Last night we stayed over at the hotel but only ate breakfast and left for the airport in the morning. But before we packed up and got ready to leave we ended our trip with Saturday's official ending of NCYC 2009. It was a pretty great day though my mind put a sort of closing edge to the day whereas Friday was more spiritual and moving. Fortunately it was a great end to the trip filled with fun and enabled us to wrap up what we'd learned and prepare for what awaited us at home.
We started off the day on a good note with a nice and hot breakfast (which we didn't think we would have because the bus was leaving earlier than the time the hotel said hot breakfast would be out). Then we headed off to the overwhelming Sprint Center for our morning program.
The Program started when Righteous B and others invited people to come nearer to the stage and they sang and rapped their own versions of a few popular songs. I liked this start to the day because the loudness of everything certainly woke me up and it started the day with something fun and exciting. After Righteous B was done with his songs, a few teens gave witness talks to everyone which I thought was pretty awesome.. although some of the people that went on my 9th grade retreat and gave witness talks that were better, one of the one's given in the Sprint Center was pretty amazing. It was given by a junior who had gone through chemotherapy as a 7 year old for a brain tumor but miraculously survived. His talk has taught me to keep going and always to have faith in God. To live through God and let him take the reigns of my life. It really inspired me to build my faith and made me think "If a 7 year old kid could trust in God and overcome such a large obstacle through God's miracle then I really should give myself up to the Holy Spirit and let God write my life instead of me desperately hanging on to my own stolen pen."
After morning program I went to 2 workshops: the first one where we asked a bishop questions (which was pretty cool to see what he had to say about our faith and what someone of such faith thinks of some of the big issues pressing on us today.) and the second: what to do with faith when high school is over (which wasn't as helpful as I expected but still encouraged me to think of what kind of life i want to have in the future).
We also all went to a comedy show which consisted of: juggling, a priest doing magic tricks, stories of a family making a cake for the family of a person they thought was dead but really was alive, a hilarious stand up comedian, and a performance from Popple accompanied by Rangeley, Joe, and Connor as back up dancers :). It was so much fun to just let loose and have a good time with everyone there.
Then we went out to an amazing dinner with St. John's from Hopkinton (which the 3 girls i roomed with are from). It was a great ending dinner and sent me home with many fun and lasting memories.
The last thing we did was go to mass. It was amazing.. Although my mind kind of wandered a little during some parts, the total effect of that many people, that many kids and that many priests, coming together and all sharing the body of Christ was sooo empowering. And hearing all 20,000 individual voices become one when singing and responding was incredible. It was an astonishing experience that I wouldn't have missed for the world.
So tonight i sit here a changed person. Different than when i left for Kansas City. I've learned so much in the past couple of days that it was impossible not to come home as the same person. I've now seen the unity of the church and I've seen how big we all really are. Before I never really considered how huge the Catholic world is. I was even ashamed when I had a church thing that would rule over a social event because people would talk down the church and i would feel outnumbered compared to those who don't believe and aren't as strong in their faith. But now having learned that I'm not alone in my struggles to keep my faith going and that there are 20,000 kids who were willing to give up their weekend just like me to get the opportunity to grow with God. I now write this blog in a new chapter of my life in which I stand up for my faith and do anything to strengthen it and keep the fire burning. I also have realized the power of the Catholic people. I've seen what can happen when people get together and work together. and have seen that together we can move mountains and make a difference in the world.
So with the end of my old chapters of life, i head into the new ones with my head held high, ready to embrace the struggles and obstacles that will get in my way and ready to stick together to change the world. I hope I can inspire all of you here to learn and realize all that I've learned and to help you all see what I've seen and that we can make a difference even if it is only a small one.
I'd like to thank everyone who made this trip possible. Everyone at NCYC for the amazing experiences and new knowledge, Kate, the group from Hopkinton, Connor, Joe, Rangeley, Kevin, and especially Dan O. for providing me with one of the most amazing experiences i could have asked for. thank you soooooooooo much. I can't even express how much this has meant to me.
Thanks for reading :) (sorry it was so long)
God Bless! <3
Sunday, November 22, 2009
the alpha, the omega, the beginning and the end...
so yesterday was the end of NCYC. it started out with the opening session. then i went to a workshop called Super Saint's. where the man named Robert Feduccia talked about different saint's and how they lived their lives. in particular he talked about St. Augustine and his mother St. Monica. he said that his mother has like St. Monica in which she was always the one taking him to church and be all holy. he told us that St. Monica said quote " If we were who we are, then we can set the world on fire". which if we gather as a whole, not as individuals, but as wholes then we can change the world. then after that me, rangeley, and connor went to a seminar called taking faith to college. there we learned about balance, of time for both school work and for the working of our faith.
then after that came a moment only some could dream of doing. the 3 of us danced on stage with Popple!! connor was in a blow up costume of a deer, i was in a blow up costume of a bull, and rangeley had a furry hat/face mask. we danced like there was no tomorrow. poor connor, his suit had not inflated right so it started to deflate on him. but mine was good. we had a ball dancing even if it was for like 5 minutes.
then as a group st johns of Chelmsford and of Hopkintin at dinner at Bull Dogs. eating dinner like a family. talking, laughing, praying, having a great time like any family would do at dinner. then came the finally to such a great few days. and no other way to close this amazing experience then with the mass. in the nose bleed seats of the Sprint Center seeing the entire arena pray and sing and worship as a whole was the greatest thing i have ever seen!
then the bitter sweet end to NCYC. bad because it was finally over and it felt like it had just started. but good because now we can take what we have learned in the past 4 days and pass it on to the youth of our parish, the church of today.
just a moment to thank kate for everything that she has done these past few days, making sure we are up and ready to get on the bus, making us laugh, being there to talk to, and giving me and connor and chelsea and rangeley and kevin the opportunity to come to this NCYC.
well now that I'm home there is only one thing left to do..sleep in my own bed and try to get more then 5 hours of sleep.
-peace
then after that came a moment only some could dream of doing. the 3 of us danced on stage with Popple!! connor was in a blow up costume of a deer, i was in a blow up costume of a bull, and rangeley had a furry hat/face mask. we danced like there was no tomorrow. poor connor, his suit had not inflated right so it started to deflate on him. but mine was good. we had a ball dancing even if it was for like 5 minutes.
then as a group st johns of Chelmsford and of Hopkintin at dinner at Bull Dogs. eating dinner like a family. talking, laughing, praying, having a great time like any family would do at dinner. then came the finally to such a great few days. and no other way to close this amazing experience then with the mass. in the nose bleed seats of the Sprint Center seeing the entire arena pray and sing and worship as a whole was the greatest thing i have ever seen!
then the bitter sweet end to NCYC. bad because it was finally over and it felt like it had just started. but good because now we can take what we have learned in the past 4 days and pass it on to the youth of our parish, the church of today.
just a moment to thank kate for everything that she has done these past few days, making sure we are up and ready to get on the bus, making us laugh, being there to talk to, and giving me and connor and chelsea and rangeley and kevin the opportunity to come to this NCYC.
well now that I'm home there is only one thing left to do..sleep in my own bed and try to get more then 5 hours of sleep.
-peace
Saturday (last day of conference)
the last day of NCYC was bitter sweet. It was full with a great morning program and a great mass to close the weekend. The event that I would like to talk about is mass. When we go to weekly mass st our own parishes we often forget that being catholic means more than belonging to a church. It means you belong to THE church. Basically seeing a mass with a crowd that filled an arena, enough Priests alone to fill ST Johns back home, and several Bishops accompanied by a Cardinal made me realize something. That the church is big, in fact its massive. This got me thinking. What if everyone in this stadium brings back things from this conference and shares it with, lets say five, people back home. That's 125000 lives that could be changed! so the closing mass gave set me on a mission. As i was singing, feeling the vibrations caused by a sea of catholics praying with one voice, I knew. I need to take in all this energy so i can go home ready to share it with ones who weren't able to experience NCYC. I heard talks, met at a Bishop round table, made great bonds, and had my view of the Church totally changed. And I'm taking it all home with me. I thank god for giving me the opportunity to go on this trip and deeply thank Kate, Kevin, Chelsea, Joe, and Connor for, well, being Awesome. NCYC has been a blessing. And I hope that i can bless others with even just a little of the blessings god has bestowed on me. Thanks for reading, may gods peace be with you!
-Rangeley
-Rangeley
Reflections from the Youth Minister! (sorry it's a little long!)
I know, I know!! I have yet to post. To be honest with you all it's come between getting sleep (the limited 4-5 hours a night I've been getting) or taking an hour or so to blog each night. Sorry - sleep has won - but not tonight! I just finished a processing session with the kids about the whole conference and boy do I have a lot on my mind!
First, WOW WOW WOW!! These teens are absolutely INCREDIBLE! It has been a dream of mine since I experienced my first NCYC in November of 2007 in Columbus, OH to take a group of teens! And this dream has come true and WAAAYYY surpassed all my hopes for it! I have had a VERY humbling last 4 days. Very humbling. I was walking back from the morning general session this morning with Connor and Chelsea and I asked them what their favorite thing was so far about NCYC. They rattled off Matt Maher, to adoration, to doing "the wave" at the Sprint center (which I can't help but call - the Spirit Center!), to the Eucharistic Procession, to just being with 23,000 other Catholic Teens just like them. I loved my walk this morning with them - I loved listening to them rattle awesome things off and hear them laugh about everything that's happened. My heart was smiling listening to them talk. Then Chelsea turned the table onto me. "What's been your favorite thing Kate?" Hmmmmm... I wasn't expecting that! (Usually I ask, they answer!) I took a little bit to think. I agreed with all they said! Matt Maher was INCREDIBLE, adoration at XLT was awesome, Mike Patin was an incredible speaker, the Popple concert at KC Live was amazing... but as cheesy as it sounds... my favorite has been experiencing this whole experience along side 5 of the most incredible teens! It's been awesome to be right there in the moment with them while at the same time being able to sit back and watch. It makes me wish that I could have worn a secret hidden camera all weekend so that I could show you all what I get the privilege to be a witness too and to be a party of.
