Steubenville East draws youth to Jesus

By Tanya Connor
The Catholic Free Press

“When a high school student is the one that leads the family, lives are changed,” the speaker said, to applause from listeners.
Michael Gormley, a keynoter at Steubenville East, was speaking Saturday to an estimated 2,400 youth and adults gathered at UMass Lowell for the July 12-14 youth conference.
About 200 of them came from at least 14 parishes in the Worcester Diocese, according to Timothy T. Messenger Jr., director of the diocese’s youth ministry, New Evangelization Worcester for Youth and Young Adults.
The conference, which included Masses, eucharistic adoration, confession, talks, workshops, music and small group sharing, drew about 2,400 youth and adults, an organizer said. It was one of more than 20 youth conferences in North America which Franciscan University of Steubenville, in Ohio, scheduled for this summer, according to the website steubenvilleconferences.com. LifeTeen hosts some of them, including Steubenville East.
This year’s theme was “Belong,” from I John 3:1: “See what love the Father has bestowed on us, that we may be called children of God.” Issues addressed included chastity, same-sex attraction and how God brings good out of suffering.
“It’s not just one dude up there,” Mr. Gormley said in his Saturday afternoon keynote talk; God is a family of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Mr. Gormley works at a parish in Texas and runs the ministry LayEvangelist.com and the podcasts “The Catching Foxes Show” and “Every Knee Shall Bow.”
Christianity is not just a list of right things to believe and do, he said; the ultimate revelation is this bond of the family. We define freedom as the distance we put between ourselves and our family, but in the ancient world family gave you your identity.
He acknowledged that some listeners might not know their biological parents but said there’s a Father who hasn’t forsaken them. Hurting people hurt others, he said, but teenagers returning from the conference can bring peace and healing in their families.
He urged listeners to forgive (“forgiveness is not permission” to mistreat others) and to tell their parents and guardians, “I love you.” He told the youth to pick one weekend a month when they choose to spend time with their family over their friends, and noted that their parents are entrusted with the sacred duty of raising them.
“Let us go forth in boldness” to change families, he urged.
Mr. Gormley joined another speaker, Rachel Leininger, in a workshop called Dating 101, while Father John Burns, the priest leading the weekend, gave one called Eternity 101.
Mrs. Leininger is chastity educator for the REAP Team, a retreat ministry of the Archdiocese of St. Louis, and author of “The Next Step: A Catholic Teen’s Guide to Surviving High School.”
Father Burns, a priest of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee and author of “Lift Up Your Heart,” has held retreats for Mother Teresa’s sisters.
In his homily at Saturday’s Mass, Father Burns said, “It’s in family that we discover that we do belong.”
He retold the Old Testament story about Joseph’s family selling him into slavery, which ultimately enabled him to save them from famine.
“God can take evil and turn it into good,” Father Burns said.
He told of being furious with God after his “perfect” family was shattered by surgery that left his father with brain damage.
But now he says, “My family is closer than it’s ever been. ... I wouldn’t go back and change a thing … because what’s come out of it is so beautiful.”
He told listeners: “There’s hope. You are not alone. … Pray for an increase in faith and a willingness to be almost surprised” by God, who knows how loss and grief fit into his plan.
In the dating workshop Mrs. Leininger told youth they are not half persons needing someone to complete them; she and her husband came together as whole people.
“Live the virtue of chastity,” she urged, describing it as a habit of respect for oneself and one’s family, friends and future spouse. She said it’s a life-long virtue for everyone, including married couples, priests and religious.
Mrs. Leininger and Mr. Gormley answered questions which youth had been invited to text anonymously.
“Will God still accept me if I had sex before marriage?” was one.
“Yes,” youth were told.
“Why is sex before marriage a sin?”
Mrs. Leininger spoke of sex communicating a truth: “I give all of myself to you alone, forever” and backing that statement up with your finances, your home and your fertility.
“How do you find good boys?”
Mrs. Leininger said she found hers at church. Mr. Gormley said you don’t find them by dating bad boys and hoping they become good.
“What about sending nudes on Snapchat?
Your body is not a separate entity from you, Mrs. Leininger said.
“It’s super-disrespectful,” and wise to block the person who wants that.
“What is love?
Mr. Gormley said it starts in a sexual urge in your body and draws you out of yourself. If it stops with yourself, it’s not love. He told of breaking up with a woman he loved when he realized he was not the right man for her. Benevolence desires what is good for the beloved.
Responding to a question about same-sex attraction, Mrs. Leininger commented about sex being for babies and bonding, and about the difficulty of chastity.
The world says, “You’re gay; that’s who you are,” she said. But in reality “you are not your sexuality.” That answer drew applause from listeners.
Mr. Gormley said it sounded like he and Mrs. Leininger were saying to people with same-sex attraction,  “You can’t love or be loved.” That is a false belief, he said, and spoke of people with such attractions who follow Church teaching.
“You belong in God’s Church,” he said to those with same-sex attraction. “We need you.” Listeners applauded.

See Photo Album