At Adoration and Mass this evening I was surprised to see five young people gathered in the church. While I did not know their names, I knew that they were the FOCUS missionaries from the University of  Maine. These young people commit to spreading the Gospel of salvation on college campuses around the country. Through the sharing of their faith, they encourage students to grow a relationship with Jesus. They do this through Bible studies, by meeting with students, by offering them an alternative to the normal less then virtuous activities that happen on college campuses. During my time at UMaine these missionaries brought more and more students to Mass, Confession, and Adoration. They brought many students to Jesus who received them with open arms.

It got me to thinking about the paucity of young people who attend Mass. Where are these young people and why are they not at Mass? There are many reasons why young people stop coming to Mass at a particular age. Perhaps they were forced to attend Mass when they were young and as soon as they are able, they stop going to assert their freedom. Maybe they were not catechized well, they were never told why we attend Mass, that the Eucharist is the real presence of Jesus, that our gathering in prayer and praise of God is how our community comes together. Perhaps they had a bad experience with a priest or someone else associated with the Church and that was enough to keep them away. There are as many reasons young people do not attend Mass as there are young people not attending Mass.

I contend that the most overlooked reason is that they do not feel welcome in the church, they do not feel as though there is a place for them in the community. Years ago, I attended a meeting with Bishop Deeley and a group of young people. They ranged in age from the teens to the mid-twenties. When asked what they most wanted from the church, to a person they said they wanted to be included. They wanted to be involved not just to be involved but to be a part of the mission of the church and the parish. They wanted to have time with their priest, and they wanted to serve the community.

So how do we get them in the church and how do we encourage their desire to serve? The first thing we need to stop doing is shaming them for not attending Mass. Using “Catholic Guilt” has never been successful in bringing anyone back to the practice of the faith. We need to look to our leader Jesus to see how he brought people into the fold.

Jesus always invited. Come and see! Come and see what I have to teach you, come and see the kingdom of God at hand, come and see the sick get well and the hungry get fed. Jesus invites his followers to experience the forgiveness of sin, fullness of life, and joy of doing the will of the Father. Jesus, rather than concentrating on what people are doing wrong offers a better way, a way that reduces anxiety, that is based on unalterable truth, and that leads always to true and lasting peace. In a word Jesus invites his followers to come and see heaven on earth and to live as citizens of the same.

Pope Francis said that “the church will not grow by proselytizing but instead will grow by attraction.” The most inviting thing we can do to encourage young people to return to the practice of their faith is to be joyful as we practice our faith. There are few things more inviting than a community that is filled with joy. We more mature folks need to live our faith in a way that makes others, young and old,  realize that they want what we have.

We can do this by being unafraid to talk about how Jesus is active in our lives. We can talk about how Jesus shows up at Mass and even when the music is bad or the homily too long, we got to spend time with Jesus. Instead of living our faith as something we “have to do” we can change our attitude to reveal how following Jesus is something that we “get to do.” Ultimately, we can invite young people to come and see the good and lasting things Jesus is offering.

There is no magic that will draw people back to Mass. Instead, we who gather around this altar week after week simply need to invite our friends and family to come. This is not something we do just once and give up, nor is it something that becomes nagging. Instead filled with joy, strengthened by the Eucharist, encouraged by the Holy Spirit, we follow the lead of Jesus and say come and see.