So a quick recap - Wednesday was travel day - and a long one at that. After a little "lost wallet" panic - we were off to Kansas City via Detroit! I've flown numerous times being responsible for teens and i've got to say - this has been the easiest! Once we arrived in Kansas City and after waiting about an hour for our bus to pick us up we settled into the Drury Inn! A late night Denny's stop was in order as we were very hungry! Thursday brought a later morning (for the kids - I still had to get up for an adult meeting!) We loaded the buses (all of Region 1 is staying at the hotel - so it's 2 coach buses and a 12 passenger van that take us to and from the conference each day.) Once at the Convention Center it was off to see POPPLE at the Popple booth first! Dan and Kyle are good friends and have come to know many of our teens - including 4 out of the 5 with us! We hung out with them a little, the we wandered the Reign Forrest - it was FREE gift time! :) We sat and ate lunch together and wandered some more. Then we grabbed dinner, courtesy of Kathy Stebbins and the Office of New Evangelization in Boston (thanks Kathy!) Then we went to the Opening General Session in the Ballroom. It was a great night! I got to stand and watch them all dance and sing and laugh and smile and meet new people and be the crazy goofy kids that I know them to be! It brought tears to my eyes... (which isn't too difficult these days!) Then we loaded the buses and came back to the hotel. We headed to Denny's again for desserts - which took forever and a day... so we made a pact that we wouldn't head back to Denny's again! HAHA! Friday morning came very quickly! It was our first morning at the Sprint Center and that was a site for everyone!! Over 20,000 teens in 1 building praying and singing together is a HUGE site in itself! (I promise - I'll post the pics very soon!) Then off to workshops we went! I headed to "The Bible - the #1 Best Seller" with Rangeley. Mark Hart was the presenter and he's known as "the Bible Geek." I've heard him a few times before and he is dynamic! He has a way to bring the Bible alive!! We all met up afterwards to each lunch and then we went all together to XLT (Lifeteen's version of LIFT!) Matt Maher was doing the music and Paul George was the speaker. All around an AMAZING experience! Then we all went to Hall B for Mike Patin's session on Athletes and Faith. Mike is yet another dynamic speaker and a good friend of Jim Flanagan's. Popple also was the warm up band for Mike! A good time had by all! Then we went down into KC Lights for dinner... after wandering in and out of restaurants for about a 1/2 hour we finally found a restaurant that had less than a 30 minute wait. Johnny's Tavern it was and boy it was yummy!! :) Then off to the general session for the evening! Jason and Crystalina Evertt were the keynotes and they were amazing to say the least! I honestly wondered how our kids were going to like them cause they've all heard them before since Jason comes to our parish every other year! But they all LOVED them! Then back to the hotel (this time I was armed with Oreo's, EL Fudgekins, and chips ahoy so no Denny's for us!) The kids have been great (as you've been reading) about blogging! They are really thinking about it and taking it to heart! (Although I never fathomed how long it would take them to blog each night!)
And onto Saturday. Last morning general session - where they all learned "The Catholic Dance!" Ask them when you see them! They'll show you it!! :) Then they went off to their workshops - most went to Bishop Round Tables - Joe went to a session on Super Hero's - our Catholic Saints! What did I go to? Well, I spent the morning meeting with Catholic Heart Workcamp higher-ups, and wandering the Reign Forrest to find just the right gift for each teen. I also helped out at the Popple booth - cause man are they popular and very very busy!! (yeah popple!!) The kids met me when they were done for lunch. After lunch they all went off to their last workshops on Discernment themes. I had yet to find the PERFECT gift so I stayed at the Popple booth and planned to wander some more. But Dan Harms (of popple) "misplaced" his Ukulele so his Girlfriend, Meghan, and I went on a little wild goose chase to find it! And find it we did (well Kyle did!) - in their booth of all places! Go figure! haha! I did finally figure out what to get them all... it went over pretty well tonight too if I do say so myself! Ask them what they got when you see them next! Kyle asked me if Joe, Range, and Connor would be willing to dress up and dance around the stage while they performed at the Comedy Club this afternoon. So I sent the boys a text and very quickly had a unanimous response of YES! So they came and met up with me and Popple to figure out what they were doing! We met up with Chelsea and Kevin along with Jim's crew for the Comedy Club! Which, yes, was very comedic! The boys did what they do best - be silly and goofy and danced behind Popple! Definitely a high light for me - as for them too I believe! We made reservations at a restaurant for dinner tonight with Jim's crew at a place called "Bull Dog." It was good and we laughed a lot!! Then off to the closing general session and Mass. We had nose bleed seats - but we had a great view! Mass was of course - incredible! A few hundred priests, deacons and Bishops and 20,000+ teens all praying and worshiping together - can we say CHILLS?
All in all it's been an incredible 4 days. Emotional, humbling, Christ Centered, prayerful, and fun! These are 5 leaders. 5 Cream of the Crop. 5 faith filled, Christ loving, CATHOLIC Teens. 5 teens who are going to change the world. 5 teens who touch my life. 5 teens who bring tears to my eyes when I look into their eyes - because their eyes twinkle with God's love. I can see into their hearts - hearts that are on FIRE for Our Lord. Hearts that want to do good, hearts that want to grow in relationship with Christ, hearts that want to make a difference, hearts that love, hearts that break, hearts that are soooo very large, hearts that are carefully wrapped and loved and held by Our Father. 5 teens who have left imprints on my heart that will never ever go away. 5 teens who I firmly believe represent their peers. 5 teens that will come back to St. John's renewed, alive and ready to lead their peers. 5 teens who ARE the Church - not of tomorrow - but of TODAY. 5 teens who represent and remind me daily why I do what I do. I received the most backwards compliment tonight from one of them during our processing of the conference. They were talking about how it has been an awesome 4 days.. but that they felt like something was missing. That they were still craving/looking for something. An analogy was used. It was said that it's like they are in AP Calc, but this weekend they were taking Pre-Algebra Classes. They were looking for the AP classes - or the upper level college courses. I layed there on the floor diverting my eyes to hide the tears that were quickly forming, I said a prayer of thanksgiving. That was the BEST compliment I could ever have gotten. I've done my job. I've done exactly what i had set out to do - grow teens closer to Christ. Lead teens into personal relationships with Christ. Not just be fun and games and a prayer here or there... but authentic prayer, depth of our faith, getting dirty in our faith, getting in deep waters with Christ. If they leave with anything from this week - I know in my heart they are leaving knowing that they are on the right path; that they are leaps and bounds ahead of their peers; that Christ is their friend - and that they have 5 other people who have experienced the exact same weekend as they did and are trying to live the life that Christ is calling them to live. That they have a Youth Minister who loves them, cares deeply about them, believes in them, prayers for them, and regardless where I am - close by or far away - a youth minister they can call a friend - a youth minister who is always there for them - a youth minister whose life is better because they are in it.
To Jenn, Tom, Andrea, Dan, Joan, Joe, Julie, Keith and Terrie: THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for raising such AMAZING, INCREDIBLE, INSPIRING, FUNNY, LOVING, CARING, AUTHENTIC teenagers. It is because of YOU that they have the foundations that they have to build upon. It is because of you and your love and your support and encouragement that they are growing into being the most amazing young men and women. It is through you that they experience God's love first hand day in and day out. Because of you - my life is better.
To Chelsea, Connor, Joe, Kevin, and Rangeley: THANK YOU for this NCYC. Thank you for being the incredible teens you are. Thank you for believing in me. Thank you for saying "Yes" to the call to lead. Thank you for trusting me to take you on this faith journey. Thank you for touching my heart day in and day out. Thank you for showing me God's love. Thank you for being the Face of Christ, the hands of Christ, the feet of Christ and having a servants heart. I love you guys!
Thanks to everyone who's been following our journey and praying for us! Know we've been praying for you all every single day - lots of times a day! You've been lifted up in prayers of thanksgiving this whole time!!
Pictures and more reflection posts to come..... Time for bed... 6:15 comes in about 4 hours! See you all once we're home! God love you all!
First, WOW WOW WOW!! These teens are absolutely INCREDIBLE! It has been a dream of mine since I experienced my first NCYC in November of 2007 in Columbus, OH to take a group of teens! And this dream has come true and WAAAYYY surpassed all my hopes for it! I have had a VERY humbling last 4 days. Very humbling. I was walking back from the morning general session this morning with Connor and Chelsea and I asked them what their favorite thing was so far about NCYC. They rattled off Matt Maher, to adoration, to doing "the wave" at the Sprint center (which I can't help but call - the Spirit Center!), to the Eucharistic Procession, to just being with 23,000 other Catholic Teens just like them. I loved my walk this morning with them - I loved listening to them rattle awesome things off and hear them laugh about everything that's happened. My heart was smiling listening to them talk. Then Chelsea turned the table onto me. "What's been your favorite thing Kate?" Hmmmmm... I wasn't expecting that! (Usually I ask, they answer!) I took a little bit to think. I agreed with all they said! Matt Maher was INCREDIBLE, adoration at XLT was awesome, Mike Patin was an incredible speaker, the Popple concert at KC Live was amazing... but as cheesy as it sounds... my favorite has been experiencing this whole experience along side 5 of the most incredible teens! It's been awesome to be right there in the moment with them while at the same time being able to sit back and watch. It makes me wish that I could have worn a secret hidden camera all weekend so that I could show you all what I get the privilege to be a witness too and to be a party of.
