By Fr. Alex

Two weeks ago, I and three of our core team members, Margie Sullivan, Ann McLoughlin, and Anthony Tortorello, took a flight to Scottsdale, Arizona, for the annual Catholic Youth Minister Convention (CYMC). The journey started off a little bumpy, with a four-hour delay at Newark, but that was not going to lower our enthusiasm. And once we arrived, we engaged with volunteer core members, youth ministers, directors of religious education, and priests from around the country on one mission; leading teens closer to Christ. 

 

Unless you are new to the parish, you know we are all about becoming missionary disciples. That belief encourages us to equip our ministers with the tools to be leaders, and that is what CYMC does. This was the first time for our core members, so they attended a beginners track, where they could review the basics of how we host Life Nights, the term used for youth meetings on Sundays at 7:30 pm. While they came prepared from their one-year experience here at the parish, they learned many new skills for how to reach out to the teens. Whether it was how to prepare a better proclaim, the teaching part of the night, or playing in some competitive ice breaker games, the team is ready to engage with our teens. 

 

But it wasn’t all fun and games; we had wonderful presentations from psychologists and counselors to better understand the effects of social media and the pandemic on teenagers, not just from a social level but actual changes to brain chemistry. We were blessed to have the presence of some wonderful priests who shared the witness and struggle of some challenging teens and challenging moments in their ministry. I was particularly impacted by the story of Fr. Louis Merosne from Haiti, who took a parish no one wanted and transformed it into a thriving community by always placing his trust in Jesus and never being afraid to go out and share the faith in the community. He is a true example of living Pope Francis’ call to be a ‘field hospital’ Church.

 

And what would be a conference filled with adults who share a passion for sharing Christ with teenagers without time spent in prayer. Whether it was the daily Mass or powerful moments of adoration, Christ in the sacrament of the Eucharist was truly present to us all. But there were some amazing moments of praise and worship as well, led by the wonderful worship leader Sarah Kroger. The whole room was on fire with the Holy Spirit and looking to show that love of God in song and even in dance. Just imagine our recent Praise and Worship event led by our Youth Minister and Director of Contemporary Worship Q Furnald, but turn it up to 11.

 

Yet the most important part of any CYMC is not just living the event and going back to the same old as before. Every authentic encounter with Christ calls us to change and move forward. And that is why the theme of this year's CYMC and encouragement for our next year of ministering to our teens is “Always forward, never back.” This quote from St. Junipero Serra is a great reminder of the need for youth ministry, as all ministries, to be constantly in renewal. Yes, we always engage our past to ensure that we are on the authentic path forward, but we are people on mission and moving out to reach those on the peripheries. Myself and the rest of the team at CYMC are encouraged to go out and find the teens where they are. It will not always be easy and it can be tempting to turn back and give up when the rain might fall on our journey, but we have committed ourselves to Christ. Here at Notre Dame, our youth ministry is ready to face the challenges and share a love that is without equal, the love of Jesus Christ.