Why Do Catholic Young Adults Stay? Results Part 3: Events, People, & Resources

Please see my Explanation about the survey as well as Part 1 & Part 2 of the Results. For these results, we had a total of 301 people who answered some or all of these questions. A big thanks to every single individual, majority of whom came from the Catholic Geeks Facebook page, who participated!

I have provided a quick summary of the conclusive Part 3. Following that is a more detailed breakdown of the results under each category.

The TL;DR Version

Part 3 is all about the influences in the lives of the responders. Though a variety of life experiences influenced people, the most common or most influential events mentioned in the responses included a retreat/ pilgrimage of some sort and marriage/ dating. Following those, most other events related to interactions with family, moments of suffering, and the Sacraments. As you might guess, the most influential people in participants' faith lives were family members, though they also made mention of the clergy/religious peoples and groups of friends that have influenced them as well. A variety of literature, internet, audio, and multimedia resources influenced participants. The most influential resources include Catholic Answers, Word on Fire/ Bishop Robert Barron, EWTN, Scott Hahn, Father Mike Schmitz, C.S. Lewis, and Venerable Bishop Fulton Sheen.

What Events Have Been Influential in Your Faith Journey?

34 people responded about some retreat/conference/pilgrimage/travel that impacted them, including these specific events

• World Youth Day (4 times)
• Steubenville Conferences (3 times)
• Catholic summer camp
• Cursillo weekend retreat
• Eucharistic Congress
• March for Life
• Meeting the Pope (I assume this involved travel of some sort).
• Mission trips
• National Catholic Youth Conference/NCYC
• Northeast Ohio Boys Chrysalis Flight (The United Methodist version of Cursillo)
• Pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela
• Retreat for women
• SEEK conference
• Shrine visit to St. Catherine Drexel's
• Silent weekend retreat at a monastery
• Sursum Corda Young Adults Retreat with The Institute of Christ The King
• Travel to Rome/Pilgrimage to Rome the first year I returned to the Church
• Traveling the world and seeing different people and real poverty
• Visiting the Vatican
• Visit to a Convent

Marriage or dating was influential for 23 participants. This included dating a "Protestant who questioned everything", an "ex-girlfriend and her Catholic family who were examples of living Catholic values", 1 "Dating Catholic dudes", the conversion of a couple husbands, and a few responses about how dating future spouses involved growth in faith or conversion in some cases.

15 participants shared the influence that children had on their faiths. Majority of the responses were mainly focused on the birth of the children, while a close runner-up specification was the Baptism of said children. 10 other responses were in connection to adult family members, most of which shared the experience of the passing away of a beloved family member as influential in their faith, though a couple of testimonies and serious discussions also played a role.

13 people brought us back to college, placing the importance of experiences in college as an influence on their faith journey This included finding the campus Newman Center/campus ministry community, meeting strong prolifers at the University of British Columbia, campus evangelization movements, FOCUS (Fellowship Of Catholic University Students), and Bible study. Even just attending Catholic institutions (Augustine College and Franciscan University got shoutouts here) played a role.

12 people mentioned a Sacrament in some fashion, including 5 shoutouts for Confirmation, 3 calls to Baptism, and the remaining 4 mentioning Adoration (connected to the Sacrament of the Eucharist), with 1 person sharing an experience of "Adoration on the steps of the Canadian Parliament"

On a serious and vulnerable note,12 participants shared a personal experience with suffering they had which helped them on their faith journey. These are the kind of sufferings the people shared:

• Miscarriage
• Depression
• Chronic Pain
• Epilepsy
• Cancer in Family Members
• "My hitting rock bottom that led to my conversion".
• "Being homeless for a few months"
• "Our house fire is what brought me back to God"
• "Attempted suicide, which led to trying to learn about all religions to find Truth and purpose".
• "I was diagnosed with a disabling illness 4 years ago, and when I was at my sickest, I was lying in a hospital bed praying, reading the Bible, clutching my Rosary, not because I was afraid, but because I was grateful for the headspace and time to dedicate to Christ"

8 responders pointed to returning to church or attending a Mass as an important event, with 1 person replied about "attending Mass the first time with [his] wife" and 1 other person specifically stating "Christmas midnight mass".