So a quick recap - Wednesday was travel day - and a long one at that. After a little "lost wallet" panic - we were off to Kansas City via Detroit! I've flown numerous times being responsible for teens and i've got to say - this has been the easiest! Once we arrived in Kansas City and after waiting about an hour for our bus to pick us up we settled into the Drury Inn! A late night Denny's stop was in order as we were very hungry! Thursday brought a later morning (for the kids - I still had to get up for an adult meeting!) We loaded the buses (all of Region 1 is staying at the hotel - so it's 2 coach buses and a 12 passenger van that take us to and from the conference each day.) Once at the Convention Center it was off to see POPPLE at the Popple booth first! Dan and Kyle are good friends and have come to know many of our teens - including 4 out of the 5 with us! We hung out with them a little, the we wandered the Reign Forrest - it was FREE gift time! :) We sat and ate lunch together and wandered some more. Then we grabbed dinner, courtesy of Kathy Stebbins and the Office of New Evangelization in Boston (thanks Kathy!) Then we went to the Opening General Session in the Ballroom. It was a great night! I got to stand and watch them all dance and sing and laugh and smile and meet new people and be the crazy goofy kids that I know them to be! It brought tears to my eyes... (which isn't too difficult these days!) Then we loaded the buses and came back to the hotel. We headed to Denny's again for desserts - which took forever and a day... so we made a pact that we wouldn't head back to Denny's again! HAHA! Friday morning came very quickly! It was our first morning at the Sprint Center and that was a site for everyone!! Over 20,000 teens in 1 building praying and singing together is a HUGE site in itself! (I promise - I'll post the pics very soon!) Then off to workshops we went! I headed to "The Bible - the #1 Best Seller" with Rangeley. Mark Hart was the presenter and he's known as "the Bible Geek." I've heard him a few times before and he is dynamic! He has a way to bring the Bible alive!! We all met up afterwards to each lunch and then we went all together to XLT (Lifeteen's version of LIFT!) Matt Maher was doing the music and Paul George was the speaker. All around an AMAZING experience! Then we all went to Hall B for Mike Patin's session on Athletes and Faith. Mike is yet another dynamic speaker and a good friend of Jim Flanagan's. Popple also was the warm up band for Mike! A good time had by all! Then we went down into KC Lights for dinner... after wandering in and out of restaurants for about a 1/2 hour we finally found a restaurant that had less than a 30 minute wait. Johnny's Tavern it was and boy it was yummy!! :) Then off to the general session for the evening! Jason and Crystalina Evertt were the keynotes and they were amazing to say the least! I honestly wondered how our kids were going to like them cause they've all heard them before since Jason comes to our parish every other year! But they all LOVED them! Then back to the hotel (this time I was armed with Oreo's, EL Fudgekins, and chips ahoy so no Denny's for us!) The kids have been great (as you've been reading) about blogging! They are really thinking about it and taking it to heart! (Although I never fathomed how long it would take them to blog each night!)
And onto Saturday. Last morning general session - where they all learned "The Catholic Dance!" Ask them when you see them! They'll show you it!! :) Then they went off to their workshops - most went to Bishop Round Tables - Joe went to a session on Super Hero's - our Catholic Saints! What did I go to? Well, I spent the morning meeting with Catholic Heart Workcamp higher-ups, and wandering the Reign Forrest to find just the right gift for each teen. I also helped out at the Popple booth - cause man are they popular and very very busy!! (yeah popple!!) The kids met me when they were done for lunch. After lunch they all went off to their last workshops on Discernment themes. I had yet to find the PERFECT gift so I stayed at the Popple booth and planned to wander some more. But Dan Harms (of popple) "misplaced" his Ukulele so his Girlfriend, Meghan, and I went on a little wild goose chase to find it! And find it we did (well Kyle did!) - in their booth of all places! Go figure! haha! I did finally figure out what to get them all... it went over pretty well tonight too if I do say so myself! Ask them what they got when you see them next! Kyle asked me if Joe, Range, and Connor would be willing to dress up and dance around the stage while they performed at the Comedy Club this afternoon. So I sent the boys a text and very quickly had a unanimous response of YES! So they came and met up with me and Popple to figure out what they were doing! We met up with Chelsea and Kevin along with Jim's crew for the Comedy Club! Which, yes, was very comedic! The boys did what they do best - be silly and goofy and danced behind Popple! Definitely a high light for me - as for them too I believe! We made reservations at a restaurant for dinner tonight with Jim's crew at a place called "Bull Dog." It was good and we laughed a lot!! Then off to the closing general session and Mass. We had nose bleed seats - but we had a great view! Mass was of course - incredible! A few hundred priests, deacons and Bishops and 20,000+ teens all praying and worshiping together - can we say CHILLS?
All in all it's been an incredible 4 days. Emotional, humbling, Christ Centered, prayerful, and fun! These are 5 leaders. 5 Cream of the Crop. 5 faith filled, Christ loving, CATHOLIC Teens. 5 teens who are going to change the world. 5 teens who touch my life. 5 teens who bring tears to my eyes when I look into their eyes - because their eyes twinkle with God's love. I can see into their hearts - hearts that are on FIRE for Our Lord. Hearts that want to do good, hearts that want to grow in relationship with Christ, hearts that want to make a difference, hearts that love, hearts that break, hearts that are soooo very large, hearts that are carefully wrapped and loved and held by Our Father. 5 teens who have left imprints on my heart that will never ever go away. 5 teens who I firmly believe represent their peers. 5 teens that will come back to St. John's renewed, alive and ready to lead their peers. 5 teens who ARE the Church - not of tomorrow - but of TODAY. 5 teens who represent and remind me daily why I do what I do. I received the most backwards compliment tonight from one of them during our processing of the conference. They were talking about how it has been an awesome 4 days.. but that they felt like something was missing. That they were still craving/looking for something. An analogy was used. It was said that it's like they are in AP Calc, but this weekend they were taking Pre-Algebra Classes. They were looking for the AP classes - or the upper level college courses. I layed there on the floor diverting my eyes to hide the tears that were quickly forming, I said a prayer of thanksgiving. That was the BEST compliment I could ever have gotten. I've done my job. I've done exactly what i had set out to do - grow teens closer to Christ. Lead teens into personal relationships with Christ. Not just be fun and games and a prayer here or there... but authentic prayer, depth of our faith, getting dirty in our faith, getting in deep waters with Christ. If they leave with anything from this week - I know in my heart they are leaving knowing that they are on the right path; that they are leaps and bounds ahead of their peers; that Christ is their friend - and that they have 5 other people who have experienced the exact same weekend as they did and are trying to live the life that Christ is calling them to live. That they have a Youth Minister who loves them, cares deeply about them, believes in them, prayers for them, and regardless where I am - close by or far away - a youth minister they can call a friend - a youth minister who is always there for them - a youth minister whose life is better because they are in it.
To Jenn, Tom, Andrea, Dan, Joan, Joe, Julie, Keith and Terrie: THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for raising such AMAZING, INCREDIBLE, INSPIRING, FUNNY, LOVING, CARING, AUTHENTIC teenagers. It is because of YOU that they have the foundations that they have to build upon. It is because of you and your love and your support and encouragement that they are growing into being the most amazing young men and women. It is through you that they experience God's love first hand day in and day out. Because of you - my life is better.
To Chelsea, Connor, Joe, Kevin, and Rangeley: THANK YOU for this NCYC. Thank you for being the incredible teens you are. Thank you for believing in me. Thank you for saying "Yes" to the call to lead. Thank you for trusting me to take you on this faith journey. Thank you for touching my heart day in and day out. Thank you for showing me God's love. Thank you for being the Face of Christ, the hands of Christ, the feet of Christ and having a servants heart. I love you guys!
Thanks to everyone who's been following our journey and praying for us! Know we've been praying for you all every single day - lots of times a day! You've been lifted up in prayers of thanksgiving this whole time!!
Pictures and more reflection posts to come..... Time for bed... 6:15 comes in about 4 hours! See you all once we're home! God love you all!
My Final Day
So today was our final day here. Looking back on this day, it was more of a really fun day than anything else. With yesterday probably being my spiritual high point, I used today to wrap up and process in my mind fully what happened to me over this weekend.
Today I had a few cool experiencs. Well today it started off great today because there was breakfast even when we thought there wasn't going to be. First, I went to a roundtable with a Bishop, Bishop Johnston. It was really cool hearing about how a man so devout to his faith struggles in his own faith. He told us that even the Pope goes to confession, something that makes sense but something i never really thought about.
After that i planned to go to a seminar on taking my faith to collegee life and moving on after high school. We were there for half of the seminar when me, Range, and Joe got a great great text from Kate. The text asked if we would want to dress up in animal costumes and dance on the stage during a Popple set...there was no hesitation in our minds.
With over 3,000 people in the audience, Joe (in a blow up bull costume), Rangeley (in a kitten headress/hat thingy), and me (in a blow up deer costume) went up and ran/bounced/danced around on stage behind Popple during their renditions of the Cotton Eye Joe and The Lion King theme song. It was so much fun and a good time i will never forget.
Dinner was great and then we went to general session. Nothing major happened at general session other than the awesome mass. Seeins so many Bishops, Priests, Seminarians, and Deacons all residing over that mass while over 20,000 people went to the same mass at the smae time was amazong. There is no better ending than that. Mass was the kiln to the clay that was molded throughout the weekend. The mass solidified our ties and solidified all we did while we were here.
I've learned a lot, and we as Catholics need to continue learning. The sad things that someone in our group was asked "are there even catholics in MA?". That shows that we need to keep growing strong as a group and make the mark on this world that we can. There is a new evangelization in the works, we are all gears, we are all instruments in the movement, and we need to work together for this movement to work. God is in all that we are, the good and the bad. God is in our hopes, dreams, wants, fears, loves. God pushes out every tear we cry, while at the same time he pulls the strings that lift our mouths into smiles. When you wake up in the morning, God brightens up the world with the sun, then helps you ease into sleep with the moon. We were made in his image, and we all have that joy hidden in us somewhere that God is waiting to pull out of us. God is good all the time, and all the time God is good.
Thank you all for reading these blogs. Thank you to all who made this possible, you've truly changed lives. Love you all!
Love you and God Bless,
Connor Wilkins
Today I had a few cool experiencs. Well today it started off great today because there was breakfast even when we thought there wasn't going to be. First, I went to a roundtable with a Bishop, Bishop Johnston. It was really cool hearing about how a man so devout to his faith struggles in his own faith. He told us that even the Pope goes to confession, something that makes sense but something i never really thought about.
