Local youth attend Steubenville San Diego Catholic Youth Conference for a faith weekend

Intermountain Catholic

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The two-day conference was filled with numerous events that invited audience participation.

By Mary Jane DuPont

WEST HAVEN — Teens from St. Mary Parish in West Haven, were filled with anticipation and excitement as they boarded a bus July 28 for the Steubenville San Diego Catholic Youth Conference; many did not sleep a wink on the trip, while others took cat naps.

In San Diego, they joined 4,200 people at the conference. The first evening, they went to the Viejas Arena. It was a sea of brightly colored shirts, with rows of matching colors, and Catholic messages. The Josh Blakesley praise and worship band began playing and the crowd exploded with clapping, dancing and singing. The energy and eagerness for the Lord was palpable. The host, Ennie Hickman, came on stage welcomed all, and prepared them for what was to come. Forgiveness, worship, being rooted in the Catholic faith, chastity and love were the themes for the weekend.

Other speakers the first evening were Leah Darrow, who appeared on "America’s Next Top Model," who spoke about her conversion; and Father John Amsberry, who prepared the crowd for adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.

During the weekend, about 25 priests were available to hear confessions, and con-celebrate Mass. Among the priests, including Saint Mary pastor Father Gustavo Vidal, who rode the bus to San Diego with the teens.

After the Mass on Saturday, there was a presentation by the admissions director of Franciscan University. Also, Damon Owens spoke about how God changed his life, and how God can work in ours. Owens is a Theology of the Body teacher; he and his wife teach natural family planning as well as being the founders of a Joy Filled Marriage.

During the afternoon the adults went to a workshop, "Praying with Teens," while the teens were entertained in the arena by musician and storyteller Steve Angrisano. The teens were taught songs and the local youth will be performing what they learned at Mass sometime in the next couple weeks.

From there the teens broke into gender specific sessions. For the girls, Darrow spoke about chastity. The boys learned about chastity as well, to treat women with respect, to see girls as equals and not as objects.

That evening, Angrisano was the keynote speaker and he told a funny story about going to dinner with some nuns, it was a message about trusting God, and service. Afterward was adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. It was an emotional evening. The teens were able to release their bottled up feelings as God passed them. It was very compelling to see the raw emotion and knowing that the Holy Spirit was touching their hearts. The teens comforted each other, hugged, held and supported each other, and cried together. The seed of God’s love, mercy, forgiveness and goodness was planted in them that night.

On Sunday, the keynote speaker was Lila Rose with a pro-life message and videos exposing corruption and illegal activity within Planned Parenthood. After Mass, a group of nuns spoke about vocations and called down to the stage any girls that were touched by the Holy Spirit that weekend and may be considering becoming a nun. Then Fr. Amsberry did the same for the boys. Three boys and two girls from the St. Mary’s youth group are considering vocations.