The Tablet . Youth | Diocese of Brooklyn

Teens from three Canarsie parishes laughed, sang, played and prayed together at the fourth annual Canarsie Cluster Youth Rally held Sunday, Feb. 17, in Holy Family auditorium and church.

“Trust in God and He Will Show You the Way” was the theme of the five-hour event, sponsored by the youth groups from the three cluster churches, Our Lady of Miracles, St. Jude and Holy Family. Starting at 3 p.m., about 200 teenagers, grade eight and older, participated in group activities, gave witness talks, shared Mass and showed off their vocal and dancing talents.

Enthusiasm and energy were a welcome sight for Father Saint Charles Borno, OLM parochial vicar and organizer of the Cluster Youth Ministry, who coordinated this event with Brendan Egonu, Holy Family’s religious education director, and Sharon Kerridge, who runs St. Jude’s high school youth ministry. The three parishes have taken turns hosting the rally, starting with Holy Family in 2005 and coming back to it in rotation this year.

“Every year we’re trying to make it better,” Father Borno said. “The theme says it well that the youth must trust in God in all circumstances. If they stick together as a community, if they truly put the Word of God into practice, they will find the Way of the Lord. They need to know the church is the place for them to be and they can see the priests and people in Canarsie are conscious and supportive of them.”

As young people arrived, adult volunteers offered snacks and T-shirts printed with the day’s theme, designed by Holy Family’s youth group with adult volunteer Debbie Walsh-Clarke.

Quincy Charles, a senior at Bishop Ford H.S., Park Slope, and OLM youth group member, has participated in all four cluster youth rallies. “Seeing other young people like myself who want to be close to God gives me a good feeling,” he said.

Charles feels it’s “very important” for parishes to sponsor events for young people. At church, he said, “you learn a set of values you can’t get anywhere else.”

Youth minister Jeff Hicks from St. Catherine of Sienna, St. Albans, provided the main presentation based on the day’s theme. He spoke about building a foundation of trust and invited teens to form a circle and alternately count off “one” or “two” until each youth was assigned a digit.

Hicks instructed teens to hold hands and asked all ones to lean forward while all twos leaned back. Participants soon discovered this activity required both balance and support from their neighbors.

Observing from the sidelines were Father John Amann, Holy Family pastor, Msgr. John Delendick, St. Jude’s pastor, and Father Gerard Sauer, diocesan pilgrimage director, who later celebrated Mass.

“It’s important for all of us to support one another and keep one another from falling. Our job is to hold each other up,” Hicks told teens, offering advice for both the activity and life.

Teens then processed to church, where an open mic allowed them to express themselves in speech, song and dance. Holy Family’s Schneider Joanis, OLM’s Bobby Page and St. Jude’s Jordhan Kerridge each gave testimonies of faith in their dealings with family, illness and struggle. Seminarian Rodnev Lapommeray also spoke about vocations.

Father Sauer tied the teen’s words into his homily at the 6 p.m. Mass. He spoke about the awesome transfiguration Jesus undergoes in the Gospel and the awful disfigurations that mar every human heart.

The disfigurements, the crosses people bear in their hearts, he said, may stem from physical illness and family issues to pains known only to that person and God.

He told teens that God calls them to be transfigured and dazzling like Jesus, and then he revealed the way — confession.

“The sacrament of confession exists so we can hear we’re loved and forgiven. There’s nothing more cleansing you can do as a teenager or an adult than to avail oneself of that sacrament,” he said.

Father Gerard assured teens that if they go to confession, “if we avail ourselves of His love and grace, if we trust in God, He will show us the Way.”

Before enjoying pizza and performances, teens honored current and former cluster priests who have “shown the Way” to local youth. Several priests, including Father Francis Hughes, OLM pastor, and Father Edward Kane, Holy Family’s parochial vicar, accepted plaques saluting them on how their “leadership has fulfilled Jesus’ command: ‘Let the Children Come to Me.’”

Lent is here and if you want to make the best of this season, the Youth Page is here to help. Look for a box like this each week. It will offer you, our beloved teen and young adult audience, creative ideas for prayer, thought and action for the weeks leading up to Easter.
WEEK FOUR (March 2 - 8): Each day in the coming week, choose one hour to spend alone in total silence — no talking, texting, IMing. Shut off the world and respectfully ask loved ones to give you that quiet time. Use the hour to create a sacred space in your heart and mind. Talk and listen to God, pray the Rosary, meditate on Christ’s love and sacrifice for you, and consider how important your faith is in your life.
*Remember to abstain from meat on all Fridays during Lent.

What is the most important thing you have learned about your faith in high school? Suggested by Andrew Viola-Lopez, Cathedral Prep Seminary

Thomas Santos
St. John’s Prep
Freshman

The most important thing I learned is that life involves a lot of forgiveness and helping others around you.

Danny O’Brien
St. John’s Prep
Junior

No matter what happens, you always have your faith and no one can do or say anything to take that away.

Michael Kern
Holy Cross H.S.
Junior

The most important thing I have learned is to always do the right thing in life and it’s OK if you make a mistake.

Jason Liggayu
St. John’s Prep
Freshman

At St. John’s Prep, the most important thing I have learned about my faith is that my God is forgiving no matter how serious my sin is.

Andre Dixon
St. John’s Prep
Junior

One of my mother’s primary goals has been to raise me with an authentic faith. Through my mother and school I’ve learned to stay true to God despite the heavy burden of peer pressure.

Terence Johnston
St. John’s Prep
Junior

Faith is a fundamental part of one’s life. I’ve learned you must have faith in order to have trust. God has faith in us just as we should have faith in Him.

Lyndsey Frank-Cutrone
St. John’s Prep
Sophomore

The most important thing I have learned about my faith is to know that God is with us through good and bad times no matter what.

Kevin Durkan
Holy Cross H.S.
Freshman

The most important thing I learned is that Jesus never gives up on you.