“Each One Teach One” – Forever Critical, Forever Relevant

“It’s not about passing the torch.  It’s about firing up another’s torch so there can be more light for all.”

I’m quoting one of the mentors in Call to Action’s 20/30 Project paraphrasing part of a speech by Gloria Steinem to explain why this particular mentor chose to become a guide, champion, and support for a young person wanting to prepare for leadership and effect renewal in the Catholic experience and the world. I was attending a session at the 2018 Call to Action (CTA) conference focusing on what it means to mentor young people in their 20’s and 30’s, what it does for them, what it does for all of us. I wanted to learn how journeying with and mentoring others could be a challenge for all of us, young and older, as we join with our various groups back at home to create a new, more inclusive Church.

The mentors listed some of their reasons for accepting the role, reasons I thought could inspire us all:

• I feel as if I can touch the future, helping young people grow the way they want to grow.
• Because I have been guided and supported in my own life and am so grateful.
• Because the young dream big dreams and see that the change wanted is accessible. I want to help them chip away at it. Their fearlessness gives me courage.
• I’m at the porch-sitting age; the mentees get me off the porch and into new places and challenges in life.
• Mentoring can bring you back to parts of your life you may have forgotten.
• Mentoring helped me see that “knowing your place” can be a good thing. Let’s face it, you always knew what others said was your place was not.
• I find young people saying, “You’re telling me NO? Just watch me!  We’re not waiting for change; we’re changing things now!”
• I not only want to affirm their paths but I also and especially want to get those in power to make space for their leadership.
• I want to help put the fire, or recognize the fire, in youth. They help me see the word of God in action.

I especially loved one mentor’s reinterpretation of the Biblical keystone of the church: “‘Upon this rock I will build my church…’ is often seen as allowing no change in the Church,” she said. “But rock does change. It changes through water, wind, eruptions, even by our own hands. Consider the waters of baptism, the winds of the Holy Spirit, the eruptions caused by people and their experiences, our hands forever chipping away at fortresses of power to create something new. We need a rich faith life and constant renewal ourselves to do this, and that is why we, young and old, are here for each other.”

Check out Call to Action’s 20/30 Project and meet the mentors and mentees here: https://cta-usa.org/