We are living in the midst of a social media epidemic. Teens and young adults between the ages of 13 and 25 spend an average of 7 to 9 hours a day on their screens, often disconnected from meaningful relationships, truth, and purpose. According to the CDC, rates of depression among teens have more than doubled in the past decade, and suicide has become the second leading cause of death for those aged 10 to 24. This isn’t just a crisis of mental health, it’s a crisis of meaning. But amidst the chaos, confusion, and constant noise of modern life, there is hope. Something unexpected is happening: Young people are turning back to tradition.
In 2024, the Catholic Church in the United States recorded over 607,000 baptisms and approximately 55,000 adult confirmations, a steady increase from recent years. Even more remarkable is who is stepping forward: a growing number of these new Catholics are under the age of 30. In fact, according to the USCCB, more than 40% of adult baptisms and confirmations in 2023 were received by young adults and teens. So what’s happening?
When Jesus hung on the Cross, He cried out:
“I thirst.” (John 19:28)”
He thirsted for us, for our souls. My Lord, we thirst for you too. This longing runs deeper than fleeting emotions or passing trends, it’s a cry from the soul, a hunger for something real. We, the youth, are thirsting for beauty, reverence, tradition, silence, identity, and truth. We are not inspired by shallow trends, but by the timelessness of a faith that has endured for over 2,000 years. The incense, the candles, the chants, the silence, they aren’t empty rituals. They speak to something ancient in our hearts, something sacred that the modern world has forgotten but our souls remember. In a world that pushes confusion, “wokeness,” and instant gratification, we long for modesty, structure, sacred liturgy, and the Eucharist. The Church isn’t outdated, it’s exactly what we’ve been looking for. Let us lift our hearts in prayer and offer a Rosary for the lost and wandering souls. Especially our brothers and sisters among the youth, who are silently searching for something more. May they come to encounter the radical, healing love of Jesus Christ. May they discover that the home their hearts have been aching for has always been here, in the beauty of the Church, in the sacred silence, in the Eucharist.
We are not a lost generation. We are a generation being found. Found in Christ. Found in His Church. Found in Truth.
Brayan Garcia – Blog
Missionariesservantsoftheword.com
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