The Millennial Experience

At the completion of this year's New York Encounter in January, it was unclear what the future of I am Exceptional: the Millennial Experience would be...

At the completion of this year's New York Encounter in January, it was unclear what the future of I am Exceptional: the Millennial Experience would be. The exhibit already seemed to be a culmination of things- a year of work, a growing friendship, an invitation to go deeper into the works of Giussani, a conversation among many young people spread out over the entire country. Instead, the New York Encounter was truly only the beginning, a launch pad for new endeavors and new opportunities to share what we millennials learned.

One such opportunity came last week when Fr. Jose’ Medina and I were invited to present the exhibit during the Theology on Tap series for young adults in Washington DC. The evening was hosted at the Catholic Information Center on their sophisticated downtown rooftop. It was primarily an evening social gathering, a place where 200 or so Catholic young enjoyed a happy hour and the chance to mingle with one another. Our event came at the end of the series, the final Theology on Tap of the summer.

After the beer and wine flowed for an hour, Fr. Jose’ and I were handed the microphone. We explained the exhibit in a short, 20 minute presentation. Going back and forth, describing the nature of the "millennial question": how one makes sense of their life and deep need for meaning within a hyper-connected world, especially when social media allows millennials to offer a perfectly curated image of themselves to the world. We situated the "millennial question" in the context of the human question- a universal desire for fulfillment and a need for an ultimate meaning. Going to the depth of these questions cannot be avoided; even belonging to the Church does not spare us.

As we continued to explore the work of the exhibit, we presented the Christian event as the singular response to man's need for meaning, providing examples of relationships that both keep the human question open while totality responding to it.

The presentation was kept brief to allow a dialogue to occur, and the questions from the audience were beautiful and substantial. Questions included how millennials can learn the meaning of suffering in a world marked by instant gratification and whether or not the skepticism inherent in many young people today precludes an openness to organized religion.

The short Q and A gave way to additional time to converse and discuss topics brought up in the presentation. Many of those in attendance took the time to personally explore the exhibit themselves. I was impressed by one young man who came to me after reading all the panels. He told me that he has read a mountain of commentary about millennials- millennials in the workplace- on social media- etc. However, he saw that our exhibit was more than an attempt to make a normative judgment on the millennial experience. Instead, it was evident that the exhibit represented the work of a group of friends, desiring to live life in a beautiful way without simply pushing the culture aside and escaping to the bunker.

While the crowd present at the CIC was certainly different from those who would be gathered at a CL event, it was clear that we need to take advantage of more opportunities like this. Opportunities that allow us to meet new people and share the gift of Giussani. Many of the programs provided to young people in the Church center around topics that read like a self-help conference, providing moralistic pathways to living the faith, which ultimately ends up as an alienating experience. The conversations that unfolded that night on the rooftop made it clear that these young professionals, like us, need an experience of Christ that is relevant today, that broadens the horizon of not only what it is to live the faith, but to live.

This summer the exhibit is also being presented in Rimini, where we hope it will continue to provoke audiences. Come fall, there are several more possibilities for presenting the exhibit in the United States. It is a profound desire that The Millennial Experience can continue to become a vehicle for us to share Giussani with the world. He is far too precious a gift to keep to ourselves.