Draper teens take part in Youth Day

Intermountain Catholic

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Young adults from the St. John the Baptist Parish youth group traveled to Anaheim at the beginning of March to take part in the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress Youth Day 2007. photo courtesy of Pam Bojack

by Pam Bojack

Youth Minister,

St. John the Baptist Parish

ANAHEIM, Calif. — As 34 teens from Draper's St. John the Baptist Parish's Youth Ministry program loaded a bus bound for the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress Youth Day 2007 March 1, few had any idea how this trip would influence their personal faith journeys. However, the next morning when they witnessed over 14,000 teens gathered to celebrate their Catholic faith, it was an awe-inspiring moment for all of them. "Being surrounded by thousands of teens who share my faith was amazing. It was a very moving experience that I will always remember," said tenth-grader Patricia Graham.

At the opening session, Tony Melendez and the Toe Jam Band performed salsa music that got the youthful audience dancing in a huge Congo line. Though Melendez was born with no arms and a clubbed foot, he taught himself to play the guitar with his toes. His message to the teens was how he has been able to transform adversity into hope, passion, and strength. "He said that God has a job and a purpose for everyone, and that hit me. I realized how important I am to God. I would like everyone to realize no matter who they are or what they look like, that they were put on this earth for a reason and to never give up," said freshman Brittney Rogers.

During the morning liturgy, teen lectors navigated a creative "GodSpace" site displayed on the arena's giant TV screens. At the end of Mass, Cardinal Roger Mahony surprised and delighted the congregation by sitting down with a laptop computer and inputting: "What's up boss? So I attended Youth Day and it was awesome. It was great! All these kids on fire."

St. John the Baptist Parish teens attended the morning workshop entitled "Sex Still Has a Price Tag" given by former crisis pregnancy counselor Pam Stenzel. It was a no-nonsense talk about the medical, emotional, economic, and moral consequences of having sex outside of marriage.

On Friday, the teens got to spend the day at Disneyland. While standing in line, the St. John group initiated the chant: "God is good!" When many different groups of teens in line responded: "All the time!" they once again felt that connectedness with other youth who share their faith.