I am writing this reflection from the shores of Lake Tahoe. As I sit here in the quiet of the night I can hear the gently lapping of the water against the shore and the cool night air surrounding me as I pray and offer this small note. I am at Tahoe for a very specific purpose. I am the youth chaplain for the Diocesan Youth Retreat (DYR) that has been happening this week. We are celebrating this week of God’s joy with over 190 teens from many parishes around the diocese (St. Lucy has 7 teens, 2 leaders attending) and almost 70 staff members helping to bring the presence of God more fully into the experience of these wonderful and holy Catholic youth.
Our keynote speaker has been Fr. Augustino Torres CFR. He has poured out the grace of God in prayer, stories, song and the holy joy of serving God as a Franciscan priest. (http://franciscanfriars.com/ you can learn more about is order here)
At the retreat we have been focusing and speaking a lot about the Jubilee Year of Mercy (yes it is still going on) and how God’s mercy is present in the life of each person and how as young Catholics they can celebrate this mercy and share it with others.
The keynote talks have been amazing. The sharing the youth do in their small groups has been life giving. Listening to them asks and struggle with deep questions of faith and how to live their faith more fully in the world is a powerful blessing to hear and share with them. The playtime, the singing, the praising of God in word, worship and sacrament fills me with wonder. But I would like to share two specific events that have been impactful to me personally and I know, through speaking with and witnessing the teens celebrate God’s love are life changing.
The first occurred Wednesday evening with the Sacrament of Reconciliation. I have helped at literally hundreds of retreats in the eleven years I have been ordained as a priest and without fail, the time of sacramental Reconciliation is always a powerful moment when the grace and love of God touches the heart of the teens. The ten priests who came to celebrate the Sacraments spent over three hours listening and counseling the young people in the healing mercy of God. And many times it is much more about the listening than the counseling. The burdens the young men and women gave over in blessing to Jesus Christ through this sacrament of healing were truly a movement of the Holy Spirit.
The second occurred on Thursday evening. After a full day of blessing, the celebration of a sunset Mass on the shores of Lake Tahoe we invited the teens to a time of adoration. Led by Fr. Augustino the young women and men spent nearly 2½ hours singing and praising the presence of Jesus the Eucharist. They were invited to bring their lives to the altar and offer themselves to the blessing of Jesus to seek and follow the path that God has called them to follow. It is often impossible in life to have anyone, let alone a teen, spend anytime away from the intrusion of the electronic siren call of the telephone or tablet but I witnessed the grace of these blessed and holy followers of Jesus loose themselves in the timelessness of God’s presence. The laughter and tears of prayer intermingled with the procession of candles representing their gift of self to God were brought with genuine joy knowing that they were loved and accepted by God.
I will return the parish tomorrow evening exhausted in body but renewed in spirit as God has blessed me in so many different ways with healing and mercy. If you are interested in seeing the pictures of the retreat you can go to any Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and use #DYR2016 to find the photos. It was such a blessing to serve with wonderful youth ministers from around the Diocese let by Row David from Holy Spirit Parish and the many other adults and young adults that helped bring God’s love and blessing to this remarkable week. Thank you Jesus.
God Bless
Fr. Mark