Questions without an Answer

Right now I'm thinking of questions I do not yet have an answer to.  It doesn't help that some of them I have been asking for nearly six years I've spent in youth ministry -

• How can the youth be shown, taught, experience, the incredible love of God?
• How do you do the catechesis on all the things the Church teaches about while always coming back to the relationships - between God and the youth and the community's relationships?
• How do you address the huge spectrum of faith, understanding, and interests within the youth as a group?
• How do you cope with your own struggles when you are also facing the struggles of the youth, the ministry, and the Church?

Please don't think that I am desolate, thinking of closing up shop, or anything dramatic like that.  These are some of the periphery ponderings that have sprung both from things in the ministry, my life, and the discussions surrounding the pastoral planning process.

I actually think that going back to the basic questions is absolutely crucial.  We get caught up in putting together the perfect night on life issues, the best baked potato dinner fundraiser yet, the mock conclave, and all the other things we do in ministry.  I'm finding myself personally and professionally going back to the simple questions - Why am I in ministry?  Why is the idea of youth & young adult ministry important to the lives of the youth and young adults?  Where am I going from here and now?  How will I move along that path?

Like all the questions that really matter, there is no easy answer.  The answer evolves; my understanding of the answer deepens.  

And should it get to be a bit too much to ponder, I can rest calmly in the knowledge that the answer to the big question - life, the universe, and everything - is simply 42.