OGDEN — The Northern Deanery will host a youth conference for students in seventh through twelfth grades Sept. 8 at Saint Joseph Catholic High School. The Northern Deanery includes the parishes from Saint Rose of Lima in Layton to Saint Thomas Aquinas in Hyde Park, just north of Logan. The conference will begin with a bilingual Mass celebrated by the Most Rev. John C. Wester, Bishop of Salt Lake City, followed by two keynote speakers, games and music. The theme of the conference is the "Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary." "Our goal is to have the youth from the various parishes gather together to meet one another, pray and socialize," said Father Ken Vialpando, Northern Deanery dean and pastor of Saint Joseph Parish in Ogden. "The youth don’t often have the opportunity to come together; the parishes are often active in their own youth programs. This conference will give them the opportunity to gather as one cohesive group and hopefully from that point on we can meet on a regular basis even if it is quarterly. When they meet together as one group they can recognize that the Catholics are alive and well and that they can do good things together to build up the kingdom of God." The keynote speakers are Pete Espil and Dominican Brother Gabriel Mosher. Espil is director of youth ministry at Our Lady of the Valley Catholic Church in Caldwell, Idaho, and former campus minister from Judge Memorial Catholic High School in Salt Lake City. Brother Gabriel fulfilled a one-year assignment at Saint Catherine of Siena Newman Center in Salt Lake City this year working with the college students. He recently returned to Saint Albert’s Priory in Oakland, Calif., to continue his formation into the priesthood. "The theme of the conference is Mary’s ‘yes’ to God," said Espil. "I will talk about the way teenagers can say ‘yes’ to Christ and to living the Gospel. We need to be able to recognize God’s voice in our life because he speaks to us in a variety of ways. Sometimes we hear God’s voice through other people, the Scriptures or the Sacraments. Our response is a way of saying ‘yes,’ such as when we serve others. God presents us with opportunities to do what Jesus would do by living the Gospel in big and small ways. God doesn’t wait for us to be perfect, and teens will often think God won’t use them because they think they aren’t holy enough. God calls those he wants to do his work, those who are right for the situation." Both speakers are experts in campus ministry, said Lucy Valerio, youth conference coordinator and Saint James Parish council member. "We want to bring the youth together in faith, hope and charity to put the love of God in their souls," she said. "We want to get God into the souls of these youth at an early age. We want them to believe in their faith and believe in themselves and encourage them to be active in the Newman Centers in college and stay active once they get married. I would like to see the youth gain leadership roles from this conference and continue on by planning parties or dances among the eight parishes in the deanery and stay in contact with each other." The Northern Deanery Youth Conference will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Saint Joseph Catholic High School, 1790 Lake St., Ogden. Mass will be celebrated at 9:30 a.m. Lunch will be provided. The cost is $5 per student. Registration is onsite at 9 a.m. or contact your parish youth ministry to register.
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