The Brooklyn Born Believer was in Bushwick, Brooklyn last week. (That's a tongue twister!) I was amazed to see Bushwick, at least the part that borders East Williamsburg, which is where I was, booming with new developments, condo's and new buildings going up. It seems young people are attracted to Brooklyn and all it offers and continue to move to Brooklyn from all over the country and even parts of the world. They also move to Queens. On a Spring Saturday afternoon, in nearby Williamsburg, the streets are packed with young adults (known as hipsters) strolling along Bedford Ave. In case you are not familiar with the term
hipster, according to Wikipedia,
hipster is a slang term which first appeared in the 1940's. In the 1990's and 2000's it was used to describe young, recently settled, urban, middle class adults and older teens in non-mainstream fashion and culture. Creative, trendy and artistic are words that are used to describe the young adults who have moved into Williamsburg and are also moving into parts of Bushwick. These neighborhoods are attracting artists and musicians and people who gravitate to creative people.
Pope John Paul II described missionary activity as the greatest and holiest duty of the Church (quoting Vatican II). Perhaps the Church in Brooklyn needs creative, artistic missionaries in Brooklyn, in neighborhoods such as Williamsburg, Park Slope, Brooklyn Heights, Carroll Gardens, Red Hook and Bushwick for creative, urban evangelization. How can art, music and drama be used to reach the young people (some are believers, some are Catholic),who are living in these vibrant, growing neighborhoods?
During the Easter Season, when we hear about the boldness and courage of the apostles, especially St. Peter and St. Paul, we should be inspired to seek new and creative ways to evangelize the young adults in our midst. The gospel writers, stress the missionary mandate in their writings, Go therefore and make disciples of all nations...........I'll change that just a little, Go therefore and make disciples of all urban neighborhoods....and of course enlist the help of the Holy Spirit because it's not an easy task.
NJA
