A Science Student's Musings on Young Adult Spirituality

Tim Winter, a student at the Illinois Institute of Technology, responded to Fr. James Bacik's presentation about young adult spirituality at the Catholics On Call Partners Conference in October 2005.

I am very honored to be able to respond to Father Jim Bacik's discussion of “millennial” spirituality.  Fr Jim has been a rather important piece of my development, despite not knowing me personally.  While he was at Bowling Green State University ministering to the campus community, a beautiful Catholic girl was dating a strapping young man who had many questions for Fr. Jim about the Catholic faith.  It turns out, that young man ended up marrying that young woman and only a few years later, I was born; and the rest is history...

Currently, I serve as chairman of Catholic Campus Ministry at the Illinois Institute of Technology, a small engineering and science school in Chicago.  We are a fairly young ministry that continues to grow and develop.  For me, the most eye opening part of Fr. Jim's paper was its most important part: the types.  As I read through them, I could identify students at IIT that fit each.  More interesting, however, most students are more adequately described by a few of the types.  As Fr. Jim emphasized, these are not rigid categories but descriptions that attempt to capture and help digest, at least in part, the broad spiritualities found on our college campuses.  As ministers it is essentially important to find ways to cater to each and at the same time challenge each to explore elements of the other spiritualities with which individuals do not as easily identify.

At IIT and most likely all science-focused campus communities, a very important spirituality emerges that we must keep in mind in addition to those suggested by Fr. Jim.  That is, our peers in the sciences generally seem concerned with how their studies relate to their relationship with God.  Or, in the converse, they ignore the callings of their Catholic faith when they enter the laboratory.  In today’s social context, it is difficult to discuss matters of faith and science.  It is often hard for Catholics to express their concern with the morality of a particular application in science without appearing to blindly follow a rigid, irrational, and antiquated philosophical framework.  Our challenge is to provide not only good ethical catechesis for our scientists and engineers, but also to engage Catholics and non-Catholics in constructive discussions that challenge everyone to explore the deeper connections of science and human dignity.

As Fr. Jim gave some background for his paper, a number of points caught my attention.  First among these was his suggestion of service projects.  We at IIT have witnessed that students are quite interested in putting their books aside to roll up their sleeves and help those in need.  Particularly, we have seen that the prospect of using book knowledge for serving others has an even more heightened appeal, Engineers Without Borders for example.  Fundamentally, to effectively engage students, we must know their hearts, as Fr. Jim asserts.  He went on to recognize our current social environment and some of the many difficulties that it provides for “millennials,” as Father has dubbed them.  Possibly the most striking is the number of broken homes and the subsequent affect on the understanding of family and commitment.  We also live in a post-911 world that is almost constantly anxious.  What I find most interesting is how quickly major, terrible, and world changing events fade from the individual consciousness of my peers and myself.  This is clearly shown by how easily images slipped from our news, even when the media fervently covered the devastated coastal regions of the Indian Ocean following the tsunami last December.  How many are concerned with or even aware of the persistent affects of the disaster?  Maybe this is less stunning considering what has happened in the last 12 months: Hurricane Katrina and the worst hurricane season on record, awful flooding and mudslides in Guatemala, and a crushing earthquake in Kashmir, to name a few.  Perhaps it is more understandable, then, that only 4 years after the worst act of terrorism on American soil in the history of our country is remembered by a moment of silence and then business/studying as usual, with only more angst and less secure feelings about the future developing.  It is within this context that we must, as Fr. Jim suggests, help millennials “find meaning in the midst of absurdity.”  How difficult this can be!

But… “Do not be afraid!”  We still hold onto some hope!  Despite all that might draw us down, we maintain inexhaustible curiosity and, for the most part, a desire to do some good.  Still, we have “infinite longings, but finite capabilities.”  At this crossroads, we are well served to remember St. Paul’s description of the Body of Christ as having many parts, but remaining all one body with Christ as its head.  Knowledge of this relationship provides us with a much greater understanding of those things God is calling us to accomplish.  This is where, I feel, we have the most work to do.  It is widely accepted, that the catechesis of my generation, the millennials, has been, well, terrible.  Especially for those like myself who did not attend Catholic schools, our formation, both doctrinally and spiritually, is lacking, which is unfortunate.  Faith formation is still necessary and crucial to our development into mature, active, vibrant Catholic Christians.  More than ever, college students need help forming a faith rooted firmly in Christ and strengthened by His teachings in Scripture, the tradition of the Church, and its Magisterial Authority.  Our engagements must be ordered to challenge millennials to construct a more sound faith, and must occur under the direction and guidance of the Apostolic teaching of the Church. 

IIT’s students have shown particular interest in ecumenical and inter-faith dialogues.  A number of significant challenges exist with these types of events, the first of which is establishing a solid Catholic context that allow students to probe their faith and be reinforced in their beliefs.  Also, we need to help students avoid developing a spirituality ‘defined by the defense of doctrine.’  With the right mindset, we can learn how to be more respectful of our neighbor and how we can better be the Light of Christ to them.  This is of special importance in an America that is increasingly more diverse and integrated.

I am very excited about the future of collegiate ministry in the Church.  There is so much to be done!  I have found the best part of the Partners Conference to be the sharing of ministry ideas between campuses.  It has been great to hear about the great things happening in other communities around the country and I look forward to how we might be able to do some of the same things at IIT.  May God bless you and your ministries, that above all they may lead all of us closer to Christ.

Peace.

Tim Winter
timwinter@iit.edu