Teens at the Diocesan Youth Conference (DYC) and college students at the Catholic Campus Ministry Summit (Summit) celebrated an amazing weekend together at the Greater Richmond Convention Center, as approximately 930 teens attended DYC Feb. 7-9 and about 520 students attended Summit Feb. 7-8.
Complete simplicity
It was a simple setting for a simple message. Father Brian Capuano, judicial vicar and chancellor; and pastor of St. Patrick, Richmond; St. Peter Pro-Cathedral, Richmond; and St. John, Highland Springs, stood on a small stage in a stark conference room, and without a visual aid, he talked to a group of college students about the simplicity of leading a normal life centered on the Gospel.
“Our Lord brought us into being and made us for himself,” said Father Capuano. “You and I were created simply for him to gaze at, and for us to learn to gaze back at him. Have you ever fallen in love?”
He pointed to materialism as a distraction from this truth. “How quickly do you pick up your phone or your tablet when you wake up?” he asked. “We’re incapable sometimes of sitting still. God is the beginning and the end of everything, and our culture has completely forgotten this.”
The solution is not to self-isolate, Father Capuano continued. Instead, we can focus on God amid the tumult of modern life.
Kennedy Kilasara, student at Liberty University, was struck by Father Brian’s image of God gazing upon man.
“God is the creator of the universe, bigger than we can ever imagine, and the fact that he knows us and wants to be with us is pretty amazing,” said Kilasara.
— D. Hunter Reardon, The Catholic Virginian
Complete detachment
The title of one of the DYC breakout sessions grabbed the attention of any “Lord of the Rings” fan: From Middle-earth to Heaven. The group eagerly settled in for the presentation by Reed Golomb, youth minister at St. Thomas Aquinas, Charlottesville.
Golomb (yes, his last name is pronounced “Gollum”) quickly engaged the teens in an interactive guessing game that had the teens acting out some popular book/movie characters, such as Darth Vader, Hermione Granger, and, of course, Gandalf.
Golomb’s assignment was to talk about detachment and being completely free from anything that might hold us back from God. The obvious comparison is that those who came in contact with the One Ring, the Precious, became attached to it and struggled to detach themselves from its power.
Golomb’s journey to Middle-earth took teens on an unexpected path – through the life of St. Ignatius of Loyola. Golomb encouraged the teens to read St. Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises to better understand that God created man to praise him. St. Ignatius taught that God created all things to help us get to heaven, Golomb said, so we should detach ourselves from anything that isn’t furthering that goal.
Alyssa Kennedy, a teen from St. John Neumann, Powhatan, said she isn’t a huge “Lord of the Rings” fan, but Golomb “had a lot of activities that made it very fun and enjoyable to listen to and to watch.”
Maria Stallings, another teen from St. John Neumann, said, “I think it was really cool how he could tie in something that’s not specifically Catholic to something that’s very Catholic, like a saint and his exercises.”
Stallings added that Golomb created “a lens you could put on secular or regular stuff you watch everyday, so you can pull out the good pieces and you can learn a lesson.”
— Lily Nguyen Dunkle, The Catholic Virginian
Complete unity
So often, we profess our faith in one, holy, Catholic and apostolic Church. At his breakout talk to college students at Summit Feb. 8, Father Kyle O’Connor, chaplain at William & Mary and parochial vicar of St. Bede, Williamsburg, explained exactly what that means, and why unity is intrinsic to the Church’s mission.
“We aren’t a club, a soccer team, or even a group that believes the same stuff,” said Father O’Connor. “Ultimately, the Church is the instrument through which Jesus gives us himself.”
Father O’Connor indicated that he wouldn’t be demonstrating this through a dense oration – instead, he turned to Scripture for simple images.
The Church, said Father O’Connor, is the family of God (Eph 2:19); the body of Christ (1 Cor 12:27); the bride of Christ (Eph 5:25); and an ark (1 Pt 3:20-21).
“God has one family. A body cannot be divided into parts. Christ has one bride. And Noah didn’t build a bunch of small boats,” said Father O’Connor. “Unity is intrinsic to the Church.”
Two more stories from Scripture demonstrate this, he added. “In Genesis, through the sin of pride, the Tower of Babel introduces disunity into the world. At Pentecost, the birthday of the Church, that disunity is undone.”
The talk was very well attended, especially by Father O’Connor’s flock from William & Mary.
“His way of speaking is very down to earth,” said sophomore Alana Lohr. “He makes things very relatable.”
— D. Hunter Reardon, The Catholic Virginian
Completely confused by love
Do you know how to date as a Catholic? What is the difference between loving someone and using them?
In addition to the breakouts, teens at DYC were given the option of attending a 30-minute Hot Topic session. One of them was about dating as Catholics, led by Chloe Barnes, youth ministry and young adult coordinator at St. Gregory the Great, Virginia Beach.