After that i planned to go to a seminar on taking my faith to collegee life and moving on after high school. We were there for half of the seminar when me, Range, and Joe got a great great text from Kate. The text asked if we would want to dress up in animal costumes and dance on the stage during a Popple set...there was no hesitation in our minds.
With over 3,000 people in the audience, Joe (in a blow up bull costume), Rangeley (in a kitten headress/hat thingy), and me (in a blow up deer costume) went up and ran/bounced/danced around on stage behind Popple during their renditions of the Cotton Eye Joe and The Lion King theme song. It was so much fun and a good time i will never forget.
Dinner was great and then we went to general session. Nothing major happened at general session other than the awesome mass. Seeins so many Bishops, Priests, Seminarians, and Deacons all residing over that mass while over 20,000 people went to the same mass at the smae time was amazong. There is no better ending than that. Mass was the kiln to the clay that was molded throughout the weekend. The mass solidified our ties and solidified all we did while we were here.
I've learned a lot, and we as Catholics need to continue learning. The sad things that someone in our group was asked "are there even catholics in MA?". That shows that we need to keep growing strong as a group and make the mark on this world that we can. There is a new evangelization in the works, we are all gears, we are all instruments in the movement, and we need to work together for this movement to work. God is in all that we are, the good and the bad. God is in our hopes, dreams, wants, fears, loves. God pushes out every tear we cry, while at the same time he pulls the strings that lift our mouths into smiles. When you wake up in the morning, God brightens up the world with the sun, then helps you ease into sleep with the moon. We were made in his image, and we all have that joy hidden in us somewhere that God is waiting to pull out of us. God is good all the time, and all the time God is good.
Thank you all for reading these blogs. Thank you to all who made this possible, you've truly changed lives. Love you all!
Love you and God Bless,
Connor Wilkins
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Pray Learn Unity Serve
today was an early morning but it was so worth every last second of it!! we started with opening program which lead into an adoration procession from the Sprint Center back into the convention center. every person marched some in song, some in prayer, some in good spirits, but all in reverence to Jesus. getting towards the convention center and looking behind seeing all the people of the young church was spectacular. i have never seen some many people march for the same purpose. its like taking all the people in Time Square and telling the them to march. its an once in a life time thing to see.
then the workshops started. i went to one call bishop's round table. which is were a bishop comes and talks to a group of youth. in the one i went to i had an Arch-Bishop from Omaha, Nebraska. sadly i forget his name but he was a newly Arch-Bishop and he answered some of the questions that the different kids had. like questions about what is it like being a bishop, is it easy to be a bishop, what qualities nominated for the new position.
next the group and i went to XLT. which is like Lift. which is where a band plays and there is a speaker and adoration to wrap up and some more music played for a bit. the band was Matt Maher. who is an amazing musician.
then the last workshop of the day was done by a man named Mike Patin. it was about faith and sports. how the two are and can be connected. every catholic and athlete can add or to their faith or to theirs efforts to the game. add or P.L.U.S. which stands for Pray, get some sort of quiet time to focus, positive visualisation on what is going to happen, on the game at hand or in our faith. Learn, always learning to improve our poor performance and always learning in our faith. Unity, community, coming together as one as a team and as a church. Serve, serving ourselves to become better athletes and better catholics.
the closing was amazing. at one point a performer was singing a slowish song and asked for everyone to take out their cell phones and wave them around. the sight of 2,000 plus cell phones in the Sprint Center was breathe taking. the lighter's of the 21st century. and to add to the fun the MC had us do the wave in slow motion. which surprisingly was really cool.
cant wait for tomorrow. looking forward to new experiences and finding out more knowledge of my faith.
-peace and love...good night
then the workshops started. i went to one call bishop's round table. which is were a bishop comes and talks to a group of youth. in the one i went to i had an Arch-Bishop from Omaha, Nebraska. sadly i forget his name but he was a newly Arch-Bishop and he answered some of the questions that the different kids had. like questions about what is it like being a bishop, is it easy to be a bishop, what qualities nominated for the new position.
next the group and i went to XLT. which is like Lift. which is where a band plays and there is a speaker and adoration to wrap up and some more music played for a bit. the band was Matt Maher. who is an amazing musician.
then the last workshop of the day was done by a man named Mike Patin. it was about faith and sports. how the two are and can be connected. every catholic and athlete can add or to their faith or to theirs efforts to the game. add or P.L.U.S. which stands for Pray, get some sort of quiet time to focus, positive visualisation on what is going to happen, on the game at hand or in our faith. Learn, always learning to improve our poor performance and always learning in our faith. Unity, community, coming together as one as a team and as a church. Serve, serving ourselves to become better athletes and better catholics.
the closing was amazing. at one point a performer was singing a slowish song and asked for everyone to take out their cell phones and wave them around. the sight of 2,000 plus cell phones in the Sprint Center was breathe taking. the lighter's of the 21st century. and to add to the fun the MC had us do the wave in slow motion. which surprisingly was really cool.
cant wait for tomorrow. looking forward to new experiences and finding out more knowledge of my faith.
-peace and love...good night
fantastic friday
okay, for those of you following, sorry about last nights post. We lost Internet connection halfway through my typing and the entire post was lost. And by the time we realized it was way to late to rewrite it all. so for that, i'm sorry
I'm having a great time here in Kansas city. the sheer scope of this event surprises and amazes me over and over again. as you've read or will read in the other guy's posts we had a busy, busy day. Opening ceremony in the sprint center, procession, workshops, xlt, popple, and Matt Maher. whew, that's a choc full day of deliciousness!
Although I enjoyed everything today, the thing that really hit me the most was the procession form morning ceremony in the Sprint Center to the Convention center. Being a part of the crowd as we took the streets behind the monstrance. Bam! it hit me. just like our faith is one. The father son and holy spirit. Us youth are one. One voice to show the world that Christ is present working in all of us. Trust me, the goosebumps I kept getting while I walked weren't because I was cold. It was as if I could feel the energy of the crowd running through me.
Another part of the day that moved me was hearing a talk given by the Everett's. Jason, and Crystalina Everett are two great speakers who spread the word about cherishing chastity and pure love. I've heard Jason talk before in middle school and in our confirmation program tonight was a great refresher for me. The message that stuck with me is that I should treat every girl how I would want any guy to treat my future bride. I'll admit it I pray for my future wife, wherever she is every so often. Its kind of a mind blowing concept thinking about what your future spouse may be doing right now. Where she might be. Who she might know. Pretty cool. Mostly tonight gave me a chance to mentally re-state where I stand on love. I believe in pure love. And my prayer tonight is for the purity and chastity of those on this pilgrimage, and for my future spouse, who ever, where ever, that she is living her life in Christ.
Tomorrow will come soon, so I''m off to get some rest. Can't wait for sunrise. We are off bright and early tomorrow. whoo! praise Jesus!
Peace,
Rangeley
I'm having a great time here in Kansas city. the sheer scope of this event surprises and amazes me over and over again. as you've read or will read in the other guy's posts we had a busy, busy day. Opening ceremony in the sprint center, procession, workshops, xlt, popple, and Matt Maher. whew, that's a choc full day of deliciousness!
Although I enjoyed everything today, the thing that really hit me the most was the procession form morning ceremony in the Sprint Center to the Convention center. Being a part of the crowd as we took the streets behind the monstrance. Bam! it hit me. just like our faith is one. The father son and holy spirit. Us youth are one. One voice to show the world that Christ is present working in all of us. Trust me, the goosebumps I kept getting while I walked weren't because I was cold. It was as if I could feel the energy of the crowd running through me.
Another part of the day that moved me was hearing a talk given by the Everett's. Jason, and Crystalina Everett are two great speakers who spread the word about cherishing chastity and pure love. I've heard Jason talk before in middle school and in our confirmation program tonight was a great refresher for me. The message that stuck with me is that I should treat every girl how I would want any guy to treat my future bride. I'll admit it I pray for my future wife, wherever she is every so often. Its kind of a mind blowing concept thinking about what your future spouse may be doing right now. Where she might be. Who she might know. Pretty cool. Mostly tonight gave me a chance to mentally re-state where I stand on love. I believe in pure love. And my prayer tonight is for the purity and chastity of those on this pilgrimage, and for my future spouse, who ever, where ever, that she is living her life in Christ.
Tomorrow will come soon, so I''m off to get some rest. Can't wait for sunrise. We are off bright and early tomorrow. whoo! praise Jesus!
Peace,
Rangeley
Now its down to the nitty gritty...
Today was the first day of the real stuff, the workshops!!!
A lot of things hit me today in an awesome way and I'm very happy about all the has happened so far. After having to wake up early it was a very slow start for me today but the workshops woke me right up.
Starting with a lecture/presentation called "Eracism" which basically is aimed at getting rid of prejudices and finding the face of Christ in all you see. We learned a lot about people who give their lives and devote themselves to a certain cause and we were challenged to be "Champions of Diversity". It was a very informative seminar but in reality there wasn't a lot of intensely moving moments of the talk. However, the one thing that hit me really hard and the thing that I will keep with me is that race is an invented thing. We were reminded that race, technically, is an invented thing that isn't DNA or anything like that (I know some of you are saying, well skin color is in DNA, well thats not what race is! haha) . It's something that, as humans, we made up and its something that if we try hard enough, we can move past.
Next we went to XLT with Matt Maher which was just amazing...really nothing more to say.
The last thing that really stood out to me was from the abstinence talk from Jason Evert. I've heard him speak before and i knew what to expect but I really tried paying attention. All of his stories were great and funny but one thing really hit a note with me. He said "Love can't wait to give...lust can't wait to get." In high school, what we all think is love is most likely nothing more than lust. I know through personal experience that lust is a very dangerous thing...mom i know your reading stop cringing its ok!...Staying away from that temptation is huge. Instead of thinking about what i want now or who i want now, i need to think about what will help me in the long run. I'm someone, probably one of the very few guys in high school, who thinks a lot about getting married, and there's nothing I want more than to have kids (again, mom don't worry at the right time!). I need to know that before i do anything i might regret i need to think about my future wife. I need to be the person i want to see in others. Love is an amazing gift, and agape (god's love) is an even greater gift. I continually pray for the day that i will find that rue love, but even more than that i continually pray that i learn more and more each an every day how much God loves me. I pray that each and every day my heart will open up just a little bit more for God, because no greater love than the love a parent has for their kids, and i am God's son.
