What do you think that could bring the young people closer to Church?

First of all, I think that faith in God. Faith brings you closer to God and his ways and if you don’t believe in God nothing else can bring you closer to him.

For instance, in confession I use to ask the young people:

- Do you believe in God?

And they say “Yes, father!” wondering about my question.

And then I ask: “What do you do, as a believer?”

And he says: “I try to be good.”

 “But I know good people that are not believers, they are correct, they do their job in society”, and I ask again “You, as a believer, what do you do that differentiates you from the others? Do you go to church?”

And he says “Not really.”

And I say “Neither do them. Do you pray in the morning and in the evening?”

“No, I don’t.”

“Neither do they”, I say. “Do you fast?”

“Not really.”

“Neither do they. Do you curse?”

And he says “From time to time.”

And then I ask “Now, you tell me – are you a believer or not?”

And he admits saying “Father, I am rather a non-believer.”

(Translated from Arhimandrit Teofil Părăian, Iubirea de aproapele – ajutor pentru bucuria vieții, Editura Doxologia, Iași, 2014, pp. 66-67)