Youth Rally Provides Faith-sharing Experiences For All
Our faith is not a solitary aspect of our lives. It is quite the opposite. God wants us to share with others our experiences with Him and our faith. Community is a very important characteristic of the Catholic faith that is occasionally overlooked. The annual Diocesan Youth Rally gives teenagers the opportunity for fellowship and faith-sharing with others throughout the diocese – not to mention having fun. Together, we listen as the Holy Spirit whispers through the speaker; and we close the event by sharing in the sacrifice of the mass with Bishop Thompson.
On Sunday Sept. 15, youth from all over the diocese had the time of their lives at the 2013 Youth Rally. At this event, they could run through a huge inflatable obstacle course, compete in a sidewalk chalk contest, listen to a live band from Jasper perform, go on a hayride around the Catholic Center grounds, play a game of wiffleball, and compete – blindfolded – in a Walk by Faith obstacle course. They could also participate in various activities hosted by the Boy Scouts including axe and knife throwing. They had the opportunity to visit little booths about various organizations like the Teens Encounter Christ movement, Marian University, Catholic Charities, and St. Joseph’s Holy Family, Inc. It was a perfect day to spend time with others of our shared faith.
During this event, we raised money for Catholic Charities by having a boys vs. girls competition to see which gender could raise the most money. The boys won by a small amount, but together we raised $368.
This year was the third annual Youth Rally, and each rally is planned by the Diocesan Youth Leadership Team a year in advance. Its theme “Walk By Faith” and all other aspects of the Youth Rally are coordinated by this team of youth from all over the diocese, lead by Diocesan Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministry Steve Dabrowski.
John Leonetti, the speaker for this Youth Rally, talked about how he walked across the United States from California to New Jersey. His purpose of this crazy idea was to have conversations with people about our God. He also wanted to help others to radically fall in love with Christ. He was inspired with this idea when he was trying to figure out what to do with his life, and he felt called by God to do this walk.
Leonetti is a speaker who does parish missions, but he doesn’t go around encouraging others to walk all over the country. Instead, he tries to teach what he learned from his experience. During his walk, he realized that everyone in the world is thirsting and searching for Jesus and a purpose in life. His main observation from all the people he spoke with was that everyone in this life is just searching for happiness. He mentioned a powerful quote from Blessed Pope John Paul II: “It is Jesus you seek when you dream of happiness.” We need to realize that happiness is not doing what we want when we want, but like Pope John Paul II says, “True freedom is doing what you ought.”
He challenged us to recommit ourselves to our Catholic faith. If we really believe that Jesus is who He said He was, then everything about our lives must change. The way we look at everything should be through the eyes of Jesus and the Catholic teachings, not the way the world looks at life. He challenged us to give a radical gift of ourselves, not to settle and be mediocre, but to be heroic in our faith. He encouraged us to look to the lives of the saints, for they show us how to walk by faith and truly live our lives for God.
We were all deeply inspired by Leonetti’s words. There was complete silence as he spoke, challenging us to live deeper and fuller lives with Christ. Even though he spoke to youth at a youth event, I think anyone of any age can learn from his wisdom. Let’s be more like the saints in our own lives, so that we may draw closer to Christ and experience the true happiness and freedom that only He can give.
