school.<\/p>\n \t\u201cWe\u2019ve stuck so tightly together that we\u2019re not allowing anybody else to get into that and try to take control of us,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re not letting Satan get control of us.\u201d<\/p>\n \tStrength in numbers<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n \tIt wasn\u2019t until her senior year of high school that Oriele Jones, a music education junior at UAA, made the decision to commit more fully to the Catholic faith in which she was raised. Jones credits her transformation to a course in church history at Lumen Christi High School.<\/p>\n \t\u201cAfter learning church history, I could not see myself leaving the church,\u201d she said. \u201cIn college I stopped hanging out with my regular group of friends, and started hanging out with friends from church more.\u201d<\/p>\n \tJones and Beans are both involved in the UAA Cardinal Newman club, part of a network of clubs across the United States that provide Catholic ministry on college campuses.<\/p>\n \tJones and Beans say the Newman club connects them to a Catholic group while on campus. But the two don\u2019t stop there: staying engaged spiritually in a variety of ways is essential to keeping the faith in college, they say. Both listed attending daily Mass, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and the young adult groups at St. Benedict and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton parishes among the ways they stay connected with Christ through their college years.<\/p>\n \tAt St. Olaf\u2019s Lutheran College in St. Paul, Minn., psychology junior Spencer Hodgson is keeping and spreading the faith with another Catholic college club \u2014 one with an evangelistic focus.<\/p>\n \tHodgson, who grew up attending St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church in Anchorage estimates that there are about 600 out of the 3,000 students at his campus who are Catholic. Of those, he said, between 20 and 30 attend weekly meetings with the Catholic club.<\/p>\n \tThe club is called St. Paul\u2019s Outreach, and its motto is \u201cFaith alive on campus.\u201d In addition to attending club meetings, Hodgson said he plans to work this year as a student missionary with the club, traveling to nearby college campuses to seek out fallen-away Catholics and inviting them to Mass and club meetings.<\/p>\n \tEach of the weekly meetings include a time of worship as well as a talk on a religious topic, Hodgson said.<\/p>\n \t\u201cIt\u2019s more of a charismatic community,\u201d he said, \u201cso the focus is community and growing together in holiness.\u201d<\/p>\n \tAttending a Lutheran school has, in a way, spurred Hodgson to draw nearer to Christ in the Catholic Church, he said.<\/p>\n \t\u201cIt\u2019s harder because there\u2019s that anti-Catholic mentality from some Lutherans,\u201d he said. \u201cBut it\u2019s easier for us because some of the Catholics are feeling it, and they look for Catholic community like I did.\u201d<\/p>\n \tTIime for prayer<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n \tCollege can present Catholic students with a perfect storm of temptation and schedule overload, Jones observed. With so many classes and activities, it\u2019s easy to fall away from a habit of prayer and spiritual reflection.<\/p>\n \t\u201cThere\u2019s definitely been times of temptation, where the best way to describe it would be a spiritual drought,\u201d she said. \u201cIf I\u2019m not dedicating as much time to prayer as I should be or doing any spiritual reading, I would lose focus and become self-centered. And then I\u2019m not thinking about Christ or others as much as I\u2019m thinking about myself and how I feel.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\u201cWhen I\u2019m forcing myself to go to daily Mass, it happens less frequently, of course,\u201d she added. \u201cI\u2019m receiving the sacrament. I\u2019m reminded to pray. But when I become overwhelmed [at school], it becomes very emotionally exhausting because that\u2019s when I don\u2019t make time for prayer.\u201d<\/p>\n \tReaching out to Catholic peers is a good way to break out of that cycle, Jones observed. Another strategy she has taken up recently is getting in touch with a spiritual director.<\/p>\n \t\u201cI think a lot of why people leave is because they have a lot of questions but don\u2019t have a reliable source to ask,\u201d she said. \u201cHaving a mentor, someone you can trust and confide in to answer your question, is helpful.\u201d<\/p>\n \tBeans also credits having a spiritual director for keeping the faith in college. He and Oriele both have priests for spiritual directors.<\/p>\n \tAnother practice that Beans said is essential to his spiritual life is going to adoration at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton.<\/p>\n \t\u201cThey have perpetual adoration, and that really helps out,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a great way to clear your head and to let God come in and take control when you really need it the most. And just being in the presence of Jesus Christ and the Eucharist, it\u2019s always mind-blowing to be there every week.\u201d<\/p>\n \tBut when it really comes down to it, Hodgson said, adulthood is a time when Catholics must take personal ownership of their faith or else they can lose it.<\/p>\n \t\u201cThat\u2019s what happens to everyone,\u201d he said, \u201cunless you find a community and make sure you\u2019re doing things like daily prayer.\u201d<\/p>\n \tPosted with permission from Catholic Anchor<\/a>, official newspaper of the Archdiocese of Anchorage, Alaska.<\/p>\n