SALT LAKE CITY — At the Diocesan Youth Rosary Rally at Juan Diego Catholic High School Oct. 25, four students from different Catholic schools shared their faith experiences in front of 2,500 of their peers.
"It’s always powerful when the students speak of their faith journeys," said Beth Mahoney, Holy Cross Family Ministries mission director. "The students have tragedies, challenges and difficulties, but they also have joy and express how God is interwoven in their lives."
The rosary rally gave the youth a sense of "unity and pride as they embraced students from other Catholic schools in the diocese," said Samantha Almanza, diocesan youth and young adult director. "They were able to relate to the witness talks by hearing what their peers were going through."
Perhaps the most touching witness was given by Juan Diego sophomore Pete Benda, who a year ago accidentally fell 30 feet, fracturing his femur and suffering a brain injury that left him in a coma for two and a half months.
The gym, packed with students, was all but silent as he spoke.
"I am still recovering today and hope to make a full recovery," Benda said. "Ninety percent of people who suffer a brain injury like mine stay in a vegetative state for the rest of their lives. Of the 10 percent who don’t, many don’t walk again, can’t feed themselves, and are disabled in some way. I am a miracle; I am the 5 percent."
Benda’s accident brought thousands of people of all faiths together in public and private prayer.
"Although I was in a coma, I felt the power of prayer," he said. "On Christmas Eve, Bishop Wester came to visit me at Primary Children’s Medical Center. … I showed that I could feel the prayer by making the sign of the cross."
That was the first time reacted to anyone since his fall, he said.
Then on Jan. 5, some of his friends in Nebraska were praying for him, and the next day, which happened to be the Feast of the Epiphany, he spoke for the first time, he said.
Like Benda, Peter McElaney, an eighth-grader at Saint John the Baptist Middle School, spoke of feeling God’s presence after he suffered a traumatic injury – he barely missed losing an eye after he fell from his bike and a stick went into his eye socket.
"Faith is having complete trust or confidence in God," McElaney said. "God sent two guardian angels to watch over me. Two bikers appeared on the scene; one was an EMT with a medic bag, the other had a cell phone and called 911. God put a miracle in the hands of the eye surgeon who saved my eye and my sight. Throughout the entire healing process, I could feel God with me; I prayed to him every day. I was also helped by family, friends, teachers and students; I knew they were all praying for me."
Testimony of a different sort came from Judge Memorial Catholic High School senior Nick Markham, whose father died of heart disease in 2006. Markham chose to become a legacy for his father through filmmaking.
"I hope everybody has an overwhelming passion for something … and is proud of their relationship with God and remains hopeful," Markham said. "The end is never really the end at all; it is simply a new beginning."
Still another type of trial was faced by Saint Joseph Catholic High School senior Elizabeth Tomon as she came to realize she has the charism of nurturing others.
When her teammates first nicknamed her ‘Mother Liz’ because she took care of them, she hated it, she said, but "once I accepted the awkward trait, I was comfortable; I became a leader."
The witness talks were meant to reach all students regardless of their faith, said Amee Garcia, Juan Diego director of campus ministries. "The power of prayer can work in different faith backgrounds and is part of building relationships," she said. "Hopefully this will help students want to get involved in their youth groups and parishes."
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