7 people made mention of the seminary being important in their faith journeys, including 4 people talking about their brothers going to seminary.

5 people credit discovering some media as an important event for them, from Catholic podcasts/radio, to G.K. Chesterton, Fulton Sheen, and C.S. Lewis, or watching the Jeff Cavins Bible Timeline DVDs. Though hard to pin down as an event or an experience, 4 responses revolved around knowledge and an intellectual encounter as an influence on their faith journey. This included someone who bought "a copy of the Catechism and read it cover to cover (yes, really)", learning about Theology of the Body, and reading more on the Eucharist and the saints.

There were 3 mentions of a volunteer or service project, with 1 particular response of "working on a project for a Capuchin Monastery". 3 people shared other experiences with religious communities, with 1 shoutout to the Sacred Heart Sisters and another to a group of Franciscan Friars. Joining or finding a Catholic peer group helped 3 participants, with 1 mention of a Catholic Women’s Group and 1 other joining/helping to found a young adult group at their Cathedral. 3 responders had a miraculous event happen in their lives, whether it was healing for them or a healing event for someone else in their lives. Discovering the Traditional Latin Mass was a momentous occasion for 3 responders.

2 people noted the importance of their conversion experience. 2 responses were about experiences with the two previous pontiffs, with 1 on Pope Benedict XVI and the other saying "the death and canonization of Pope John Paul II".

Some individuals had such unique responses that it was hard to try to categorize them. So, here is what some of these individuals had to say:

• The first day I watched Michael Vorris, the first day I went to a regular confessor, and the first day I started praying the Rosary.
• Being ostracized by Roman Catholics in college (even the university priest refused to hear my confession) made me want to know more about my Rite (Byzantine) and now I’ve studied the entire Church fairly thoroughly.
• The most influential would be my time of doubt, as it has left me with a type of mindset I would not have held otherwise.
• Getting involved in RCIA.
• Watching my son's violent reaction to his exorcism during his baptism in the Old Rite at 2 weeks old.
• I prayed every day, asking for a sign...One night, Blessed Margaret of Castello came to me... and I just knew from then on that I was supposed to be a mother.
•  33 Days to Morning Glory
• Contemporary Christian music festivals. Becoming a youth minister.

What People/ Groups Have Been Influential In Your Faith Journey?

Parents/Siblings/Family were some of the most commonly mentioned people in these responses. Specifically, the following was mentioned:

• The word Parents (11 times)
• The word Family (9 times)
• A Grandparent (8 times)
• The word Mom (8 times)
• A Sibling (7 times)
• The word Dad (6 times)
• 2 Godparents
• 2 Children/Godchildren
• 1 Aunt Betsy

People also used terms surrounding Spouse/Marriage/ Dating multiple times:

• Husband (19 times. Nice job, lads!)
• Boyfriend/Girlfriend/Fiance: 6 variations
• Wife (twice)
• The In-Law Family Members (mother in law; my very traditional brother in law and his wife)

8 people credited teachers or instructors in some way:

• High school theology teachers
• Professors from college/ My mentor at university
• Religious education teachers.
• Camp counselors
• High school youth minister and the Core Team
• My youth minister and friend Nate.

26 mentions of priests in some fashion, including The Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter (FSSP) 3 times, Marist priests, good confessors, spiritual advisers, the Institute of Christ The King, a sibling priest, a Dominican Spiritual Director, priests from college, Fr. Terry Fulton (RIP), and young holy priests.

Religious Communities, both for third order lay people and...well, religious, got at least 19 mentions, with specific groups including: 

• Franciscan household/Franciscan sisters/a group of Franciscan Friars in Indiana/ Franciscan Missionaries of the Eternal Word 
• Society Devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus aka Sacred Heart Sisters (2 times)
• The Norbertines (2 times)
• Discalced Carmelite Community
• Dominican Sisters
• Lay Fraternities of St. Dominic
• Oblates of the Virgin Mary
• Sisters of Charity in Leavenworth, KS
• The Carmelites
• The Emmanuel Community
• The Legion of Mary
• The Passionists

For 14 people, interaction with a ministry or other organization was important, specifically:

