Experiments in Catholicism
By Emily E. Long
Contributing writer
Last week at Dinosaur Barbeque in Syracuse, 100 people gathered to hear Bishop Lucia deliver a talk about prayer. As you read that sentence, who were you picturing as the audience? Priests and deacons? Perhaps a parish mission group? Certainly not anyone under 40. Definitely not, because the Catholic Church is **totally** dying and only your grandma goes to Mass these days, right?
Bishop Lucia was actually speaking to a group of young adults ages 18-39 for the 2026 “Theology on Tap” speaker series. The topic of the night: “Prayer for the Busy: Cultivating a deep contemplative life amidst a 9-5.” To cultivate this deep life of prayer, the Bishop suggested the timeless prayer of The Liturgy of the Hours.
The Liturgy of the Hours (also known as the Divine Office) is the prayer of the Catholic Church. Said seven times a day, the Divine Office is a prayer rooted in tradition and scripture. Instead of telling us to pick up an old dusty prayer book, the bishop suggested a very modern way to work the prayers in our lives — an app. Instead of flipping between sections, you just have to press “play” to pray. Most hours of the Divine Office take only about 15-20 minutes, making this prayer something young people could easily fit into a car ride or a lunch break.
The bishop’s talk, whether he realized it or not, really sums up young Catholics all over the world. On the whole, young Catholics are more traditional than previous generations, but we find ways to weave our modern lives in with the timeless tradition of the Church. For example, a group of my friends gathers once a week to pray the Rosary. How do we do this? A Zoom call, of course! For prayers during the week, we also have a community on the app Hallow.
If you’re asking yourself what exactly brings young people to the Church today, look at the world around us. The young people of today have been promised so much from the world, and most of the time, it disappoints us. Social media touts that we are more connected than ever, but it doesn’t create an authentic community. We feel unsettled and try to find peace in yoga or meditation, without knowing that real peace comes from Jesus. Culture tries to make us accept lies as fact, but when the argument doesn’t add up, we are lost as to finding the truth.
The young Catholics of the Diocese of Syracuse know that real connection, peace, and above all, truth, start with Jesus Christ. If you have felt alone, confused, hopeless, or just plain lost, there are other young people who have been there and want you as a part of our community. St. PierGiorgio Frassati once said to his friends, “The first of us to go to Heaven must help the others climb.” While we certainly don’t hope to go to Heaven just yet, we are always helping each other climb the mountain of life.
If you are reaching for a hand to pull you up, come to Frassati Fellowship, Westside Catholic, Transfiguration Young Adults, or the Grotto at Assumption Church, and you’ll find so many friends willing to help you climb to the heights.
Experiment of the Week: If you are a young person interested in Jesus and community, attend a young adult event! If you know a young adult, show them this article. If you don’t know any young people, please pray for us, and we’ll pray for you too.
