By Jennifer Mauro | Associate Editor
After 22 years as an ordained priest, more than half of which have been spent with youth ministry, Father Martin O’Reilly believes one key to getting youngsters involved in the Church lies with ensuring they have an active say in their faith.
“For our young people to find their voice in the Church, we as adults must create a space for them,” he said. “All their lives, they have been under the direction of adults. We should be enabling them to find their own voice, to develop their own personality.”
Father O’Reilly, who arrived in the Diocese last summer, has been working toward this goal not just since becoming diocesan chaplain of youth ministry nearly five months ago, but for years in his home country of Ireland.
Invested in Ministry
Father O’Reilly spent eight years teaching in Beech Hill College High School, County Monaghan, in the province of Ulster, before being asked to be the director of youth ministry for the Diocese of Clogher.
“I knew this would be a big task and that I wasn’t qualified,” he admitted. “I felt that we needed to take a pro-active look because youth ministry is a long-term investment.”
In order to achieve that goal, he spent one year in All Hallows College, Dublin, earning a degree in youth ministry. In taking on the youth ministry role, one of his first tasks was to form a team of like-minded people to set goals and share ideas.
“We took the time to grow slow, yet strong,” he said.
During his time with the Diocese of Clogher, the youth ministry grew to include yearly pilgrimages, summer camps and steering youngsters toward the Pope John Paul II award, which encourages those ages 16 to 18 to take an active role in their Church, community and society through social projects and self-reflection. There are urrently up to 300 youth who have received the award in his former diocese.
Father O’Reilly eventually moved on from youth director and became chair of youth ministry, serving more than 13 years with youngsters before deciding to come to America.
No stranger to the Jersey Shore – his sister and brother moved to the States in 1983, and he worked at a motel in Point Pleasant Beach during his seminary years – Father O’Reilly visited with Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., in spring 2015 with thoughts of serving in the Diocese of Trenton. After getting approval from Bishop O’Connell and his bishop in Ireland, Father O’Reilly became temporary administrator in July in St. Elizabeth Parish, Avon, before becoming parochial vicar in October in St. Catharine-St. Margaret Parish, Spring Lake. Also in October, he was appointed Catholic Chaplain to Diocesan Youth Ministry.
“The energy has been fantastic, he said. “I have met great people who are well-intended who’ve given 100 percent of themselves to youth ministry.”
Power of the People
Over the past months, Father O’Reilly has been making it a mission to acquaint himself with those involved in youth ministry in each of the Diocese’s four counties by attending meetings organized by the Department of Evangelization and Family Life. One of his goals was to continue the lessons learned in Ireland by encouraging the youth ministers to create county committees in order to organize multi-parish events and share ideas.
“Youth ministry has to be a team approach,” he said. “We’re competing in a different world now – a whole world of technological and communication access. We have to look at what we’re offering them [youth] to compete.”
Which is why he believes giving youngsters a voice in the Church is the key to them taking responsibility of their faith.
“There has to be a regular sense of belonging at our weekend celebration for our young people,” he said, offering as an example, having youth be liturgical readers and taking the lead in the Prayer of the Faithful.
“There should never be a time for a young person to say, ‘There’s nothing for me to do.’ We need to carve out a spot specifically for them,” he said.
One way to do this, he said, is to offer a progression of service opportunities. For example, altar servers could move on to become readers, who could be trained to become readers for the Prayer of the Faithful. And in between, there could be training for each ministry with certificates of appreciation. “The one thing we all respond to is positive affirmation,” he said.
The goal, he added, is to give young people a more active role in the Church.
“They’re looking around and thinking, I’m not a part of this. I’m just a spectator. No one should ever feel like they’re a spectator in the Church,” Father O’Reilly said.
One event on the horizon that is sure to get youth excited about their faith is the Diocesan Youth Conference, set for March 4 in St. Gregory the Great Parish, Hamilton Square.
“My overall hope is that our young people will find it inspirational and say, ‘I’m not the only one who seeks God,’” Father O’Reilly said.
This will be Father O’Reilly’s first time at DYC, though he has already started preparing. He was recently featured in a carpool karaoke video featuring Bishop O’Connell and Franciscan Friar of the Renewal Father Sebastian Kajko that spoke about faith and the DYC. The video can be viewed on TrentonMonitor.com.
As for keeping the youth energized in faith after DYC, Father O’Reilly admits much of that responsibility lies with parishes and youth ministers, many of whom are volunteers. It’s a task, however, that he’s confident the youth leaders can handle, not just by working together through the county committees being formed, but by knowing that the Department of Evangelization and Family Life is there for them, too.
“God does great things whenever we are open,” he said. “The disciples succeeded because of the belief in the message they were delivering.”