• Prolife organizations (3 times)
• FOCUS (2 times)
• NET Ministries (2 times)
• Knights of Columbus (2 times) 
• LifeTeen (2 times)
• Catholic Christian Outreach Canada
• "The CCD and youth ministry teams 1 responder worked with".
• "Teaching kids in Totus Tuus"

Varieties of Friends/ Peers were named in this section, specifically:

• Friends (11 times)
• Newman Center (7 times)
• Catholic Campus Ministry (4 times. I know it's the same thing as Newman Center, but these specific words were used 4 times)
• Catholic college group or friends (3 times)
• Best Friend (2 times)
• Bible Study (2 times)
• Catholic 20-somethings.
• Confirmation group
• "My good friend Rebecca who is more faithful of a Catholic than I am"
• "Other practicing Catholic moms, both young and old"
• Peers

Other groups that participants gave credit to included:

• 8 Young Adult Groups, with 1 shoutout to the Denver young adult community
• Facebook groups (6 times) (Soldiers of the Church Militant, in 1 particular mention)
• RCIA group (3 times)
• Youth group (3 times)
• Catholic Women of the Chapel (2 times)
• CRHP Group
• Current Small Group
• Local women's group
• My Pregnancy Group

For 12 people, the persons responsible for certain media resources have been a major influence. These 12 talked about the following resources:

• EWTN (4 times)
• Blessed Is She
• Catholic Blog Circles
• Church Militant
• Catholic Stuff You Should Know Podcast
• Lanky Guys Podcast
• Catholic Answers
• Lighthouse Catholic Media
• Radio

I was surprised to see so many mentions of people I would categorize as known personalities/public figures in the Catholic Church. These are authors, priests, speakers, and other persons who are known by a multitude of Catholics, almost household names in some cases. These names, listed by 34 participants, included:

• Scott Hahn (5 times)
• Bishop Barron (3 times)
• Fulton Sheen (3 times)
• Trent Horn (2 times)
• Mother Angelica (2 times)
• Jimmy Akin (2 times)
• Peter Kreeft (2 times)
• Christopher West
• C.S. Lewis
• Father Colman O'Neill 
• Father James Martin
• Father Larry Richards
• Father Matt Barnum
• Father Roderick Vonhogen
• G.K. Chesterton
• Karl Keating
• Michael Vorris
• Patrick Coffin
• Pope Benedict XVI
• Pope Saint John Paul II 
• Sister Vassa
• Stephanie Gray

5 participants credit the saints with being influential in some fashion. 4 participants talked about how people they meet in their parish assisted them, including 1 particular shoutout to a Marriage Prep couple. 2 people talked about how their interaction with peoples of other religions or no faith background at all was influential for them.

And then there were the unique replies that stand out on their own:

• Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky Institute of Eastern Christian Studies (MASI) friends and priests/ professors.
• "My Spiritual Companion, Duc in Altum"
• The Institute of Catholic Culture
• Various Christian musicians (Newsboys, Switchfoot, For King and Country, Matt Maher) 
• Worldwide Marriage Encounter

What Resources (Books, Websites, Podcasts, etc.) Have Been Influential In Your Faith Journey?

This is probably my favorite section of the survey because the responses have such a variety of media, groups, and people that I personally enjoy. Not to mention, I also learned about new resources for my own growth in my relationship with God from these answers. I broke down these responses into different sections based on the resources. However, some resource recommendations are multimedia, meaning that one group or name could cover the internet, radio, and reading materials all at the same time (which makes it hard to categorize some of these responses). So it's probably worth mentioning most of those first, especially since they were some of the most popular answers to the survey.

The #1 most popular response to this question was Catholic Answers. 24 participants talked about Catholic Answers in some way, whether it was Catholic.com and their forums there or if it was the Catholic Answers Live radio program.

After that, 18 responders recommended Word On Fire/ Bishop Robert Barron (I combined them since Bishop Barron founded and heads Word On Fire). Specifically, Word on Fire was mentioned 9 times and Bishop Robert Barron was mentioned 10 times. No, my math isn't bad, someone just put down both in their single response. It appears that Bishop Barron's videos on Youtube and all the resources found on Word On Fire's website have caught people's attention.

EWTN came up 14 times in various ways, with mentions of EWTN television, radio and its website.

