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July 26, 2024By Tanya Connor | The Catholic Free Press
Lost and found.
Seeing Jesus walking by.
A reason to smile more.
These are among ways teenagers from the Worcester diocese described their experience of eucharistic adoration in Ohio last weekend.
They were attending one of 14 Catholic youth conferences that Franciscan University of Steubenville, in Steubenville, Ohio, scheduled for different places in North America this summer.
Aimed at bringing “high-schoolers into a life-changing encounter with Jesus Christ,” this year’s conferences used the theme “Illuminate,” from John 1:5: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it,” explains the website steubenvilleconferences.com/youth.
Timothy Messenger, director of the Worcester diocese’s Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry, said this was the first time he has taken a group from here to a youth conference on the Ohio campus, where the university started the conferences decades ago. Other years, he has taken groups to the Steubenville East conference, held in Massachusetts or Rhode Island.
Deacon William Shea, who serves at St. Joseph Parish in Charlton, said he is planning to take a group to the Steubenville East conference in Springfield next weekend.
Mr. Messenger said people come from all over to the conferences in Steubenville. He thought there were about 1,400 participants there last weekend, among them groups from California and Texas.
Mr. Messenger said his group consisted of 41 young people and adult leaders. Most of the youth were with one of five groups: St. Paul Diocesan Jr./Sr. High School or one of four parishes (St. Mary in Shrewsbury, St. Louis or Sacred Heart of Jesus in Webster or St. John, Guardian of Our Lady in Clinton).
Some participants spoke with The Catholic Free Press Sunday during their trip home.
Although the weekend included talks, men’s and women’s breakout sessions, and opportunities to go to confession and play outdoor games, participants especially raved about the eucharistic adoration – as they have done other years.
“I was very impressed; it was very well organized,” Maegan Lopez, 15, said of the conference overall. She went with St. Paul’s School and belongs to Holy Family of Nazareth Parish in Leominster. Conference leaders described everything that was going to take place, which helped her feel more connected to the whole experience, she said.
She said she didn’t have words to describe her experience other than, “Wow!”
“It was so incredibly transforming,” she said of the eucharistic adoration. “When I walked in I felt lost, and when I walked out I felt found [by the Lord], like being on fire.
“I’ll go again as many times as I can, I loved it so much,” she said of the conference. “I’d recommend it for anyone, no matter where they are in their faith. I think it’s something everyone should experience.”
“Originally I didn’t want to go,” said Travis Gour, 16, of St. John’s in Clinton. “I’m more into traditional worship – regular high Mass.” But at the conference, “once the worship started … I was very happy. It opened my heart to something new. … It just made me find a new sense of joy and appreciation of a different type of worship.
“Adoration was very powerful,” he continued. When the Host in the monstrance was carried through the audience “I truly felt as if I saw Jesus Christ walking. … Jesus was right in front of me. … I knew what I saw.”
Mila Szkoda, 15, of Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Webster, said she didn’t experience a lot during adoration at last year’s conference in Steubenville.
But this year “the adoration on Saturday was an … amazing experience,” she said. The second the monstrance was carried down from the altar she was filled with joy, and as the Blessed Sacrament was carried through the audience “Jesus was so close to me – he was five feet away.”
This “powerful and extreme” experience “changed my world view,” she said. It helped her have a more positive outlook and smile more, enjoying life and trusting in God, she said.
“I was already a smiley person, but it doubled after that experience,” she added.
She said it also filled her with joy to see so many peers having an amazing time.
Jeena Ann Kidambi, 13, of St. Louis in Webster, made a similar point.
She said she hasn’t been able to find friends involved in the Catholic faith like she is, but at the conference, “it’s so nice to see all these other kids my age trying to learn more about Jesus.” She was also interested to see the different ways they expressed their faith; she does it through Christian art, and some other youth got closer to their faith by singing or dancing, she said.
“If other teens are … questioning whether they should go” to the conference, she said, “Definitely, like, go!”
Nicholas Rino, 25, of St. Mary of the Hills Parish in Boylston, was happy to go back to a Steubenville conference, this time as a chaperone. He said he went to Steubenville East conferences in Lowell his four years of high school, from 2014-2017, but had not been to the campus in Steubenville.
“I was very excited” when invited to be a chaperone, he said, adding that he always wanted to go to another of the conferences.
“The biggest thing,” he said, was “seeing the teenagers have this transformative experience … many of them for the first time,” the first time at a conference and the first time at Franciscan University.
“As a chaperone, I felt an immense amount of joy,” he said, and talked about sharing his own experiences and seeing the youth encounter the Lord.
Would he be a chaperone again?
“Absolutely,” if the opportunity presents itself.
Mr. Messenger, who graduated from Franciscan University in 2011 with a bachelor’s in theology and catechetics, said the Worcester contingent arrived in Steubenville before the conference started and toured the campus.
“It was cool for me to be there” and also to see the young people’s reactions, he said. “It’s a special place. … Just being on campus you feel the presence of the Holy Spirit.”
