At Catholic Youth Convention in Olympia, teens build relationships with each other, God

OLYMPIA — The gym at St. Michael Parish School was packed Nov. 4 with joyful teenagers — cheering, singing and laughing — at “Revival,” this year’s Catholic Youth Convention.

“You’re bringing the Eucharistic fire!” emcee Aires Patulot declared as students competed in a version of “Name That Tune.”

About 450 teens and chaperones from 32 parishes attended the daylong event for high school students. It featured inspiring speakers, games, adoration, and time for reflection and confession — which saw a flood of teens waiting for the seven priests on hand to hear their confessions.

In addition to the structured program, students could visit information booths about the archdiocese’s vocations office, Agape Service Project, St. Placid Priory, Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace, UW Newman Center and Camp Solanus.

‘God brings us here’

The number of attendees was a surprise — a good one — for the Archdiocese of Seattle’s Youth Ministry Services team, who were expecting 250 to 300 teens to attend.

“About a week before, we had about 350 people registered,” said Kimberly Abadir, director of youth ministry services. “We were thrilled with these numbers, and then we received a lot of last-minute ‘We’re coming!’ emails as well as walk-ins.”

But Abadir was not complaining. “It was such a wonderful blessing to welcome everyone,” she said.

“Everyone” represented all 10 of the archdiocese’s deaneries — “as far as Ferndale in the north, Battle Ground in the south, and Sequim from the peninsula,” Abadir said. “We even had a youth group from Ellensburg join us.” 

Laura Valle brought the group from St. Andrew Parish in Ellensburg. It’s an effort she makes every year.

“God brings us here,” Valle said. “I invite everyone. If you only bring one, you (still) go.”

‘The fire to transform us’

Students heard two keynote speeches: In the morning, “Encounter the Eucharist,” given by Selena Hieu Ngo, national vice president of administrative affairs for the Vietnamese Eucharistic Youth Movement in the United States, and after lunch, “Discover Fire,” presented by Father Carlos Orozco, priest administrator of Holy Spirit Parish in Kent and the archdiocese’s associate vocations director for the Hispanic community.

He reflected on his life story — from being a child in Mexico, to moving to the U.S. when he was 8, to his father leaving their family, to feeling on fire for the Lord in his teens. He even recalled attending a Catholic youth conference as a teen.

“I’d never seen so many Catholic teens together,” he said. “I liked it.”

But Father Orozco also talked about feeling that fire die — and not being sure if he believed in God. He prayed through his doubt; he begged God to give him a sign. He eventually got that sign during a Holy Thursday Mass, and he felt the Lord call him to a vocation.

“The Eucharist has the fire to transform us,” he told the rapt crowd. “Give Jesus the power to encounter you — if you’re anxious, indifferent to your faith, worried about your future.”  

The keynote speeches and the time gathered as one entire group were among Angelina Dawn’s favorite parts of the day.

In the keynotes, “everyone is participating, listening, singing. There’s no judging,” said Dawn, a member of Holy Family Parish in Auburn. “I liked hearing other people’s stories and journeys with God.”

“I really liked Father Carlos’ talk about fire,” said Ancilla Pele, also from Holy Family in Auburn. “It motivated me” to connect with faith, she said.

‘Grow closer to God’

In the afternoon, students and chaperones headed to St. Michael Church for adoration and confession. Several of the young adults said it was a highlight of the event.

It was “a good time to reflect and grow closer to God,” said Austin Kimani of Holy Spirit Parish in Kent.

Cyril Areopagita, a member of St. Michael Parish in Olympia and a student at Pope John Paul II High School in Lacey, said kneeling before the Blessed Sacrament with contemplative music being sung moved her.   

“I started crying in the moment,” she said. “The music was really nice. I think we all had a lot of vulnerability.”

There were seven priests on hand to hear confessions — and it wasn’t enough to meet the demand.

After a period of music and prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, teens swarmed the confessionals and narthex where priests were stationed. Some lines stayed 12- to 15-people deep throughout the Holy Hour. When it was time to move onto breakout sessions, Patulot, the emcee, encouraged the students whose confessions weren’t heard to make time to go at their parishes.

“We stretched the time as long as we could, continuing through our afternoon break, but we had to move on with our afternoon breakout sessions, which some of our priests were leading,” Abadir said. And some of spaces the convention was using for confession were needed for the vigil Mass at St. Michael, she said.

“Luckily, three of our priests were able to stay and offer reconciliation during free time and dinner,” Abadir said. “We believe everyone who wanted to receive the sacrament of reconciliation was able to do so.”

Getting ‘a bigger picture’ of the church

While adoration and confession were important to the students, they said they also loved being together.

“The group activities build good connections between parishes, especially the games and talks,” Pele said.

Areopagita said the breakout session talks gave her perspective on others’ lives and fostered a sense of understanding.

“As teens, we get trapped in our own bubble,” she said. “Other people have different lives, and we have to learn to be humble and love people here.”

Jocelyn Vargas, a member of St. Andrew in Ellensburg, was excited to attend the convention because it “gives us a chance to get closer to God, meet new people,” she said. “It’s about connecting. … It gives you a bigger picture” of the church, she said.

It’s this sense of community that keeps Kelsey Heintz coming back.

Heintz, a volunteer with the youth ministry program at St. Mary Magdalen Parish in Everett, attended her first Catholic Youth Convention when she was a freshman at Bothell High School.

She had never seen so many Catholic kids gathered.

“It convinced me to stay Catholic,” the 25-year-old said. “It was fun. ... I came for four years.”

Heintz said she thinks it’s important to bring young people to the convention so they can see they’re not alone and to experience a vibrant, joyful church like she did.

“We have a huge youth group,” Heintz said. “It’s hard to reach everyone,” but bringing them to the convention helps them encounter Christ and connect with other teens, she explained.   

Patulot, the event emcee, who is director of campus ministry at Bellarmine Preparatory School in Tacoma, echoed that in his remarks before dinner.

“These are your friends, allies who have your back, praying for you,” he said. “We can’t do this alone.”

More from Youth Ministry Services

“We will continue to point our young people toward the Eucharist in the months leading up to the National Eucharistic Congress in July,” Kimberly Abadir said. 

This includes PNW Adoration Nights for youth and young adults. These Holy Hours with praise and worship music will take place on the first Saturday of each month from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at parishes throughout the archdiocese. The first one is Dec. 2 at Our Lady Queen of Heaven Church in Tacoma. You can find out more and see other dates and locations on the Youth Ministry website.  

The Middle School Encounter for sixth through eighth graders will be March 2 at Kennedy Catholic High School in Burien. It will have the same theme — Revival — as the high school convention. Abadir says more information about that event will be released soon.