There are few experiences in my life that have reminded me so profoundly of the size of the Body of Christ as the first night of each National Catholic Youth Conference reminds me. An experience of parish or of high school can feel large but to see 20,000 people who are gathered because we have commonality in being followers of Christ, fills me with awe each time I experience it.

The theme of the conference this year was: Blessed Broken and Given. The words remind us we are all blessed as beloved children of God, that even though we are blessed we all experience times when we are broken (imperfect), even Jesus had those moments in his life on earth but in spite of our brokenness, we are Given Christ to help heal us and guide us in faith.

This reminder was evident thru out the conference. We heard the story of fear, faith and forgiveness shared with us by Immaculee Ilibagiza If you are unfamiliar with her experience during the Rwandan genocide and her story please visit this link. https://www.nydailynews.com/woman-escaped-rwandan-genocide-u-s-citizen-article-1.1319875

Immaculee is amazing woman of great faith who has experienced horrors in this life but has reached a place of forgiveness that is inspirational.

We heard from Mike Patin and Roy Petitfils about how we can still be God's Blessing to others, even when we are broken (not perfect) and how we often can heal our broken-ness as we help others.

Nobody escapes being wounded. We are all wounded people, whether physically, emotionally, mentally, or spiritually. The main question is not, 'How can we hide our wounds?' so we don't have to be embarrassed, but 'How can we put our woundedness in the service of others?' When our wounds cease to be a source of shame, and become a source of healing, we have become wounded healers.~Henri Nouwen

We also heard from Scott Boyle about how music is a universal language that touches our hearts. We reflected on the contemporary songs that speak to our hearts. Then Scott reminded us the songs we sing in Mass are also capable of speaking to our heart. Songs like the Canticle of Zachariah tell us the story of Zachariah’s son, John the Baptist. It reminds us of our shared salvation story. The Canticle of Zachariah was the piece we chanted together in his workshop. These are the words to the canticle:

Blessed be the Lord, The God of Israel; He has come to His people and set them free.

He has raised up for us a mighty Savior, Born of the house of His servant David. Through His holy prophets He promised of old, That He would save us from our enemies, From the hands of all who hate us.

He promised to show mercy to our fathers And to remember His Holy Covenant. This was the oath He swore to our father Abraham: To set us free from the hands of our enemies,

Free to worship Him without fear, Holy and righteous in His sight All the days of our life.

You, my child shall be called The prophet of the Most High, For you will go before the Lord to prepare His way, To give his people knowledge of salvation By the forgiveness of their sins.
In the tender compassion of our Lord The dawn from on high shall break upon us,
to shine on those who dwell in darkness
And the shadow of death,
And to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Glory to the Father,
and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning
is now, and will be forever. Amen

It was a moment of great grace to be a voice singing those words in unison.

We also participated in some problem solving and team building activities in the Thematic Park, attended Mass in the stadium with 20,000 of our brothers and sisters in Christ and made some friends with young people from St Edward and St Andrew. It was a great experience of the Body of Christ unified in faith.

In the coming weeks watch for reflections from the teens from our parish that attended the conference.

This experience of faith reminds me that even in my brokeness, I am needed by our God to work to build His kingdom here, and…that there is much work to be done by all of us!

20,000 of our Brothers and Sisters gathered together and it was awesome.