Office of Catholic Schools

14 initiation (Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucha- rist) are all we need to become adult Christians, but they are only the entry point into the Christian life. Living as adult Catholic Christians requires com- ing to mature faith and charity, choosing to follow Jesus and living every day through a relationship with him. It is important to note that Catholic school atten- dance is not enough in itself to bring young people to a mature faith and charity. The sociologist Chris- tian Smith notes, f rom his extensive research on the life of young Catholics in the United States, that "we cannot report that Catholic schooling and youth group participation have robust effects on emerging adult faith and practice." 1 That is, simply attending a Catholic school will not make some- one a disciple of Jesus. For mature faith to develop, Smith discovered a few factors that made a huge difference: First, Catholic youth who have strong relation- al bonds with highly religious parents, other adults, and f riends are more likely to maintain or increase their religious faith…. Second, developing an internalized belief system involving a faith that is personally important… helps teens to sustain religious faith…. Finally, Catholic teenagers who live out their faith through certain religious practices, especially reading the Bible and f requently attending Sunday school, are more likely to become highly religious emerging adults." 2 . 1 Christian Smith et. al. Young Catholic America: Emerging Adults In, Out of, and Gone f rom the Church (New York: Oxford University Press, 2014), 232. 2 Ibid., 178.

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