INDIANAPOLIS (OSV News) — The National Catholic Youth Conference can have a deep impact on high school teens.
For three days — this year Nov. 16-18 in Indianapolis — their faith is enriched through speakers, uplifting music, Eucharistic adoration, group or quiet prayer, the opportunity for the sacrament of penance and daily Mass.
Their faith also is emboldened in witnessing and worshiping with thousands of their Catholic peers, leaving the youths encouraged by the fact that they are not alone in following Christ in the one true church.
The Criterion, newspaper of the Indianapolis Archdiocese, spoke with five teenagers in Lucas Oil Stadium after the closing Mass Nov. 18 — and one earlier that day — about their overall NCYC experience.
Amazing experience
“It’s amazing,” said Sabrina Howard of the Diocese of Covington, Kentucky. “There was a point where our entire diocese that came, like 275 kids and adults, were in one really tiny room where we were having Mass, and it was fantastic. We were all singing and having fun. And just the fact that everybody is here for the same thing, for our faith. It really is awesome!”
For Davis Coppola of the Archdiocese of Dubuque, Iowa, this year’s NCYC was his first.
“It’s been a really life-changing experience,” he said. “Being able to be around so many faithful Catholic people is something that I may never get to experience again. Being able to be in the small groups and talk with people, hearing people’s testimonies — it’s an amazing, amazing experience.”
This was the second NCYC for Alexa Foxx and Kaylen Snovak, both of the Diocese of Orlando, Florida.
“This one was just so moving,” said Snovak. She noted the freedom from COVID-19 restrictions in place at the NCYC in Indianapolis in 2021. “So, it was a lot more powerful and just absolutely wonderful. My favorite moment was adoration. It was just amazing.”
She said she walked away from the conference with a desire “to be fully present with the Lord and fully embrace him in my life and with others.”
Invigorated spirit
Foxx agreed. “I think you don’t get to fully realize the power of NCYC until you see 12,000 young people on their hands and knees crying and seeing the face of Jesus in the Eucharist,” she said. She is going home “invigorated with the Spirit, invigorated with the Lord, to bring that energy to my own parish, to pray with them more deeply, to share (with them) what I experienced here, and to keep it going.”
His subtle smile hides the emotion Bryan Chavez of the Diocese of Raleigh, North Carolina, expressed when sharing his thoughts on NCYC.
“Honestly, it was so amazing, just being around all these teenagers who are Catholic just like me, so I know that I’m not alone here and I know that I have everybody, not just like in my youth group, but other people out there who have the same faith as I have,” said Chavez, who sometimes feels alone in his faith at his public high school. He was especially moved by the closing Mass on Nov. 18.
“Sometimes I have trouble focusing on the Mass, but today it was just so different,” he said. I felt very emotional, and I started crying. It was honestly one of the most beautiful things I’ve experienced so far. I want to try to live out my faith more and not just keep it in my church or around my youth group.”
Having faith
Jacob Lamoureux of the Archdiocese of Omaha, Nebraska, was unable to speak immediately after the closing Mass. But he did share with The Criterion earlier that day about his experience.
“It really clicked for me in the talk on ‘I Believe It But I Don’t Feel It,'” said the teen. “The speaker said faith isn’t about emotions. It’s about surrender. And (opening session speaker) Father (John) Kartje was talking about how faith isn’t just about what you see — it’s called faith because it’s believing in something even if you don’t see physical evidence.”
“God has taught me,” Lamoureux said, “that even if I don’t feel like that sense of another presence with me, even if I feel like I’m just sitting there and there’s no one else in the room and I’m just all alone and wasting my time — God is telling me just to remember I’m not alone, he’s there.”
Natalie Hoefer is a staff writer at The Criterion, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis.
