Thursday, July 19, 2007

Steubenville East 2007: "All Access!"


The theme of this year's Steubenville East High School Youth Conference was "All Access." It was based on this text from St. Paul's Letter to the Ephesians, chapter 2: "[Jesus] came and 'announced the good news of peace to you who were far off, and to those who were near'; through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father." (Ephesians 2: 17-18)
Try to memorize that text, teenagers, because it reminds us of the fact that the sacrifice of Jesus has made it possible for us to have an intimate, personal relationship with God, the Creator of the entire universe!
We took more than 60 teenagers again this year. Almost all took advantage of the opportunity God gave them and opened their ears and hearts to Jesus and his gospel. I was greatly impressed by the focus of our teens, especially during the periods of Eucharistic Adoration on Friday and Saturday evenings.
I was also impressed with--and proud of--the two "Young Apostles" from our group, Zach Sexton and Ashley Hopkins. (Young Apostles help to lead the conference.)
A special thank you goes to the chaperones, who led (once again!) by word AND example.

Here are some pictures from the weekend. (Click on images to enlarge.)

They just love "The Happy Song!"


Our two Young Apostles at work!


Eric Benevides on stage