LIVING
IN THE
LIGHT
Spirituality for the Layperson
Religious Life of Young Americans:
What Has Gone Wrong?
D
Dr. Patricia
Cooney Hathaway
Dr. Patricia Cooney
Hathaway is professor
of spirituality and
systematic theology at
Sacred Heart.
young adults. In the introduction, Dr. Smith
r. Christian Smith, professor of sociology
applauds many of the good things going on in
and director of the Center for the
the lives of young adults today, but the data
Study of Religion and Society at the
from his research suggests that the dark side
University of Notre Dame, has researched and
needs to be named and taken seriously. The
written four books based upon one of the
titles of the chapters reveal the more unsettling
most comprehensive and in-depth surveys of
Dr. Patricia Cooney Hathaway is professor of spirituality
aspects of their lives: Morality Adrift, Captive
teenagers, young adults, and their parents.
and systematic theology at Sacred Heart. She is a nationally
to Consumerism, Intoxication’s “Fake Feeling
His conclusions are sobering at best.
r
ecognized speaker in the areas of spirituality and theology.
of Happiness,” The Shadow Side of Sexual
The first book, Soul Searching: The Religious
Liberation, and finally, Civic and Political
and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers, (2005)
Disengagement.
describes the religious faith of many teens
The final book, Young Catholic America:
between the ages 10-17. He states that for most
Emerging Adults In, Out of, and Gone from the
teens, religion is something to personally believe
Church, (2014) documents the indispensable
in that makes one feel good and resolves one’s
role of parents and other supportive adults
problems. For many, God is imaged as a cosmic
in laying the foundation for a strong and
therapist or counselor who responds in times
living faith. Dr. Smith writes, “Committed
of trouble but who does not particularly ask for
and practicing Catholic emerging adults
devotion or obedience.
are people who were well formed in
Dr. Smith claims that this instrumental
Catholic faith and practice as children,
image of God is not the invention of teenagers
whose faith became personally meaningful
but the dominating image of religion embraced
and practiced as teenagers, and whose parents
by their parents and other adults. Smith further
(reinforced by other supportive Catholic
points out that hardly any teens spoke directly
adults) were the primary agents cultivating
about religious subjects like repentance, love
that lifelong formation.”
of neighbor, social justice, grace, the cost of
Yet the study also reveals the troubling
discipleship, personal holiness, or any other
“inability and sometimes unwillingness of
of the key themes in America’s main religious
parents to model, teach and pass on the faith
tradition, Christianity.
to their children.”
The second book, Emerging Young Adults:
This summary does not do justice to the
Souls in Transition, (2009) studies the religious
complex issues presented in these four studies.
life of emerging young adults ages 18-23. Dr.
Yet they describe a sobering picture of a growing
Smith describes their perspective of the good
crisis as many of our young people are not
life as “focused on material prosperity and
looking to the Church for guidance as they form
financial security. Most want secure jobs, big
their identities and make decisions about the
incomes, whatever consumer purchases they
meaning and purpose of their lives.
desire, vacations, leisure, and abundance for
A fundamental conviction of our faith
themselves and their future families. What is
affirms that we are made in the image and
left out are visions of the good that involve the
likeness of God with an inbuilt desire for God as
transcendent, the spiritual, faith, community,
the source and fulfillment of our lives. A major
the common good or an environmentally
challenge that confronts us daily is finding
sustainable world.”
effective ways to enable our youth to recognize,
The third book, Lost in Transition: The Dark
experience, and live this truth as the centerpiece
Side of Emerging Adults (2011) presents the
of their lives.
complex issues that shadow the lives of many
FAll 2014
SAcred HeArt MAjor SeminAry
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