All these people here show me the amazing love bestowed upon us by God. We are all blessed, in all our troubles, pains, joys, and in our laughter we are truly blessed. We all need to take that time to love and appreciate all that we have. In that, I want to thank God for all of my amazing blessings...mom, dad, mike, kenz, you guys are my rocks, and kate, i wouldn't be where i am without you and i would be half the person i am today, range kevin joe and chels(my other lil sis) thank you guys for sharing this experience with me and we're not done yet there's still a whole other day! All my friends back home, even if some of you don't understand why i do some things with the church or spend lots of time with the church when i could be hanging out with you, you guys are all awesome and support me in my adventures. Everyone in the church who made this possible, and all the volunteers parents and friends who have helped me be the person i am today. I cant thank you all enough, this trip isn't just for me, its for you guys who made me want to come to this because for a while you saw something in me that i didn't see in myself, and now i see that God in myself. I can't believe all this and i still have one more day! These few words are nothing compared to how much i should be thanking all of you, especially my mom dad and kate.
Thank you so much for reading and God bless...
Love,
Connor Wilkins
A lot of things hit me today in an awesome way and I'm very happy about all the has happened so far. After having to wake up early it was a very slow start for me today but the workshops woke me right up.
Starting with a lecture/presentation called "Eracism" which basically is aimed at getting rid of prejudices and finding the face of Christ in all you see. We learned a lot about people who give their lives and devote themselves to a certain cause and we were challenged to be "Champions of Diversity". It was a very informative seminar but in reality there wasn't a lot of intensely moving moments of the talk. However, the one thing that hit me really hard and the thing that I will keep with me is that race is an invented thing. We were reminded that race, technically, is an invented thing that isn't DNA or anything like that (I know some of you are saying, well skin color is in DNA, well thats not what race is! haha) . It's something that, as humans, we made up and its something that if we try hard enough, we can move past.
Next we went to XLT with Matt Maher which was just amazing...really nothing more to say.
The last thing that really stood out to me was from the abstinence talk from Jason Evert. I've heard him speak before and i knew what to expect but I really tried paying attention. All of his stories were great and funny but one thing really hit a note with me. He said "Love can't wait to give...lust can't wait to get." In high school, what we all think is love is most likely nothing more than lust. I know through personal experience that lust is a very dangerous thing...mom i know your reading stop cringing its ok!...Staying away from that temptation is huge. Instead of thinking about what i want now or who i want now, i need to think about what will help me in the long run. I'm someone, probably one of the very few guys in high school, who thinks a lot about getting married, and there's nothing I want more than to have kids (again, mom don't worry at the right time!). I need to know that before i do anything i might regret i need to think about my future wife. I need to be the person i want to see in others. Love is an amazing gift, and agape (god's love) is an even greater gift. I continually pray for the day that i will find that rue love, but even more than that i continually pray that i learn more and more each an every day how much God loves me. I pray that each and every day my heart will open up just a little bit more for God, because no greater love than the love a parent has for their kids, and i am God's son.
All these people here show me the amazing love bestowed upon us by God. We are all blessed, in all our troubles, pains, joys, and in our laughter we are truly blessed. We all need to take that time to love and appreciate all that we have. In that, I want to thank God for all of my amazing blessings...mom, dad, mike, kenz, you guys are my rocks, and kate, i wouldn't be where i am without you and i would be half the person i am today, range kevin joe and chels(my other lil sis) thank you guys for sharing this experience with me and we're not done yet there's still a whole other day! All my friends back home, even if some of you don't understand why i do some things with the church or spend lots of time with the church when i could be hanging out with you, you guys are all awesome and support me in my adventures. Everyone in the church who made this possible, and all the volunteers parents and friends who have helped me be the person i am today. I cant thank you all enough, this trip isn't just for me, its for you guys who made me want to come to this because for a while you saw something in me that i didn't see in myself, and now i see that God in myself. I can't believe all this and i still have one more day! These few words are nothing compared to how much i should be thanking all of you, especially my mom dad and kate.
Thank you so much for reading and God bless...
Love,
Connor Wilkins
Friday, November 20, 2009
striking
Once again, another long day here in Kansas City.. but totally worth it of course :)
Instead of telling you a general overview of the whole day I'm gunna stick to one specific event and talk about that.. :)
So for our second (out of three) workshops/concurrents all 6 of us (kate included) went to XLT which was a lot like lift but with a much shorter adoration period. It was an event of firsts for me because I've never been to lift so I didn't really know what to expect and also it was my first time hearing Matt Maher and his band. It was truely an amazing experience listening to him and finally getting to hear the guy who I've heard a lot about from the others. This was the most moving part of the day for me and was one place where I saw God present. Using Matt as his utencil, God relayed a powerful message and really made the experience hit home. I can't remember exactly what Matt talked about but I will never forget the feeling I felt.. I can't describe it exactly but I can tell you it was amazing. At one point I almost started crying I was so touched (yes yes, I'm the typical girl who crys a lot :) ) But it was an amazing experience that I wish you all could have experienced with me.
If anything I learned that when you're open to God and the Holy Spirit amazing things can happen. So i encourage you all to stay open and learn as much as you can about your faith and relationship with God.
Hopefully I'll have a chance to blog later about the other AWESOME things that happened today, but I'm gunna let the boys make their posts now :)
I'll be praying for you!!
Goodnight, Over and out :)
Instead of telling you a general overview of the whole day I'm gunna stick to one specific event and talk about that.. :)
So for our second (out of three) workshops/concurrents all 6 of us (kate included) went to XLT which was a lot like lift but with a much shorter adoration period. It was an event of firsts for me because I've never been to lift so I didn't really know what to expect and also it was my first time hearing Matt Maher and his band. It was truely an amazing experience listening to him and finally getting to hear the guy who I've heard a lot about from the others. This was the most moving part of the day for me and was one place where I saw God present. Using Matt as his utencil, God relayed a powerful message and really made the experience hit home. I can't remember exactly what Matt talked about but I will never forget the feeling I felt.. I can't describe it exactly but I can tell you it was amazing. At one point I almost started crying I was so touched (yes yes, I'm the typical girl who crys a lot :) ) But it was an amazing experience that I wish you all could have experienced with me.
If anything I learned that when you're open to God and the Holy Spirit amazing things can happen. So i encourage you all to stay open and learn as much as you can about your faith and relationship with God.
Hopefully I'll have a chance to blog later about the other AWESOME things that happened today, but I'm gunna let the boys make their posts now :)
I'll be praying for you!!
Goodnight, Over and out :)
Christ Reigns
So I was almost finished writing this post when somehow it all got deleted!! grrr. Anyway, before I get to breakfast I'll quickly make another summary of our fabulous day.
After a good breakfast at the hotel we headed off to our bus. The ride to the Convention Center was awesome.. Although we made a couple of circles it was nice to see some of the city. When we got to the HUGE center we waited for a little with other groups (many of which had crazy hats) before they let us upstairs and into the "Reign Forest".
We walked around the "Reign Forest" all day.. talking to a lot of great people (including Popple!) and getting a lot of free stuff (YAYYY!! :) ). During the day we went to an outdoor area that was AMAZING (it had space heaters on the ceiling! and the seat cushions were also heated) where we watched Popple perform. We ate a quick dinner, went to one of the coolest masses I've ever been to with a deaf priest. Then we finally went to the opening ceremony of NCYC. WOOO.
Even though we were in the extra room ("overflow") it was an amazing experience. With a lot of singing, dancing, cheering, and tons of love NCYC 2009 has finally begun...
As was said many times last night "We are many, but we are one". Over 23,000 people and 1,000 volunteers coming together to celebrate the love of God. So far the experience has been beyond amazing and I hope I'm at least somewhat relaying that to you all.
I've got to go eat breakfast, but I'll post again tonight or tomorrow morning. Hope you keep reading!!
Thanks! Love you and God Bless!!
After a good breakfast at the hotel we headed off to our bus. The ride to the Convention Center was awesome.. Although we made a couple of circles it was nice to see some of the city. When we got to the HUGE center we waited for a little with other groups (many of which had crazy hats) before they let us upstairs and into the "Reign Forest".
We walked around the "Reign Forest" all day.. talking to a lot of great people (including Popple!) and getting a lot of free stuff (YAYYY!! :) ). During the day we went to an outdoor area that was AMAZING (it had space heaters on the ceiling! and the seat cushions were also heated) where we watched Popple perform. We ate a quick dinner, went to one of the coolest masses I've ever been to with a deaf priest. Then we finally went to the opening ceremony of NCYC. WOOO.
Even though we were in the extra room ("overflow") it was an amazing experience. With a lot of singing, dancing, cheering, and tons of love NCYC 2009 has finally begun...
As was said many times last night "We are many, but we are one". Over 23,000 people and 1,000 volunteers coming together to celebrate the love of God. So far the experience has been beyond amazing and I hope I'm at least somewhat relaying that to you all.
I've got to go eat breakfast, but I'll post again tonight or tomorrow morning. Hope you keep reading!!
Thanks! Love you and God Bless!!
First Day!
Currently feeling like a truck driver, by that I mean sitting at a Denny’s at 12:11 in the morning feeling exhausted and a little annoyed waiting for my wings, the one thing that really helps to cheer me up is thinking about today.
Woke up ready to go, ate a good breakfast, finally got a razor to shave with, and we went to the convention center. Our ride over was exciting, seeing the parts of the city (which, disappointingly, included seeing no fountains until about 4 o’clock in a city which has the second most fountains in any city in the world behind Rome) and it slowly started to hit me what we were doing as we went into the ENOURMOUS convention center. In trying to keep this short and sweet I’m going to just say that we walked around the “Reign Forest” and talked to a lot of cool people and saw cool booths, plus lots of free stuff! We saw Popple at an unbelievably cool outdoor stage/restaurant area. Then went to a sweet mass with a deaf priest, a new experience that I was very happy to experience.