Barnes acknowledged that the dating scene is a confusing one in today’s social media world. Dating and relationships are more complicated because of apps that blur the definition of “talking.”
“Are we talking, are we dating, what are we doing?” Barnes said, as she listed different ways to connect via social media – without really connecting.
By quizzing the teens on different dating scenarios and handing out sheets of paper with a game of “Dump Him Bingo,” Barnes showed how difficult it can be to make decisions related to the heart. She explained that love is doing what is best for another person.
Barnes said that many people mistake infatuation, which are warm, fuzzy feelings for another person, with love. She said that it’s not wrong to have the warm, fuzzy feelings – because it isn’t right or wrong to have feelings.
Barnes told the teens that it’s important to be chaste according to one’s place in life. That means respecting yourself and others, being modest, and being pure in one’s thoughts, words, and actions.
From the reactions on the teens’ faces, the talk gave them a lot to think about as they consider whether God’s plan for them includes a vocation of marriage.
— Lily Nguyen Dunkle, The Catholic Virginian
Complete compassion
Every teen who attended DYC was signed up to pack meals for Rise Against Hunger. The nonprofit provides nutritious, volunteer-packaged meals to communities worldwide that are fighting food insecurity, and also implements long-term projects for sustainability.
The participants were split into three shifts Saturday afternoon, packing 53,000 meals in less than three hours. The volunteers were so efficient that the last shift had a goal of 10,000 meals in less than 30 minutes. They reached it quickly, running out of ingredients.
Colleen Forte, the adult leader of a small group of teens from the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, Richmond, said, “It was incredibly meaningful [to take part in Rise Against Hunger]. I think that the Church has a responsibility to reach out, not only locally inside of Richmond and our own communities, but worldwide – and it was really nice to see my small group of high schoolers get to engage.”
One of the teens in Forte’s group, Emma Van Meter, said, “It’s special because we get to be a part of a group that helps feed people, so they aren’t hungry anymore.”
— Lily Nguyen Dunkle, The Catholic Virginian
Campus ministry completes college experience
After attending Mass together in the Greater Richmond Convention Center the morning of Saturday, Feb. 8, students at DYC and Summit mostly followed separate programs. But one crossover session provided an opportunity for high school juniors and seniors to learn from the older kids: the Campus Ministry Fair.
From 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., representatives from campus ministries across the diocese answered questions from 11th and 12th graders. To help break the ice, the high school students were given bingo cards with sample questions.
“We’ve been asking them where they gather, how big their campus ministries are, what their traditions are at the school,” said Reese Ellis, a junior at Walsingham Academy who was at the fair with five of her classmates. “It’s really important – I want a Catholic community when I go to college.”
Olivia Mach, a junior at Albemarle High School in Charlottesville, said, “I’ve been asking, ‘What sets you apart from everybody else? What makes your group stand out?’”
For example, Mach continued, “The [University of Virginia] students said that they come and help out at Incarnation, my parish, in the food ministry; [Virginia Commonwealth University] students said they have a study house where they all congregate.”
Ethan Gluszak, vice president of campus ministry at Christopher Newport University, said his organization is very active and involved. He shared that message with a steady stream of prospective students.
“I’m at the campus ministry house every day from Monday to Thursday, and sometimes on Friday and Saturday. We have an event every single day of the week,” said Gluszak.
“We average about 15 people per event, which is pretty big considering the size of our school,” Gluszak added, saying there are eight people preparing to be initiated into the Church.
Francisco Saravia, a junior at Hanover High School, filled up his bingo card, visiting every campus ministry station.
“Seeing all these college students, it’s now crossing my mind that this is something I’m looking for,” he said.
One student, senior Joshua Powell from Walsingham Academy, has already chosen a school – Dartmouth College. But he attended the fair to learn more about campus ministry.
“At Dartmouth, their ministry is small, but I’m hoping it’s mighty – and if it’s not, that’s where I come in,” said Powell.
“It’s good to hear about all the different activities and soak up the energy here,” he added.
— D. Hunter Reardon, The Catholic Virginian
Completely magical
Catholic magician, Giancarlo Bernini, wowed the audience at the DYC opening program Friday night. Yet he made no illusions about his performance – at the foundation of his magic tricks is something that isn’t a trick at all – it’s that God is always true.
Bernini, a Texas-based magician who has performed internationally and was victorious on the TV show “Penn & Teller: Fool Us,” invited students on stage to help with his show. His magic tricks left teens stunned. He made one student’s driver’s license disappear from her hand, then reappear inside a block of ice in another student’s hand!
Numerous students said they were astonished by Bernini’s performance. The following day, groups of teens could be heard trying to figure out how he had fooled them.
While Bernini’s actions were deceptive, his words spoke the truth. He told the teens that “what you do” isn’t “who you are.” He explained that our identity as children of God means God loves each of us individually as a father loves each of his children. And God loves us for who we are, not what we do.
And that is no illusion.
— Lily Nguyen Dunkle, The Catholic Virginian
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