(Youth Day picture taken from www.oyyam.com)The car ride was dreary and dull as the rain pelted down on the windows of the car. My worst fears had come true – it was raining on Youth Day. (Darn!) It was a silent ride, as I said something random every five minutes to stir up some conversation. No one else talked or got my weird sense of humour.
The awkwardness of the car ride instantly melted away as we pulled up in the parking lot of Archbishop Carney School (which is a beautiful school by the way). Cheers and sounds of friendly conversation filled my ears as I stepped out of my car and thanked the driver; my dad. Rain pelted down on me as my group and I rushed to the school. Instantly, many of my friends that I met from YouthLeader during the summer and Spirit Day 2010 rushed to hug me and say hi. It was a little bit overwhelming and happy, but truth to say for a second there I forgot some of their names! (Sorry!)
What really amazed me about this scene was this – imagine the rain pelting down on everyone, but no one was upset, or grumpy, or cranky at all. Everyone was just excited and happy, and in spite of the rain, gave large hugs to everyone else and chattered excitedly on millions of different topics. I talked with many people myself and caught up with many more that should be much more than “Facebook friends”. By the time we were welcomed into the gym with many excited Logistics volunteers, I had already high fived, fist-bumped, and/or talked to many, many people.
Olivier and Stephanie, the two emcees for Youth Day, welcomed everyone with great enthusiasm. The band, led by musical guest Joia Farmer, was sure to get all the youth pumped up by many uplifting worship songs. I bet it got God pumped up there too! The music reminded us why we were really here – to spend time with God, to grow closer to Him, and reconnect with those friends we’ve disconnected from.
Mark Hart, vice-president of Life Teen, but better known by his nickname “The Bible Geek” took the stage to begin his talks. He was hilarious and had much to share with us! One of the messages that he was sharing with us was this – we need to realize that we need God in our lives, and it is only Him that will make us eternally happy. We must rely on Him and be ROOTED in Him and let Him transform our lives. No longer should it be My Will be done, but Thy Will be done. It was also a special honour to meet Mark Hart during the break and converse with him about a bunch of random things from school to musical instruments and of course, Twitter. What a great guy!
The night ended with more music and talks from Mark Hart, Joia Farmer, and Paul Hood. I was exhausted by the end of the three hours, and wondering to myself how I will ever make it through tomorrow if it’s going to be triple the greatness of Friday.
Six hours of sleep later, we were back at Archbishop Carney for the morning, (yes, it was raining again!) and Joia Farmer explains her ‘conversion’ to the Vancouver Canucks! This is met with much excitement and the band continues to attempt to wake everyone up with many songs and praise music, although everyone was awake already! Mark Hart continues his talks and testimonies, once again causing many laughs and reflective moments in the audience.
The Divine Time sessions were next, and I attended a beautiful session named “Created to Worship”, led by the amazing Dylan Drego. He explained the power of music and how it can be used for worship and praying twice. We discussed the importance of words in songs and he even gave us tips on song writing! This was incredibly useful to me and I had a great time!
The soccer game was something all the youth, including me, was talking with excitement and anticipation, as the priests were a pretty confident group. Father “Mad Skillz”, Father “We Will Win” and Father “Blue Shorts” were just some of the many people on the Men in Black team that dominated the Youth, once again, with a score of 1-0. Looks like their confidence paid off. Yes, we were crushed, but at least we were uplifted by an umbrella talk shared by the commentators. Besides, many Youth ended up switching sides and cheering for the priests anyways.
The great sacrifice of the Mass was celebrated by Archbishop Michael Miller after more moving and informative talks and an EXTREMELY fun (and random) social. I was given the privilege of proclaiming God’s Word at Mass and it was a great experience to do so.
Adoration followed after dinner, and it was accompanied by a touching talk by Deacon Brian Duggan. It was an amazing experience to be able to enter Adoration with five hundred plus other people alongside you. Joia Farmer and the band did an amazing job during adoration and to end off the night.
Overall, I think this Youth Day meant a lot to me because I ALLOWED it to mean so much to me. The talks really moved me and convinced me that I need to have a better effort to connect with God. And at the end of it all, we have to remember that what we learn and do at Youth Day isn’t just one day and then it’s over. We must continue the evangelization and spirit for the rest of our lives, and constantly ask God to guide us in our lives. We are never alone because we are one Church – a Church that supports each other in times of need. This was truly experienced at Youth Day. We need to remain ROOTED in God, and build up strong so neither birds, nor rocks, nor thorns can stop us from proclaiming the Truth of God to the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment