Blessed Sacrament youth attend national conference

Intermountain Catholic

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SANDY — The Blessed Sacrament youth group came home from the National Catholic Youth Conference in Indianapolis, Ind., energized, inspired, ready to lead, and proud of their Catholic faith.

The 28 Blessed Sacrament youth were among 30,000 who attended the "Called to Glory" NCYC from Nov. 17-19. Monsignor Robert Servatius, pastor of Blessed Sacrament Parish, and four adults accompanied them.

"NCYC is held every two years, and we started attending in 1997," said Shelly Valdez who began as a youth minister with her husband, John, in 1996.

"It’s special for us that Monsignor attends NCYC with us because he has a youthful spirit," said Nick Brown, a youth leader and senior at Judge Memorial Catholic High School. "He is growing in age and walks a little slower, but he takes in everything and it’s good to see the conference from his perspective. It also was great to help introduce the younger kids to what I saw two years ago – thousands of Catholic teens in one stadium."

NCYC included a general session and morning prayer every day, workshops, and youth icons like Steve Agrisano, a musician, composer and youth minister; singer/song-writer Jesse Manibusan; EWTN hosts Jason and Crystalina Evert; and singer Tony Melendez, who has no arms and plays the guitar with his toes.

"Tony Melendez talked about how we are all made in God’s image even though we are not all perfect or normal," said Katie Penn, a sophomore at Juan Diego Catholic High School and one of the youth group members. She added she had never heard anyone talk about disabilities in such a way before.

This was Penn’s first NCYC experience and she found it to be fun and eye opening. "I had never met or seen that many Catholic people before and I also got to bond with the people in my youth group and that was really fun," she said.

Brown said Manibusan and Agrisano were good speakers. "They are funny and keep you active at the same time," he said. "They personalize their message to the group. I took away from Agrisano’s talk that a coincidence is actually the work of God. We make plans and hear God laughing because God has his own plans for us."

Victory Park was across from the stadium where the conference was held and had games, vendors and booths, said Valdez. Members of different Catholic colleges and religious orders were available to talk to the youth about their educational choices and vocations.

"It was good for the kids to see the religious and clergy at the conference as well as so many Catholics from throughout the nation," Valdez said.

There was a session held each evening. "All the speakers called the kids to be leaders and to make a difference in the world," Valdez said. "The group came home feeling so empowered."

Kathryn Shakleford, a senior at Bingham High School, attended NCYC for the second time this year and again became excited about her faith. "I met other teens from 32 different states," she said, adding she was impressed with speaker Steve Agrisano. "He talked about seeing God and Jesus in every person we meet. So now if I see people who bother me, I just remember Jesus made them, too."