Second Joshua Project Rally focuses on faith life
LAYTON — Maintaining and growing a faith life was the topic of the Joshua Project Rally that took place on April 22 at Saint Rose of Lima Catholic Church.
The Joshua Project is a diocesan effort intended to reach young people throughout the Diocese of Salt Lake City and involve them in the Church; the project also is meant to stem youth suicide. The project began in December; the first rally was in February.
At the April 22 event, nearly 80 young people from parishes such as St. Therese of the Child Jesus in Midvale, St. Joseph in Ogden, St. Mary in West Haven, the Cathedral of the Madeleine in Salt Lake City, Notre Dame de Lourdes in Price, Our Lady of Lourdes in Magna, among others, gathered to celebrate a morning of presentations, exercises, music and camaraderie.
The main presenter for the event was Chris Keller, a member of the Flame Keepers, who talked to the youth about the Catholic faith.
The Flame Keepers is a local group that facilitates men’s faith life through stewardship in prayer and a community of faith. Members pray the rosary weekly and have weekly small groups of fellowship and monthly gatherings. The group leader is Father Gustavo Vidal, pastor at St. Rose and chairman of the diocesan Liturgical Commission, which is heading the Joshua Project.
Keller, who has been a member of the Flame Keepers for 13 years, said one of his intentions for the rally was to empower youth leaders so when they return to their home parishes, “they can be the leaders that bring the message to their parishes and ignite their youth ministries once more.”
His message to those attending the rally is that God is always by their side and never leaves them.
“I want to teach them what is the starting point, and this is God,” Keller said.
He based his presentation on the definition of faith, and offered different theological explanations.
“Faith is the confidence or trust in a person or a thing, but faith means to put your trust in God and having confidence that he will fulfill his promises,” Keller said.
“For me to be able to be here today is because God called me to help with the youth,” he said, and shared his own faith journey.
“I am a cradle Catholic, but when I was younger I lost my track. … It wasn’t until I got married that I rejoined the faith,” he said, and invited the youth to reflect on how their Catholic faith might be challenged in many and different ways.
Despite the challenges the youth will face, Keller encouraged them to remember that “God will always be there for you, no matter what.”
The purpose of the Joshua Project rallies “is that we want the youth to have a real encounter with Jesus,” who “is the answer to all the questions of the human being, especially the emptiness” that people can feel, Fr. Vidal said.
“We all have troubles, difficulties, challenges, but the youth sometimes don’t know how to manage these situations,” he added. “This, of course, doesn’t mean that all the problems will disappear, but at least we will know how to confront them, and we will have Jesus by our side.”
The rallies are part of the ongoing diocesan Eucharistic Revival, which will culminate with a diocesan rally and Mass on July 9 at the Mountain America Expo Center in Sandy.
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