Father Mike Schmitz, with his stupid handsome face and the casual ease with which he examines theology, got 12 shoutouts whether for his videos or his homilies.

One of the pleasant surprises was seeing Bishop Fulton Sheen mentioned 9 times. His work is still relevant, and the people talked about the influence of his book Life of Christ & Life is Worth Living, along with mentioning the videos you can find of him on Youtube. Out of these 9, 1 particular responder just exclaimed "ALL THE FULTON SHEEN"!

Books:

Let's start with the most popular literature influences. Of course, where would we be with The Bible, Sacred Scripture? I didn't really foresee this answer coming, but obviously it makes too much sense not to include. 9 people replied with The Bible, including 1 particular emphasis on a good Catholic study Bible. In addition, 2 people mentioned The Great Adventure Bible Study Timeline as resource that helped them.

If there's one other text that most Catholics own after The Bible, it's the Catechism, that guidebook to all the teachings and reasonings of Holy Mother Church. There were 11 mentions of a Catechism in some fashion, 3 of which were about the Youcat (a translation of the Catechism for the youthz!) and 1 mention of the Baltimore Catechism.

Now, based on responses to previous questions, can you guess who the #1 most popular author was in this section? That's right, it's the return of SCOTT. HAHN. Oh, how the people loved Scott Hahn. He was brought up 20 times, with these specific books named: Rome Sweet Home (3 times) Hail, Holy Queen, The Lamb's Supper, Joy to the World, The Fourth Cup, and there was even 1 shout out to his wife Kimberly.

There were 9 mentions of the influence of Matthew Kelly and his Dynamic Catholic stuff, most especially 4 mentions of his book Rediscover Catholicism.

St. Therese of Lisieux and her autobiography Story of a Soul were mentioned 8 times.

Peter Kreeft influenced 7 participants, particularly his Prayer for Beginners (3 times), but also including his Snakebite Letters and How to Win the Culture War.

G.K. Chesterton also made a return in this section. 8 people mentioned the influence of his writings, including the books Orthodoxy (3 times) and The Man who was Thursday. 5 people responded about J.R.R Tolkien., with 1 of them specifically mentioning The Lord of the Rings.

In a somewhat surprising twist of fate, the non-Catholic C.S. Lewis appears to have more of an influence than either of his two Catholic contemporaries Chesterton and Tolkien. 12 people, some of whom also brought up Chesterton and/or Tolkien, recommended Lewis, including 2 mentions of The Chronicles of Narnia, 2 mentions of his Space Trilogy, and 3 mentions of Mere Christianity.

There was a lot of talk about "books about the lives of the saints" in these answers as well. The people placed a lot of emphasis on "reading the lives of the saints and their own writings" as major influences. Here's the specifics:

• St. Augustine: mentioned 4 times, specifically his Confessions listed 3 times.
• 3 people talked about books or writings about The Early Church Fathers, Church Fathers, and Sayings of the Desert Fathers
• St. Faustina's Diary influenced 3 people.
• St.Thomas Aquinas was mentioned by 2 people, with 1 having read "some of the Summa Theologica"
• St Francis de Sales also got 2 mentions, with 1 shoutout to his Introduction to the Devout Life
• Sts. Francis and Clare of Assisi
• St. Teresa of Avila
• St Josemaria Escriva
• Perfect Contrition by St. Alphonsus Ligouri
• True Devotion to Mary by St. Louis de Montfort
• The Life of St Francis by St. Bonaventure
• St. John of the Cross' "The Romances" (poem)
• Blessed Jacopone da Todi's "Lament of the Virgin"(poem)
• books about Blessed Margaret of Castello
• A Book of Saints for Catholic Moms by Lisa M. Hendey
• Bob and Penny Lord Saint Biographies
• The Quiet Light by Louis De Wohl (fictionalized account of the life of St. Thomas Aquinas)

Then there were also plenty of mentions of lay and religious persons, living and dead, not yet recognized as saints but who happened to author various pieces of literature.

