“The weekend went really well,” said Kyle Holtgrave, associate director for Youth and Young Adult Ministry. He said the theme of the event was “Seek the Kingdom” which came from the Sunday Gospel for the closing Mass on Saturday afternoon.
Youth and chaperones came from Blessed Sacrament, Cathedral, St. Frances Xavier Cabrini and St. Katharine Drexel parishes in Springfield; Blessed Sacrament in Quincy; Forty Martyrs in Tuscola; Holy Family in Litchfield; Our Lady of Lourdes in Decatur; St. Agnes in Hillsboro; St. Alexius in Beardstown; St. Charles Borromeo in Charleston; St. John Vianney in Sherman; and St. Jude in Rochester.
“I was very excited to see youth from so many places,” said Holtgrave. “This event has steadily grown in participation each year. I’m excited to see people come out for a short time to celebrate together.”
The keynote speaker for the event was Catholic youth evangelist Sal Solo. “On Saturday morning (after morning prayer) he took to the stage to speak with the group about what we believe, using each phrase of the Creed to help us ‘unpack’ what Catholics profess to be our faith,” said Holtgrave.
Later that day, two rounds of workshops were available for the group. Each workshop was based on the “Seek the Kingdom” theme. Linda Johnston hosted one of the workshops (first in Spanish and then in English) on seeking the Kingdom through service. Brother Anthony Joseph McCoy, FFSC, hosted sessions on seeking the Kingdom, even through “crooked lines.”
“My favorite saying is ‘God writes straight with crooked lines,’” said Brother Anthony Joseph. “There will be stops and starts, but I told them not to worry. God led me and God will lead them.”
“Brother shared how God has been truly in control of his life over the years,” said Holtgrave. He added that Delaney Dodson hosted sessions on discerning one’s call as a Catholic teenager and young adult, while Kevin Aldrich hosted a gathering for adults focusing on seeking the Kingdom “through meditative prayer and through the virtues.”
Solo returned in the afternoon to speak on “We Cry Justice.” Through video and personal witness, he shared how the poorest nations of the world live. “He challenged the group to put aside 50 cents a day to help with various social programs for these countries,” said Holtgrave.
Bishop Thomas John Paprocki and Father Brian Alford, priest secretary to Bishop Paprocki and director of the Office for Vocations, also joined the group on Saturday. “Bishop Paprocki shared details about his book Holy Goals for Body and Soul and invited the teens to find ways to connect the everyday experiences in life, particularly sports, with our faith,” Holtgrave said.
The group ended their conference by attending Mass celebrated by Bishop Paprocki. “We were treated to the song Clocks by Coldplay, a favorite of Bishop Paprocki’s homilies for confirmation,” Holtgrave said. Bishop Paprocki spoke about a particular lyric of the song that asks “Am I part of the cure or am I part of the disease?”
When the students weren’t in learning sessions or attending prayer services or Mass, they had time to enjoy the activities available at the conference center. “We played games Friday evening so that we’d have a chance to get to know all those present,” said Holtgrave. “The highlight for the games was a Catholic version of the popular board game, Clue.” After lunch on Saturday, the youth had access to an open gym and the swimming pool and played black light dodge ball, which Holtgrave said is “a regular favorite at the youth conference.”
Holtgrave said he appreciates that so many people were involved in the conference. “Cathy Becker from St. Katharine Drexel Parish does a phenomenal job planning our prayer experiences and Deena Bell from Blessed Sacrament in Springfield helped get our breakout sessions organized,” he said. “Young people are getting more involved as animators, the people who lead our prayer experiences, which is a great way to give young people ownership of this gathering.
“My hope is to continue gathering teens at conferences like this to build up the Body of Christ here in the local church and make the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois a great place to grow in our faith as a teenager and young adult,” Holtgrave said.