More than 300 high school students and their chaperones packed into the DoubleTree Hotel and the Robinson Center in Little Rock for the annual Catholic Youth Convention April 4-6. The theme for this year’s convention was “Renewed.”
Diocesan youth director, Liz Tingquist, said, “They’ve carried through this theme of ‘renew’ — renewed in the Church. On all the artwork this year, we’ve featured people who are religious like monks, sisters, priests and altar servers — reminding people to renew their faith and be part of the Church.”
But clergy and religious aren’t the only ones who can help us feel renewed.
“It takes a village to bring everybody to Christ,” program director Trish Gentry said. “Because it’s not only us. It’s volunteers. It’s people in the parishes. It’s people here at the diocese that help us, who all come together to bring everybody closer to Christ.”
One of the prominent themes of the convention was renewal through sacraments. Thirteen priests were available during the convention to hear confessions. Teens also participated in a meditation prayer service. Each teen received a stone with a meditation written on it, which they took to confession with them. After returning from confession, teens placed their stones in a large plexiglass cross, which was processed into Mass on Saturday evening.
Teens also heard from two renowned speakers, Maggie Craig and Paul J. Kim.
“Have you ever been to a museum before?” Craig, a full-time Catholic speaker from Southern California, asked the teens. “… Imagine you’re looking at a beautiful painting, and you want to look and see who the artist is, and you look for a placard. Then there isn’t one — there’s nothing about the artist. And you find the art museum director, and you say, ‘I love this painting of the ocean at night. Who painted it?’ “And imagine the art museum person said, ‘Actually, this painting is totally random… There actually is no artist. It’s a total coincidence.’ You would say, ‘You need a new job. This not the right place for you.’
“Because the presence of a painting implies the presence of a painter. The presence of design implies the presence of a designer. The presence of creation implies the presence of who? A creator.”
Craig offered a word of advice to teens who might be hesitant to authentically live out their faith.
“You are not alone. I think it’s easy to think that we are alone,” she said. “But if we live our faith boldly and joyfully, we’ll find other people who want to live that way. And following Jesus is worth it.”
Kim is known for the talents he uses in evangelization, such as beatboxing, comedy and singing. He told the students about how he struggled to live his faith life authentically as a youth until he offered a prayer from the heart at the annual Catholic youth convention in Steubenville, Ohio. He guided students through a meditation that allowed them to pray from the heart, too.
Kim told Arkansas Catholic that the convention’s renewal theme is an important one that all Christians should embrace, whether it’s a Jubilee Year or not.
“The reality is we all need renewal in our lives — individually, in our families, in our communities, in the Church,” he said. “I think sometimes we as humans want to fix all the problems that are out there, but we forget that there are problems inside of our hearts.”
Ashley Reyna, 17, a parishioner at St. James Church in Searcy, said she was a little nervous for the weekend at first, but “seeing everybody so hyped up” made her excited, too.
“Just being able to fully show myself in my faith, seeing everybody so freely express themselves — I’m going to bring that back to my parish and express my faith in so many new ways too,” she said.
Noa Lessenberry, 16, a parishioner at St. Bernard Church in Bella Vista, said he was excited to serve on the Youth Advisory Council again.
“This weekend’s the best. It gets everyone throughout the state together. It’s joy, fellowship and overall fun,” he said. “What I love most about being on YAC is the excitement and joy it brings to me, but also to others, while having fun and spreading the word of God with others.”
Andrew Smith, 17, a parishioner at St. Jude the Apostle in Jacksonville, said, “I know a lot of the guys not even on YAC but in the seats from other events, and it’s like, ‘Oh! How are you doing?’ It’s a lot of fun. Renewed means a new start. You can mess up, but you shouldn’t stop trying.”