Opening ceremonies, although we were in the “overflow” room was out of this world. (the overflow room, btw still had roughly 3000 people). I found myself getting lost in it all, and I know I felt God pour his love over all of us this night. Since it’s so late, I’m trying to shorten up my post so others can post quicker but I hope that doesn’t take away from you readers understanding the significance of what’s happening here. There are 23,000 kids, my age, all with a love of God. One of my favorite quotes is “never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world, indeed it’s the only thing that ever has”. What we have here isn’t too small, maybe on the large spectrum of things it is, but there’s a lot of us thoughtful committed youth here, all with the same passion and love. God has great things planned for us, I could feel that today…
Stay tuned….
Thanks for reading! Love you all and God Bless
Connor Wilkins
Woke up ready to go, ate a good breakfast, finally got a razor to shave with, and we went to the convention center. Our ride over was exciting, seeing the parts of the city (which, disappointingly, included seeing no fountains until about 4 o’clock in a city which has the second most fountains in any city in the world behind Rome) and it slowly started to hit me what we were doing as we went into the ENOURMOUS convention center. In trying to keep this short and sweet I’m going to just say that we walked around the “Reign Forest” and talked to a lot of cool people and saw cool booths, plus lots of free stuff! We saw Popple at an unbelievably cool outdoor stage/restaurant area. Then went to a sweet mass with a deaf priest, a new experience that I was very happy to experience.
Opening ceremonies, although we were in the “overflow” room was out of this world. (the overflow room, btw still had roughly 3000 people). I found myself getting lost in it all, and I know I felt God pour his love over all of us this night. Since it’s so late, I’m trying to shorten up my post so others can post quicker but I hope that doesn’t take away from you readers understanding the significance of what’s happening here. There are 23,000 kids, my age, all with a love of God. One of my favorite quotes is “never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world, indeed it’s the only thing that ever has”. What we have here isn’t too small, maybe on the large spectrum of things it is, but there’s a lot of us thoughtful committed youth here, all with the same passion and love. God has great things planned for us, I could feel that today…
Stay tuned….
Thanks for reading! Love you all and God Bless
Connor Wilkins
Day 1 of NCYC
So today was the first day of the real conference itself, which was mostly walking around the different booths. Which, by the way, are in a place called “The Reign Forest”, which is a particularly fantastic pun.
We went around to all kinds of different stands, and saw all kinds of examples of faith, from great Catholic music to a nun playing basketball. We got a lot of freebies, but also were exposed to a ton of aspects of faith.
After we saw a lot of the Forest, we got to walk down to “Kansas City Live”, an outdoor (yet heated) courtyard, where we saw Popple (an awesome Catholic band who are friends with Kate) perform a bunch of songs that really got the crowd laughing. And all the Hopkinton people with us that had never seen Popple before (and Chelsea) all thought they were awesome. Then we went to daily Mass.
Daily Mass was incredible. Besides us and the Hopkinton folks, there’s a group of deaf youth here, part of a larger deaf community joining us. Now, you’re probably thinking, “That’s cool, but a bit of a non-sequitur after introducing daily Mass.” Except that the priest was deaf too. It was really incredible to witness a Mass presided in sign language. There was an interpreter with a microphone, but the fact that we could witness that communication was really cool.
After Mass was the Opening Ceremonies. We wound up in the Grand Ballroom, which is technically the “overflow” room (full of about 3,000 people) from the Sprint Center, but it was really great, especially getting to see the Catholic musician Jesse Manibusan (who we had met earlier) on our stage while the majority in the Sprint Center had to watch on a screen. The opening band, Ceili Raine, was really energizing Irish-style Christian music, and a great way to kick off the Convention. The director of the National Federation of Catholic Youth Ministers actually rappelled down out of the rafters to introduce the theme of “Show up, Step up, and Step out”, calling us all to be faithful disciples.
Overall, the first day was great, and I’m really looking forward to the concurrent sessions and workshops tomorrow to get into the meat of the Convention. It should be fun and faith-forming. I’ll blog more about it tomorrow. Thanks for reading!
~ Kevin
We went around to all kinds of different stands, and saw all kinds of examples of faith, from great Catholic music to a nun playing basketball. We got a lot of freebies, but also were exposed to a ton of aspects of faith.
After we saw a lot of the Forest, we got to walk down to “Kansas City Live”, an outdoor (yet heated) courtyard, where we saw Popple (an awesome Catholic band who are friends with Kate) perform a bunch of songs that really got the crowd laughing. And all the Hopkinton people with us that had never seen Popple before (and Chelsea) all thought they were awesome. Then we went to daily Mass.
Daily Mass was incredible. Besides us and the Hopkinton folks, there’s a group of deaf youth here, part of a larger deaf community joining us. Now, you’re probably thinking, “That’s cool, but a bit of a non-sequitur after introducing daily Mass.” Except that the priest was deaf too. It was really incredible to witness a Mass presided in sign language. There was an interpreter with a microphone, but the fact that we could witness that communication was really cool.
After Mass was the Opening Ceremonies. We wound up in the Grand Ballroom, which is technically the “overflow” room (full of about 3,000 people) from the Sprint Center, but it was really great, especially getting to see the Catholic musician Jesse Manibusan (who we had met earlier) on our stage while the majority in the Sprint Center had to watch on a screen. The opening band, Ceili Raine, was really energizing Irish-style Christian music, and a great way to kick off the Convention. The director of the National Federation of Catholic Youth Ministers actually rappelled down out of the rafters to introduce the theme of “Show up, Step up, and Step out”, calling us all to be faithful disciples.
Overall, the first day was great, and I’m really looking forward to the concurrent sessions and workshops tomorrow to get into the meat of the Convention. It should be fun and faith-forming. I’ll blog more about it tomorrow. Thanks for reading!
~ Kevin
Christ Reigns
for being the start of NCYC it seemed a bit slow but it was still crazy, but in a good way. the only bad thing is that Kate said the next few days are going to go by faster and be more crazier.
today we got our region 1 shirt and drove to the Kansas City Convention Center. there everyone else, the other 23,000 youth and adults, had their own region shirts, and crazy hats. the first escalator ride up into the faith filled, artsy, sporty, bounce house world of NCYC was breath taking. everything at once was just amazing. kind of like biting into a piece of chocolate cake with rich batter, double chocolate frosting, on top of a fudge brownie. all those different types of the same great thing mixing into this one great feeling, that's what that first breath of the booths and displays of everything felt like. a mixture of many great things into one. which is how our faith is. the father, the son, and the holy spirit. the trinity. many things, but one whole.
tonight was just the opening session and we were in the overflow room. the overflow room is an understatement. we the youth of St. John's and Kate were just 6 out of at least 3,000 people in the overflow room. just in there the feeling was and still now WOW. the praise and worship and the dancing in that room was amazing. seeing different kids from all over the country gather together to be there for the same reason I'm there for. to find out more about my faith and understand more about the catholic church, not because my parents made me go, but because i wanted to go.
tomorrow is the start of the workshops. and the learning of Christ Reigns which is the theme for this NCYC. there are so many amazing things to see but sadly so little time.
speaking of little time we just eat Denny's again and now I'm really tired.
-peace and love
today we got our region 1 shirt and drove to the Kansas City Convention Center. there everyone else, the other 23,000 youth and adults, had their own region shirts, and crazy hats. the first escalator ride up into the faith filled, artsy, sporty, bounce house world of NCYC was breath taking. everything at once was just amazing. kind of like biting into a piece of chocolate cake with rich batter, double chocolate frosting, on top of a fudge brownie. all those different types of the same great thing mixing into this one great feeling, that's what that first breath of the booths and displays of everything felt like. a mixture of many great things into one. which is how our faith is. the father, the son, and the holy spirit. the trinity. many things, but one whole.
tonight was just the opening session and we were in the overflow room. the overflow room is an understatement. we the youth of St. John's and Kate were just 6 out of at least 3,000 people in the overflow room. just in there the feeling was and still now WOW. the praise and worship and the dancing in that room was amazing. seeing different kids from all over the country gather together to be there for the same reason I'm there for. to find out more about my faith and understand more about the catholic church, not because my parents made me go, but because i wanted to go.
tomorrow is the start of the workshops. and the learning of Christ Reigns which is the theme for this NCYC. there are so many amazing things to see but sadly so little time.
speaking of little time we just eat Denny's again and now I'm really tired.
-peace and love
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Howdy! Rangeley here...We just landed in Kansas City and, lets get to the point, I'm soooooooo pumped for this weekend! While sitting in the airport the reality that we were in Kansas City hadn't set in yet, but now that we are in the hotel it's finally hitting me. We're here!!! Mostly I'm looking forward to tommorow...the first day of the conference. The image of 25000 youth coming together in one place has been burning in my mind and I can't wait to see it in reality. The energy in that crowd is going to be unstoppable! I am also a little nervous because of the sheer scope of NCYC. I mean, there's so many people and so much faith! Anyway I'll just have to wait and see! I got a great nights rest, and Im energized for the day that lies ahead! My prayer for today: Lord, please bring us all together as we truly start our NCYC experience. Help us be servants to your word and please show your great love through us. Ignite the fire of faith in everyone at this conference. Change us, revive us, inspire us, make us disciples to your name. Amen.
what a great day this is going to be! Peace.
what a great day this is going to be! Peace.
Travel Day...
So today we rode on a train... inside an airport. Which was pretty much... awesome.
But anyway... The journey here was pretty good. We all got out of school and to the airport relatively on time. No major hitches besides the Lost Wallet Incident (see Connor's post). Well... there was Connor forcing feeding himself 2/3 of a Johnny Rocket's Bacon Double Rocket Burger while we scampered down the airport hallway after being told the plane was boarding... but the important thing is that he actually succeeded.
As for the travel itself, we were all spread out on the first flight, and on the second flight we were sitting right next to the jet engine... which was... somewhat less than quiet... But overall, pretty painless flights.
