Diocesan arts contest encourages youth to share their Eucharistic experience

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SALT LAKE CITY — To help young Catholics engage in the national Eucharistic Revival taking place in the Church, the Diocese of Salt Lake City is sponsoring a contest seeking entries created in a variety of media from local Catholic youth from kindergarten through college age.

The contest will be divided into several age categories so that participants will be competing against their peers. Contest organizer Julie Boerio-Goates particularly hopes to encourage participation from college students throughout the state who attend institutions that are not associated with a Newman Center, she said.

Along with other prizes, winners will be given the opportunity to present their work at the morning session of the Eucharistic Rally, scheduled for July 9 at the Mountain America Expo Center in Sandy. Artwork will be displayed in the Family Zone area of the rally and there will be an area for oral presentations. QR codes that link to video and audio recordings will be part of the displays.

Boerio-Goates encourages parents, catechists and those who work with young Catholics to lead them in making contest entries. “My objective is to spark people’s interest  and creative ways and to create opportunities to work with their kids to learn about the Eucharist,” she said. “The Eucharistic Revival is about helping people grow in their understanding of what Catholics mean by the Real Presence.”

Boerio-Goates encourages young people to ponder their Eucharistic experience and to ask themselves some questions before working on their submittals. These may include but should not be limited to “What do we mean by being a Eucharistic people?” “What is it supposed to look like when we walk out the doors of the church? “How are we supposed to live our lives; how are we supposed to interact with people?” “When you walk back to your pew after you’ve received Communion, do you talk to Jesus?” “How do you respond to it, carry it over into the rest of the day, into your week?” “How do you share this experience – does it make you think of sunlight, of choirs singing, happy, peaceful, calm?” “How do you experience it and how can you express that in some kind of creative way that maybe is unique to you?”

As young people ponder these questions they will be inspired to produce work that will reflect the sacredness of the Eucharistic experience, which can then be shared and may touch rally participants, Boerio-Goates said.

“I hope that parents will use this as a chance to grow in their own faith and to bring your kids along with you and help them develop so that whatever religious educational state they’re at that they’ll get something out of this with the idea of sharing it,” she said. “That’s what the idea of being a Eucharistic people is about.”

Detailed contest information may be found at https://www.dioslc.org/eucharistic-revival/morning-rally-mass/youth-creative-work-contest. Electronic entries should be submitted as an attachment and emailed to Rally@dioslc.org. Other entries may be mailed to c/o  Ruth Dillon, Director, Office of Worship, 27 C Street, Salt Lake City, UT 84103. Entry deadline is May 23.