ST. PATRICK YOUTH GROUP

ST. PATRICK YOUTH GROUP ATTENDS NATIONAL CATHOLIC YOUTH CONFERENCE IN KANSAS CITY

The St Patrick Church Youth Group traveled to Kansas City for the 2009 National Catholic Youth Conference held November 18-22. Twenty-one St.Patrick high school teens and adults traveled with 250 other teens from the Columbus Diocese. The National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry welcomed 21,000 teens, making this conference the largest gathering of Catholic young people and adults in the United States. We gather as disciples of Jesus and as the young church of our country to celebrate our Catholic faith. We gathered as a sign that Christ Reigns, and that as disciples of Jesus, we are called to be the kingdom for others. We gathered to celebrate both the joys and challenges of being a faith-filled people in a society that might not always embrace our values.

Some of the keynote speakers that we were greatly inspired by were: Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, the Archbishop of Galveston-Houston, Texas. Cardinal DiNardo spoke to us about "Leading a life worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory." Jason and Crystalina Evert brought us their highly popular chastity seminar, "Romance without Regret." Fr. Tony Ricard, a priest of the New Orleans Archdiocese, who currently serves a pastor of Our Lady Star of the Sea Parish in New Orleans. Fr. Tony is the author of "I Still Believe: A Testimony of Faith After the Storm and Don't Be Stupid!"

The St. Patrick teens attended the workshop Bending But Not Breaking. The speaker talked about high school can be tough especially if you are exposed to bullying, gossip and discrimination. The teens were encouraged to be sisters and brothers in Christ and we are called to bend into service to one another to unite on bended knee. Not by breaking each other down but instead by breaking open the word, breaking bread and breaking free! We can no longer sit on the sidelines!

The conference was ended by a Closing Liturgy. Holy Mass was celebrated with Bishops, hundreds of Priests and the 21,000 teens and adults that attended the conference.

St.Patrick Youth Group picture from left to right back row: Chaperone, Jon Gillespie, Scott and Eric Knapke, Christian Mans, Patrick Atchison, and Chaperone Gary Zimmerman. Second to the back row: Chaperone Amy Knapke, Emily Morris, Mark Zimmerman, Katie Gillespie, Derek Davis, Christian Mayer, Casey Morris and Jacob Roark; Third to the front row: Marie Roark, Angela Mayer, Megan Gillespie, Youth Leader Denise Zimmerman. Front row: Kelsey McFarland, Ali Knapke, and Kelly Perez.