THE GOOD
NEWS
ARCHBISHOP BELTRAN
| JOBS BOX |
| OKLAHOMA CITY ARCHDIOCESE |
| CONTACT US |
| from December 5, 2004 A Prayer for Peace
for A World With Hope Youth Conference Described by Many as 'Awesome'
“Go to confession, at least once a month,” the archbishop said. “Is that too much to ask?” Apparently not. Chet Collins, a teen from Midwest City said the archbishop’s homily “hit the nail right on the head for youth.” He described the Mass as “awesome” and added this final endorsement of the Nov. 19-21 conference held in downtown Oklahoma City. “This conference was an Amazing experience.
If you weren’t there you should go either to the National
Conference in 2005 in Atlanta, Georgia, or the Region
10 Conference in 2006 in Laredo, Texas,” Collins said.
“I would recommend a conference like this to everyone.” That was pretty much the sentiment of the majority who attended the conference. Teens as well as adults. Father Kevin Ratterman of Saint Francis Xavier in Enid said one positive outcome of the Oklahoma City conference was that it has inspired teens to want to attend a national conference. “Two kids came into my office a few days after the conference and they were still singing the songs they heard in Oklahoma City,” Father Ratterman said. He said the amount of “energy” produced by the Region X conference is bound to carry over in the Catholic youth of Oklahoma. “So many of these kids, especially here in Oklahoma, had never experienced anything like this with so many other Catholics their own age,” Father Ratterman said. “The organizers really did a great job getting the youth involved mentally, physically and spiritually with the activities at the conference.” Archbishop Beltran said he was very pleased with the way the young Catholics from Oklahoma, Texas and Arkansas came together to share fellowship and worship. “What an inspiration it was to see hundreds and hundreds of young Catholic people coming together for the recent youth convention,” Archbishop Beltran said. “The enthusiasm and dynamism of these young people were heartening. Here we had real proof that our young people are truly faith-filled. Their conduct and decorum were outstanding. They were prayerful and attentive. They gave all of us great hope for the future of our Church and our country. God has blessed these young people in countless ways and they have positively and joyfully responded. Praise the Lord!” This was the first youth conference for David and Kim Warren, a couple from El Reno, who took on the task of chaperoning a group of teens. “We took six youth who had never been to a Catholic youth conference,” Kim Warren said. “The first night, we were thrilled to find our youth clapping to the inspirational music of the band. By the second day, our group was running up to the stage dancing and singing the word of God. The teens also related well to the dynamic keynote speaker, Doug Brummel. He did an awesome job of teaching us more about our Catholic faith, while making us laugh at his comedic characters.” She said the pilgrimage to the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial was one of the most powerful and prayerful moments of the weekend. That was especially true when Alynna Aleman, a Catholic teen from Texas, walked over to one of the memorial chairs and sat down in it. At first this startled many in the group, the memorial chairs are off limits to visitors. But a few moments later they learned Alynna’s father, Lucio Aleman Jr., was one of those killed in the 1995 bombing. The tears began to flow and the prayers for peace grew more intense. “This conference inspired our entire group and strengthened our relationship with Christ,” said Kim Warren. Father Edward Weisenburger, Vicar General, said he was very impressed by what he witnessed at the youth conference. “I was only able to spend a couple of hours at the Region 10 Youth Conference, but I was tremendously impressed by what I saw,” Father Weisenburger said. “Months of intense work culminated in a wonderful and faith-filled event. Special thanks to Nancy Housh and Becky Jamie for making all of us in Oklahoma City look good.” Housh and Jamie coordinate the Youth
and Young Adult Ministry for the archdiocese. They spent
months with volunteers and Region 10 personnel planning
and preparing for the youth conference. A number of firsts occurred at this conference including setting a room aside specifically for Euch- aristic Adoration. Housh said the prayer and worship sessions were very gratifying to her and she called the music “incredible.” “We have some very talented people in this archdiocese and some very dedicated priests,” she said. Housh said teens, especially those
living in rural areas, benefit from being with so many
other Catholic young people. She told of one young girl
who said how thrilled she was to be at this conference. |
