By Fr. Emmanuel Alfonso, SJ
Feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola, July 28, 2019
Fr. Emmanuel Alfonso, SJ, shares a deeply personal reflection on the plight of the youth and the Christian call to accompany them. Recalling a time when a Jesuit priest took a chance on him during a family crisis, Fr. Alfonso highlights how simple acts of belief and support can transform lives. Today, the youth face immense challenges: poverty, exploitation, violence, and despair. Alarming statistics show rising rates of school dropouts, child labor, early pregnancies, and even suicide among Filipino youth, compounded by global struggles like human trafficking, war, and discrimination.
Drawing from Pope Francis’ Christus Vivit and Fr. General Arturo Sosa’s Universal Apostolic Preferences, Fr. Alfonso urges us to respond with compassion, not just through programs and activities, but with a profound conversion of heart. He emphasizes the importance of noticing and valuing young people, seeing Christ in their vulnerability and potential, and accompanying them in building a hope-filled future.
Inspiring examples include a young woman who changed her life’s path after encountering a child laborer in Nepal and a boy who sought to adopt a Syrian child victim of war. These stories remind us of the transformative power of noticing the young and acting with love and courage.
As we celebrate the legacy of St. Ignatius, Fr. Alfonso invites us to embrace the Ignatian mission of serving the most vulnerable and to see the youth not as problems but as hope for a better world. The youth are counting on us to take a chance on them, just as Christ takes a chance on each of us.
Society of Jesus' social apostolate 