Listen, Teach, Send: The U.S. Bishops’ “Emmaus Approach” to Youth and Young Adults 

By: Paul Jarzembowski | Associate Director  | USCCB’s Subcommittee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life, and Youth

The biblical story of Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35) is so familiar that many Christians can probably recite it from memory. This is certainly a blessing, but also a challenge: the more we hear it, the more likely it becomes “white noise” to our ears. 

Yet the U.S. Bishops chose this particular narrative from the Scriptures to underpin Listen, Teach, Send, their national pastoral framework for Catholic ministries with youth and young adults, approved in June 2024 at the USCCB Plenary Assembly. They chose this biblical account because Pope Francis and the delegates at the 2018 Synod on Young People, the Faith, and Vocational Discernment kept gravitating to it when reflecting on their pastoral experiences accompanying youth and young adults.

In that post-Resurrection encounter along the road, Jesus journeys with and listens to the two disciples. In response to their stories, Jesus teaches them with great love and reveals himself in the breaking of the bread. His presence then sends them on a mission to share the Good News.

“The Church, in following Christ’s example, is called to do the same,” the U.S. Bishops wrote in the introduction of the framework. “…to listen to young people, to teach them the Gospel, and to send them forth into the world, alive in the Spirit.” The Emmaus story, then, is more than just an inspiring text from Scripture, but serves as the foundation stone upon which good ministry is built. 

Listen, Teach, Send was developed through consultation and listening to the voices of young people and those who accompany them. In particular, the intergenerational and intercultural experience of Journeying Together, a collaborative initiative led by the Committee on Cultural Diversity in the Church, was impactful for the U.S. Bishops in their reflections leading into Listen, Teach, Send. 

The document is laid out like this:

A Preface Letter, from the bishops to all youth and young adults, gently inviting them to be open to a Church that loves, cares, and wants to walk with them.
An Introduction, directed at families and pastoral leaders accompanying young people, which lays out the Emmaus framework and proposes a summons for ministerial renewal.
Part 1 on “Listening,” which is realized as: encountering young people; being fully present; understanding across generations; and healing brokenness.
Part 2 on “Teaching,” which is done through: proclaiming Jesus Christ; providing for an evangelizing catechesis; sharing the truth in love; and renewing sacramental life.

Part 3 on “Sending,” which moves young people to: be bold evangelizing witness; act with charity and justice; discern their vocational call; and live as faithful protagonists.

A Conclusion, that encourages readers to work together synodally across ministries, cultures, and communities to engage and invest in youth and young adults.

The U.S. Bishops hope that this framework will not become “a theoretical ideal or the property of a select few professional ministers,” but rather a living document for all Catholics. To that end, the USCCB has been and is developing complementary resources for local implementation. 

The document, in both English and Spanish, and the supplemental resources can be found online at www.usccb.org/listen-teach-send. A bilingual English-Spanish hard copy edition is also available for sale through Our Sunday Visitor (OSV) Publications at https://www.orderosv.com/product/listen-teach-send-a-national-pastoral-framework-for-ministries-with-youth-and-young-adults.