And now we're here in Kansas City. "The City of Fountains", according to a big sign by Baggage Claim. Apparently Kansas City is second only to Rome in number of fountains. And for now, I'd venture a guess and say the same is true for Catholics... Not that Catholics have lots of fountains, but that Kansas City has lots of Catholics. (The other way around would be silly.)
Which reminds me, NCYC starts tomorrow! Which is awesome (especially because it starts in the afternoon and we get to sleep in). I'm really psyched to start up with all the activities and re-fire my faith. I'm especially looking forward to the music and the large group things like the big Mass. That should be really powerful. I also just want to get out and experience the convention. I'm a little anxious about the schedule (including waking up early enough for breakfast in the coming days)... There's so much to do that it seems like it'd be easy to get overwhelmed and distracted. But I know it'll be awesome.
We'll have to see what the first day brings...
~ Kevin
PS-- I wrote most of this at 12:50am (central time), after a midnight "dinner" at Denny's... I apologize anything disjointed if was.
But anyway... The journey here was pretty good. We all got out of school and to the airport relatively on time. No major hitches besides the Lost Wallet Incident (see Connor's post). Well... there was Connor forcing feeding himself 2/3 of a Johnny Rocket's Bacon Double Rocket Burger while we scampered down the airport hallway after being told the plane was boarding... but the important thing is that he actually succeeded.
As for the travel itself, we were all spread out on the first flight, and on the second flight we were sitting right next to the jet engine... which was... somewhat less than quiet... But overall, pretty painless flights.
And now we're here in Kansas City. "The City of Fountains", according to a big sign by Baggage Claim. Apparently Kansas City is second only to Rome in number of fountains. And for now, I'd venture a guess and say the same is true for Catholics... Not that Catholics have lots of fountains, but that Kansas City has lots of Catholics. (The other way around would be silly.)
Which reminds me, NCYC starts tomorrow! Which is awesome (especially because it starts in the afternoon and we get to sleep in). I'm really psyched to start up with all the activities and re-fire my faith. I'm especially looking forward to the music and the large group things like the big Mass. That should be really powerful. I also just want to get out and experience the convention. I'm a little anxious about the schedule (including waking up early enough for breakfast in the coming days)... There's so much to do that it seems like it'd be easy to get overwhelmed and distracted. But I know it'll be awesome.
We'll have to see what the first day brings...
~ Kevin
PS-- I wrote most of this at 12:50am (central time), after a midnight "dinner" at Denny's... I apologize anything disjointed if was.
a first day is a long day
we arrived at TF Green airport in Providence, RI around 2:30 to be ready for our flight at 4:15. i can say that I'm a good reason to be at the airport so early because the name Joe Murphy is on the watch list so in case we had trouble better have time to spare then no time at all. the flight to Detroit was good, then to Kansas city!! we finally made it around 8:30 central time. but then we had to wait for the bus to come get us. by this point we were all very tired. i was able to sleep on the plane so i wasn't that tired. but just sitting, waiting was getting my sleepy. after the bus got us, it was another good bus ride to the hotel. we all had not eaten anything since we left for the day so we were very hungry. so good thing Denny's is open late. Denny's midnight was the menu at hand. not the greatest thing to eat but when your hungry, anything looks good.
I'm very excited to get to the Kansas City Convention Center because i want to see everything that i have been hearing about. it sounds like a great experience and i can't wait to get started.
I'm very excited to get to the Kansas City Convention Center because i want to see everything that i have been hearing about. it sounds like a great experience and i can't wait to get started.
Looongg day
Oh boy. It's been a VERY long day for me... School, then more packing, running to the store, picking up Joe, driving to the airport, stopping for ice cream, looking for Connor's wallet, checking in, going through security, drying my hands with the coolest hand dryer EVER (if you ever go to the Providence Airport make sure you go to the bathroom to see what I'm talking about!!), the first flight, stopping in Detroit (which, by the way, has an indoor train to get to and from the different terminals since the airport is so big. SO cool), getting on the second plane, falling asleep on the flight :), getting our luggage, waiting for a while in the airport for our bus to pick us up and drive us to the hotel, watching kids race around in wheelchairs, watching part of Mall Cop on the long drive to the hotel, finally getting to my hotel room (which all 3 of my roomies were already sleeping in), eating at Denny's at midnight, showing many signs of being WAAYY too tired (including laughing at absolutely nothing) and finally posting this :). Soooo I'm pretty excited to go to bed.. :)
But before that can happen I'm gunna mention things that I'm excited about and that I'm looking most forward to doing tomorrow, and things that I'm nervous or anxious about.. since that was the whole point of this post.
So The Things I'm excited for:
1. Meeting new people from different states and churches
2. Going to the workshops and learning about different things which i can then share with all of you.
3. Seeing how everything is going to work around here and how they organize 23,000 kids..
The Things I'm nervous/anxious about:
1. Meeting new people... although I am very excited to make new friends, meeting people is always makes me nervous for some reason.. so i hope that goes well :)
2. Trying to get everything done in the little time that we have... so far our days are planned out to be pretty packed with stuff to do
3. Trying not to get lost... unlike Connor, Joe, Rangeley, and Kevin, I'm a bit on the shorter side :) (okay maybe a lot on the shorter side) which means big crowds aren't really that friendly.. but I'm sure everything will work out fine and Kate takes good care of me so I should be all set :)
4. Trying to sneak into my room after i post this without waking anyone up... and then proceeding to get in one of the beds that someones already sleeping in... hahah. i hope that i don't freak her out in the morning when she wakes up :/. haha wish me luck!!
GOODNIGHT!!!
I'll be praying for you all. and thanks for reading my post :)
P.S. i hope everyone gets the chance to see all of the pictures we're taking once we get back. they're pretty awesome
But before that can happen I'm gunna mention things that I'm excited about and that I'm looking most forward to doing tomorrow, and things that I'm nervous or anxious about.. since that was the whole point of this post.
So The Things I'm excited for:
1. Meeting new people from different states and churches
2. Going to the workshops and learning about different things which i can then share with all of you.
3. Seeing how everything is going to work around here and how they organize 23,000 kids..
The Things I'm nervous/anxious about:
1. Meeting new people... although I am very excited to make new friends, meeting people is always makes me nervous for some reason.. so i hope that goes well :)
2. Trying to get everything done in the little time that we have... so far our days are planned out to be pretty packed with stuff to do
3. Trying not to get lost... unlike Connor, Joe, Rangeley, and Kevin, I'm a bit on the shorter side :) (okay maybe a lot on the shorter side) which means big crowds aren't really that friendly.. but I'm sure everything will work out fine and Kate takes good care of me so I should be all set :)
4. Trying to sneak into my room after i post this without waking anyone up... and then proceeding to get in one of the beds that someones already sleeping in... hahah. i hope that i don't freak her out in the morning when she wakes up :/. haha wish me luck!!
GOODNIGHT!!!
I'll be praying for you all. and thanks for reading my post :)
P.S. i hope everyone gets the chance to see all of the pictures we're taking once we get back. they're pretty awesome
Denny's at midnight...a fair warning
We're just arriving back at the hotel after a late night Denny's meal. Now, I have no problem with chain restaurants, or even Denny's, but my stomach sure does. My Hooburrito is not sitting too well.
On the other hand, I am so happy to finally be at the hotel. After a long day of car rides, almost lost wallets (more on this later), plane rides, waiting, and more plane rides I'm very happy to finally be in the place i will be calling home for the next few days.
As for my wallet, well, in all honesty i am very irresponsible. I try so hard not to be but it seems as though before every trip or any big thing, i lose something! This time, i thought i was all set...bags packed and ready to go. When I arrived at the airport, i checked my pockets to pay Kate for my checked bag, there happened to be no wallet where i thought it was. Mr. Morton drove back to the airport, we tore apart the van...no wallet. Searched the whole terminal and asked the security...no wallet. So i had to make the call home to tell my WONDERFUL AMAZING BEAUTIFUL mother that I lost my wallet, the one with $190 of her money in it, and i don't think i will be able to board the plane without I.D. Fortunately, the crisis was adverted. With a call to my dad he went to my house, searched everywhere, and found my wallet under my "discard" pile of clothes on my bed that i wasn't going to be taking with me on the trip. And i was let on the plane....obviously.
So as for tomorrow...
Any nerves for me? Not really. Some of you reading wont be too surprised that my biggest anxiety comes from the issue of whether or not I'll be able to get up before 930 to eat the free hot breakfast. Although after tonight my stomach might break out and run away while i am sleeping. Who knows, i can only hope he stays at least for dinner tomorrow, I'm excited to eat some food from here!
However, my excitement level is on high, on a scale of 1-10, about a 9.887799.
I can't wait to see all 23000 kids who are here for the same thing I am. Already seeing the mass amount of people staying in our hotel that are here for the same thing we are has been cool. The music, opening, MATT MAHER, seeing POPPLE, and people from Catholic Heart Work Camp good golly gosh I'm super excited!
As for now, I'm hoping i can make it through my first night with all my intestines in tact and I hope i do not wake up with all the covers while laying on top of Rangeley, you know, to pour a little salt in the wound. I think we will be making some sort of pillow/clothes blockade in between us, but God knows i have some sort of super human power when I'm sleeping that will allow me to break right through that! Pray for Range...please.
Thank you to all who are reading and please continue to follow along...I can already sense that there will be some amazing things to come...
Love you all and God bless,
Connor Wilkins a.k.a "Witkins" (my hotel name)
On the other hand, I am so happy to finally be at the hotel. After a long day of car rides, almost lost wallets (more on this later), plane rides, waiting, and more plane rides I'm very happy to finally be in the place i will be calling home for the next few days.
As for my wallet, well, in all honesty i am very irresponsible. I try so hard not to be but it seems as though before every trip or any big thing, i lose something! This time, i thought i was all set...bags packed and ready to go. When I arrived at the airport, i checked my pockets to pay Kate for my checked bag, there happened to be no wallet where i thought it was. Mr. Morton drove back to the airport, we tore apart the van...no wallet. Searched the whole terminal and asked the security...no wallet. So i had to make the call home to tell my WONDERFUL AMAZING BEAUTIFUL mother that I lost my wallet, the one with $190 of her money in it, and i don't think i will be able to board the plane without I.D. Fortunately, the crisis was adverted. With a call to my dad he went to my house, searched everywhere, and found my wallet under my "discard" pile of clothes on my bed that i wasn't going to be taking with me on the trip. And i was let on the plane....obviously.