• 3 shout outs to The Imitation of Christ by Thomas A Kempis
• Christopher West (3): Good News about Sex and Marriage, Theology of the Body for Beginners
• Fr. Larry Richards books (2) 
• Devin Rose (2), including 1 mention of If Protestantism is True

• Jeff Cavins
• Jason Evert (2 mentions) & Crystalina Evert
• Thomas Merton
• Flannery O'Connor
• Father Robert Spitzer
• Steve Ray
• George Weigel

• 7 Secrets of the Eucharist by Vinny Flynn 
• Catholicism: A Journey to the Heart of the Faith by Bishop Robert Barron (11th mention?)
• Chastity is For Lovers by Arleen Spencley
• Consoling the Heart of Jesus by Micheal Gaitley
• George MacDonald's Faery Tales
• East of Eden by John Steinbeck
• Forming Intentional Disciples by Sherry Wendell
• He Leadeth Me by Father Walter Ciszek
• Holy Sex by Gregory Popcack
• Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist by Brant Petre
• Jesus of Nazareth by Pope Benedict XVI
• Pierced by a Sword by Bud McFarlane
• Total Consecration Through the Mysteries of the Rosary by Fr. Ed Broom, O.M.V.
• The Hermit by David Torkington
• Traditions of Men: Understanding the Thinking That Separates Catholic Christianity from Its Protestants by Patrick Vanderpool
• Why We're Catholic by Trent Horn

Websites/Virtual Resources

• Facebook groups (7 times): specific mentions of Catholic Geeks and Catholic Working Moms
• Laudate App (5 times)
• Blessed is She (4 times)
• Church Militant (3 times)
• FORMED (3 times)
• Catholic-Link (2 times)
• LifeTeen website (2 times)
• Alteia
• A Nun's Life
• CatholicMatch
• Churchpop
• Father Isaac Mary Relyea videos
• Father Roderick Vonhogen on Youtube
• fisheaters.com
• New Advent 
• New Catholic Generation
• New Liturgical Movement 
• The Coming Home Network
• The Frank Friar
• The /r/Catholicism community on Reddit
• Vatican website
• Vericast

 Blogs

• Father Z (formerly entitled What Does The Prayer Really Say) (3 times)
• Carrots for Michaelmas by Haley Stewart
• Like Mother Like Daughter by Leila Lawler 
• In Light of the Law by Ed Peters 
• Simcha Fisher

TV & Movies:

The Catholicism Series from Bishop Barron was mentioned by 3 people (so 14 mentions of His Excellency all together?). Specific TV programs on EWTN that were discussed included the recordings of Mother Angelica, foundress of EWTN, Father Corapi's show, and The Journey Home, a program interviewing converts to the Catholic faith.

The following movies were given in answer to this question: Hacksaw Ridge, Silence, Godspell, Song of Bernadette, A Man for All Seasons, The Reluctant Saint, Mary's Land, and The Passion of the Christ.

Radio & CDs:

A hodge podge of answers, but where else am I going to put these. Starting with radio, in general 8 people recommended their local Catholic radio station, while 2 additional people brought up The Catholic Channel on Sirius XM radio. Specific radio programs mentioned included:

• Patrick Madrid (thrice)
• The Catholic Guy Show (twice)
• Father Matthew Spencer
• Phil Sandoval
• Father John Riccardo - Christ is the Answer 
• Busted Halo with Father Dave Dwyer
• Father Chad Ripperger audio
• Father Simon Says

Outside of radio, 5 people talked about the influence that CDs, especially those from Lighthouse Catholic Media, had on their faith lives.

Podcasts:

A different form of learning and fun through audio. Though not as popular of an answer as anticipated, I learned about some podcasts I'd not heard of before and really recommend the few I was already aware of, particularly the top 3 answers.

• Pints with Aquinas (4 shoutouts)
• Catholic Stuff you Should Know Podcast (3 nods)
• Catching Foxes (2 mentions)
• The Liturgy Guys (2 times)
• The Catholic Feminist
• Coffee & Pearls
• Lanky Guys Podcast
• Messy Parenting
• Rosary Army 

Miscellaneous:

Not to be left out, individuals had also mentioned the following resources as influences in their faith journey:

• Laudate Si
• My Divine Friend (an old Byzantine missal)
• St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology.
• The Institute of Catholic Culture
• The Rule of St Benedict
• The Symbolon curriculum.
• Theology of the Body sessions.