FAITH RELOADED 10/25/2003 The Matrix movies are NOT movies I like Indeed I avoided them at all costs for a long time I am not into sci-fi, nor am I high tech to the max However a student of mine who was studying for his MA in Theology and was also teaching High School religion told me that I had to watch the first He went so far as providing me with the DVD – free! Guess what? I didn’t understand what it was going on about most of the time but I was drawn into the whole paradoxical thing that rises again and again through the movie I decided to do some reading about the whole thing TOWARDS A FAITH MATRIX FOR YOUNG PEOPLE TODAY

FAITH RELOADED A FAITH MATRIX FOR YOUNG PEOPLE TODAY 10/25/2003 A FAITH MATRIX FOR YOUNG PEOPLE TODAY What I would like to present to you today is something of the fruit of my reflection I offer this not as something that has all the answers but as something that can get us all thinking and sharing our own thoughts and ideas I feel the movies have a message Will I rush out to Part 3 on November 5th Well that’s for you to guess TOWARDS A FAITH MATRIX FOR YOUNG PEOPLE TODAY

FAITH RELOADED A headline of a recent Rolling Stone article 10/25/2003 The Disease is Adolescence: and the symptoms are Violence, Suicide, Drugs, Alcohol, Car Wrecks and Poverty Chronologically adolescence extends from ages eleven to seventeen and on Early adolescence (to 12) – ceases looking backwards and reworking a familial past Middle adolescence (13-15) Late adolescence (15-17 and onwards) – begins to look and move towards the future From the standpoint of the larger social system, adolescent behavior is often best understood as a symptom of the larger society and not primarily as an invasion of it Adolescents disclose in bold type and vivid colors the latent patterns of social disorganization that lurk always under the surface of polite society In confronting adolescent behavior, adults must confront outwardly what they are continually dealing with internally in their personal, family and institutional lives Adolescent behavior is a two edged sword: what appears to be social non-conformity is often a dramatization of the underside of the large-scale social conformity Adolescent identity is built on: Body axis Ideological axis Authority axis Love axis Work axis On all of these axes the adolescent t ego is striving for a balance that transcends the extreme of rigidity on the one hand and diffusion on the other When balance is achieved, diffusion becomes flexibility, and rigidity becomes reliable ego boundaries A headline of a recent Rolling Stone article TOWARDS A FAITH MATRIX FOR YOUNG PEOPLE TODAY

Reflected in calling the present younger generation... ...faithless!

“Young people, I see you as the sentinels of the dawn of a new hope...” ...Pope John Paul II July 4, 2001

WHY TWO SUCH OPPOSING VIEWS? FAITH RELOADED 10/25/2003 WHY TWO SUCH OPPOSING VIEWS? Society = all that is negative Church = all that brings hope Society tends to translate the energy and enthusiasm and desire for freedom of the human spirit as a threat to the world they have created and they are trying to maintain at times against all odds In other words the first statement is a defensive one As people look at young people and their desire to be free they see at times the things that they deny in themselves – the propensity to violence, to despair, to a lack of love and they speak out of their discomfort over the compromises they have made You unnerve the older generation with your idealism and search for truth, with your desire for love The Pope’s view instead is one regarding all these things within you It is a different vision – one that sees within the human heart and seeks to acknowledge what the human spirit is calling forth from within you TOWARDS A FAITH MATRIX FOR YOUNG PEOPLE TODAY

Messenger of destruction? So who are you? Messenger of destruction? Or Sentinel of hope?

What makes the difference?

and the choices I make that is what makes the difference! The way I see things... The way I envision life and the choices I make that is what makes the difference!

What should I do? Do I choose life of death? FAITH RELOADED 10/25/2003 What should I do? Do I choose life of death? There is much in the world that is good but there is also much that is evil. It is a MATRIX Goodness brings life! Evil brings death. TOWARDS A FAITH MATRIX FOR YOUNG PEOPLE TODAY

What is Life? Ultimately the answer to that question is a FAITH FAITH RELOADED 10/25/2003 What is Life? Ultimately the answer to that question is a FAITH response. Faith is a set of beliefs Faith is a verb Faith is about action Faith is what I have set my heart on TOWARDS A FAITH MATRIX FOR YOUNG PEOPLE TODAY

FAITH is where my heart is.

. F A I T H S . F A I T H . G I F T , V E R B . . C H O I E F a i t h a s Ma t r I x

The Faith Matrix Spirituality Community Attitude to life Identity (living consciously) Identity Service

“Choosing” the Faith Matrix belong be happy Love believe be for others

4 ways to “reload” the Faith Matrix Belong to church Find the fun Spirituality: Living in love Believe in yourself Reach out to others