So as for tomorrow...
Any nerves for me? Not really. Some of you reading wont be too surprised that my biggest anxiety comes from the issue of whether or not I'll be able to get up before 930 to eat the free hot breakfast. Although after tonight my stomach might break out and run away while i am sleeping. Who knows, i can only hope he stays at least for dinner tomorrow, I'm excited to eat some food from here!
However, my excitement level is on high, on a scale of 1-10, about a 9.887799.
I can't wait to see all 23000 kids who are here for the same thing I am. Already seeing the mass amount of people staying in our hotel that are here for the same thing we are has been cool. The music, opening, MATT MAHER, seeing POPPLE, and people from Catholic Heart Work Camp good golly gosh I'm super excited!
As for now, I'm hoping i can make it through my first night with all my intestines in tact and I hope i do not wake up with all the covers while laying on top of Rangeley, you know, to pour a little salt in the wound. I think we will be making some sort of pillow/clothes blockade in between us, but God knows i have some sort of super human power when I'm sleeping that will allow me to break right through that! Pray for Range...please.
Thank you to all who are reading and please continue to follow along...I can already sense that there will be some amazing things to come...
Love you all and God bless,
Connor Wilkins a.k.a "Witkins" (my hotel name)
Saturday, November 14, 2009
about me :)
Hey everyone!!
My name is Chelsea Diggs. I'm a sophmore at Chelmsford High School and i absolutely love it. I'm in all honors classes except for my latin II class. I love to learn and school is a great opportunity to hang out with my friends, especially with my busy schedule. Gymnastics is my favorite sport and its the only sport i do this year, but I'm a level 9 so its pretty time consuming. Last year I was on the Chelmsford diving team, which was an awesome experience, however this year i decided not to do it so I would have more time for other things.. which brings me to St. John's.
So when I first started coming to St. John's I was beginning eigth grade and i still didn't have my First Communion :O! I had begged my mom to help me get it and get me signed up in classes and finally after years of dealing with my whines and complaints she met Kate :) This happened to be the best thing EVER because Kate was able to help me get private lessons so I could get caught up and finally make my First Communion. YAY!! so ever since Kate opened my eyes to what church was about and why we Catholics do what we do I have become extremely interested in my faith. I've progressively become more active in our church. Last year i went on the required 9th grade retreats, I did a couple service events (Breakfast with Santa, Christmas in the City, etc.), and I went on the summer mission trip to South Carolina. This year I've become even more active and am in peer ministry, I plan to do as many service events as i can and go on hopefully both the April and the Summer mission trips. Faith is such an important part of my life now and I'm so thankful that I met Kate and was introduced to the amazing worl of Catholics.
Faith is one of the important reasons why I'm going on this trip. When Kate asked me if i wanted to go on this trip i said sure, not knowing exactly what it was I was getting myself into, but as I've gone along and learned more and more about what we're gunna do starting this WEdnesday, I've become exponentially more excited. I'm a little anxious to see what's going to happen and see how everythings gunna work.. I mean that many people in one city is going to be crazy! but that's just one of God's amazing miracles.. The ability to get that many kids involved in their faith and help them want to take time off to go to a huge conference.
I can't wait to see what all we're gunna learn on our journey but I know we'll be praying for all of you and I hope you'll wish us all good luck as we learn more so we can share the knwoledge with you guys when we come back!
Thanks!!!! and i hope you continue to read our posts as we go through our week :)
My name is Chelsea Diggs. I'm a sophmore at Chelmsford High School and i absolutely love it. I'm in all honors classes except for my latin II class. I love to learn and school is a great opportunity to hang out with my friends, especially with my busy schedule. Gymnastics is my favorite sport and its the only sport i do this year, but I'm a level 9 so its pretty time consuming. Last year I was on the Chelmsford diving team, which was an awesome experience, however this year i decided not to do it so I would have more time for other things.. which brings me to St. John's.
So when I first started coming to St. John's I was beginning eigth grade and i still didn't have my First Communion :O! I had begged my mom to help me get it and get me signed up in classes and finally after years of dealing with my whines and complaints she met Kate :) This happened to be the best thing EVER because Kate was able to help me get private lessons so I could get caught up and finally make my First Communion. YAY!! so ever since Kate opened my eyes to what church was about and why we Catholics do what we do I have become extremely interested in my faith. I've progressively become more active in our church. Last year i went on the required 9th grade retreats, I did a couple service events (Breakfast with Santa, Christmas in the City, etc.), and I went on the summer mission trip to South Carolina. This year I've become even more active and am in peer ministry, I plan to do as many service events as i can and go on hopefully both the April and the Summer mission trips. Faith is such an important part of my life now and I'm so thankful that I met Kate and was introduced to the amazing worl of Catholics.
Faith is one of the important reasons why I'm going on this trip. When Kate asked me if i wanted to go on this trip i said sure, not knowing exactly what it was I was getting myself into, but as I've gone along and learned more and more about what we're gunna do starting this WEdnesday, I've become exponentially more excited. I'm a little anxious to see what's going to happen and see how everythings gunna work.. I mean that many people in one city is going to be crazy! but that's just one of God's amazing miracles.. The ability to get that many kids involved in their faith and help them want to take time off to go to a huge conference.
I can't wait to see what all we're gunna learn on our journey but I know we'll be praying for all of you and I hope you'll wish us all good luck as we learn more so we can share the knwoledge with you guys when we come back!
Thanks!!!! and i hope you continue to read our posts as we go through our week :)
first blog ever!!
Hello my name is Joe Murphy. I'm a senior at Tyngsboro High School. I am in the high school band, and I am on the swim and dive team. My plans for the future are to go to college to become a nurse. I'm not sure what kind of nurse just to be a nurse. I have been told that I have great peolpe skills. I have noticed this because I have been on six mission trips with in the past four years. I have become friendly with all of the people that we have helped. And from that my friends have told me that I would be a good nurse. NCYC this year is in Kansas City. The entire city is being taken over by this huge event where thousands of catholics come from all over the country to be together and experience the power of faith and sing and worship in one place. I am very excited to go this year because this opportunity comes once in a life time. I'm not sure what to expect, I am one for trying new things, so I am nervous and excited and anxious to see what NCYC is all about. I ask that you not just pray for me but for Rangeley, Chelsea, Kevin, Connor, and Kate and for all the others that are going to be at NCYC. Pray that we have safe travels to and from Kansas City and a safe time there.
About me!
So who Am I? Well, to start my name is Rangeley Morton, I am a senior at Chelmsford High School, I am an artist, and I run cross country. Lets see, my favorite food is mac and cheese...but I'm lactose intolerante, so it's a love/ hate relationship. I love listening to all types of music (except country), and I hope to go to college next fall majoring in graphic design. More than all of that I am a Catholic, and this next Wednesday I will be leaving for the National Catholic Youth Convention, and I'm Phsyced! NCYC is basically the most amazing gathering of catholics on the planet. This year it's held in Kansas City and by that I mean it literally takes over THE WHOLE CITY. We will be heading to Rhode Island around 1:00 and flying out around 4:30. I still can't imagine what it's going to feel like being a part of 25,000 Catholic youth and worshiping together! Wow! I am very excited to venture to some of the many workshops throughout the weekend and hearing what everyone else has to say about workshops that they went to. Also I am very much loking forward to bonding with the other members of our group, it's safe this trip will bring us together. I pray that my faith will be taken to a whole new level and that I can perhaps shed some of that new found faith on the ones around me. The greatest gift is sharing you're faith and I plan to give all I can! I hope everyone reading this blog becomes stroger in their own faith and I pray that I you too will get a piece of NCYC through my writings in this blog! please pray for me, and for Connor, Joe, Chelsea, Kevin, and Kate as we prepare for our journey. I'll be praying for you!
Peace!
Peace!
Friday, November 13, 2009
Hello I'm Connor Wilkins!
Hello everybody, my name is Connor Wilkins and I will be blogging about my journey and excursion to NCYC this year! A little about myself...I'm a senior at Chelmsford High School, Vice-president of my senior class, I play basketball and volleyball for the high school and I'm a member of Class Representatives and a committee head in L.I.M.E (Leadership In Motion Everywhere). I'm also in a band with some of my good friends and two fellow parishioners, Ryan Wholey and Matt Lavallee.
But enough bragging...
So as soon as I found out about NCYC I was very interested as to what it was. After a few hours of watching videos, looking up pictures, and researching NCYC I became very, very excited. The most exciting part is the people. Over 23,000 kids, the same age as me, will be there. It will also be amazing to experience this with some great friends and amazing kids. Going to something like this will help me to see that there are others out there like me, and that the things I do and the people I meet aren't just constrained to St. Johns and MA. Also, the workshops. I know that as a Catholic teen going to a non-catholic high school and basically living in a world that tries to draw me away from my religion, it's hard to keep on the right path. So, at NCYC there are workshops and lectures for everything you can imagine. I know that personally, I will be going to a few workshops, specifically ones pertaining to faith in athletics and on how to keep my faith strong despite what the world wants me to do. I hope that I take a tremendous leap forward in my faith this weekend and learn to keep my faith strong in all circumstances. What I learn at NCYC are things that I will bring back to my fellow parishioners and youth ministers so we can help keep the community we have here going strong. Lastly, I'm really hoping to immerse myself in the community there and lose who I am as a person. I feel like the best way to find out who you really are is to lose yourself in something bigger than just you and see what you can make of yourself afterwards. I hope I find my Catholic voice and grow stronger in my faith, I know I will.
Hope that you all keep reading as we go forward on our journey!
God Bless,
Connor Wilkins
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Can't wait
I will see you all at NCYC soon. It will be fun. I will play the ukulele for you. You might cry. I hope not.
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