Easter retreat for youth scheduled for May 3

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MIDVALE — All teens in grades 7 to 12 are invited to “The Joy of Easter! Youth’s Evening of Praise & Adoration” that will take place on May 3.

The guest speaker will be the Rev. Joshua Santos, administrator of St. Ambrose Parish. The music at the event will be presented by Youth for Christ, a Couples for Christ Ministry from Los Angeles.

The theme of Fr. Santos’ talk will be based on the “joy of being Catholic and some simple ways of being a joyful follower of Christ,” he said.

“It is vital that young people come to this event because the diocese wants to show our young people that we, as their adults, love them, we treasure them, we value them. … The youth are so important to us,” he said.

Fr. Santos, who has been a priest for almost 11 years and has served the youth for more than 25 years, underlined that is very important that young people feel that they belong in the Church community.

“We want our youth to know that they can find refuge in the Catholic Church,” he said. “To our youth, we (adults) would like to tell you … ‘We accept you and love you as you are. We would like to listen to your stories, to know your struggles and to rejoice with you in your victories. … We would like to journey with you until we all find the truth about this God whose love for us is unconditional.’”

The evening will also have praise and adoration with music by Youth for Christ.

Junuee Castro, director of the Youth and Young Adult Ministry of the Diocese of Salt Lake City, said that throughout the Lenten season she has encouraged teens to participate in the CRS Rice Bowl. She is now asking the youth to bring their group’s Rice Bowl contributions to the Evening of Praise & Adoration.

CRS Rice Bowl is a cardboard box that is used as a tool for collecting Lenten almsgiving.

The Youth’s Evening of Praise & Worship is another opportunity for the youth to be evangelized, which is important because “the youth are not only the future of the Church … but they are the present,” Fr. Santos said. “Without the youth of the present … there will be no future for our church.”

Pew Research Survey says 25 percent of Americans ages 18 to 29 do not consider religion as important.

“They consider themselves as the unaffiliated,” Fr. Santos said, pointing out that this age group has been branded as the “nones,” or those with no religious affiliation.

“Why are they leaving?” he asked. “One major reason is that they have no firm knowledge and foundation of the basic truth about the beauty of the faith.”

Fr. Santos extended an invitation to all the youth in the diocese to attend the event. Lent and Easter give everyone the opportunity “to reflect the joy of the risen Jesus,” he said.

The youth groups that wish to participate in the evening of prayer and worship event must be registered by April 26.  

For details and online registration, visit www.dioslc.org.