Jr. High Students Are Dared to

Be Different

By Marie Elena Giossi

Seventh- and eighth-graders formed a crisscross Christ cross during the Just Do It for Jesus workshop, presented by the Jornada Movement at two diocesan Junior High Youth Days held at the Immaculate Conception Center, Douglaston,

earlier this month.

Commitment, community and courage – tweens and teens who attended diocesan Junior High Youth Day learned that these three Cs are key if they dare to live differently for their faith.

Youth were encouraged to Strive Toward Obeying Our God Every day, otherwise known as being S.T.O.O.G.E.s for Christ, by Bob Perron, founder of S.T.O.O.G.E. 4 Christ Ministries and executive director of the Youth Ministry Office for the Diocese of Des Moines, Iowa.

Perron was the keynote speaker at the first of two diocesan Junior High Youth Days, held on consecutive Saturdays, March 10 and 17, from 12:30 - 7 p.m. at the Immaculate Conception Center, Douglaston. Two days were offered due to overcrowding last year.

“Dare to be Different” was the theme for both days, which included ice breakers and workshops, a step dancing presentation, dinner and Mass.

Father Bryan Patterson, STL, director of the diocesan Faith Formation Office, and Marilyn Santos, coordinator of Adolescent Faith Formation, hosted both days, which were sponsored by the Faith Formation Office and Alive in Hope Foundation.

Around 550 diocesan seventh- and eighth-graders and their chaperones, representing approximately 20 parishes, attended the two Youth Days. Nearly 350 youths from 11 parishes were present on March 10, while a blast of snow kept the crowd smaller on St.Patrick’s Day with about 200 youths from nine parishes.

Snow-related airport delays forced keynote speaker Chris Padgett to miss the March 17 Youth Day. The Faith Formation Office considered canceling the day, but chose instead to make adjustments. Workshop presenters voluntarily doubled their duties.

“God was with us … and everybody left smiling,” reported Santos.

Thirteen-year-old Teresa Amore designed the “Dare to be Different” logo, printed on T-shirts and programs for both events. Her entry was chosen from among over 100 logo designs submitted by local students through a contest conducted last fall.

Amore, a seventh-grader in the Genesis Program, Bay Ridge, and a parishioner of St. Andrew the Apostle, Bay Ridge, where she’s part of the Life Teen Music Ministry, addressed her peers during the March 10 opening ceremonies. Her design featured a hand pointing to a cross, surrounded by images of an iPod, cell phone, cigarette, jewelry, computer and movies.

“Sometimes we are misled by others and feel pressured by our friends,” she said, to partake in activities “not appropriate for kids our age.”

With the support of family, teachers, Church leaders and friends, she told peers that “we can all dare to be different by saying ‘no’ to bad influences … by keeping our eyes and ears focused on the things that really matter, and by centering our lives around Jesus.”

Father Patterson and Santos set the tone for both days by beginning with prayers in the chapel.
Eager volunteers were then ready to accept various dares “to be Catholic” on March 10.

Dares Issued

Kenny Wodzanowski, Bensonhurst Cluster Youth Ministry director, dared students to care enough to hug 10 strangers; to tear themselves away from free money and give it to strangers; to wear T-shirts with the day’s logo; to share a cake with strangers, and finally, to bear a large wooden cross as Christ did.

SURFING THE CROSS: Tweens and teens raised a large, wooden cross above their heads, and supporting it with their hands, surfed it through the crowd until everyone in the Immaculate Conception Center chapel had touched the cross.

Teens then raised the cross above their heads, and supporting it with their hands, they surfed it through the crowd, until everyone in the chapel had touched the cross.

“Soitenly” became the buzz word during the keynote address by Perron, who captializes on his resemblance to Curly from The Three Stooges. He shared poignant and humorous anecdotes about faith and family.

He said daring to be different in your faith and in your family means “to live out our faith in Christ, to change who we are.” But, he said, “that doesn’t mean to just believe in it (the faith), it means to live it.”

He said everyone could Strive Toward Obeying Our God Everyday, what he calls being S.T.O.O.G.E.s for Christ, by committing themselves to trust in God, having the courage to do so even when it isn’t easy, and being open to God’s will and the people He sends into their lives.

“If you dare to be different, choose to love, choose to forgive, build community and you will see life in a different way,” he assured youth.

Several breakout sessions, conducted by Perron, Father Kevin Sweeney, vocation director, the Jornada Movement, Jovenes de Valor’s Holy Fire Ministry and St. Andrew’s Life Teen, showed teens various ways they could to be different for their faith.

Additional workshops were offered on March 17 by Jeff Hicks, youth minister at St. Catherine of Sienna, St. Albans, and seminarian James Rodriguez.

Carlyle Michel, a seventh-grader at St. Francis of Assisi School, Crown Heights, attended the day with fellow altar servers from St. Jude, Canarsie. He was one of three students selected to wear a symbolic balloon hat for the day.

Michel’s hat, shaped like a cross, bobbed as he munched on hot dogs, hamburgers and ice cream with his buddies.

When asked about his understanding of the day’s theme, he said that “when you’re different, you have courage and knowledge inside of you. You’re not afraid to do what God is telling you.”

As for wearing the hat, Michel wasn’t at all embarrassed. He said, “It’s a sign of peace, joy, happiness and respect. It reminds me that it’s good to be different.”

Young people worked off their lunch step dancing with the Oluwatobi Family Movement from St. Jerome’s and St. Therese of Lisieux, Flatbush.

“Do you know what mercy is? … When you say Jesus, God says mercy … Jesus’ name actually means God saves. Jesus is God’s mercy,” steppers told teens in between their action-filled routines.

The family encouraged teens to remember that when they come across temptation, or face something difficult, they need only to call on Jesus and God will send His mercy.

Teens then stomped downstairs and took over the chapel, where Auxiliary Bishop Frank Caggiano celebrated the 6:15 p.m. closing Mass.
Don’t Wait

At both Youth Days, Bishop Caggiano related the Gospel reading, the parable of the Prodigal Son, to the day’s theme. He pointed out that the father and the wayward son dared to be different.

In their world, there was no reason for the father to forgive his son and no reason for the son to believe he’d be forgiven. Yet, each chose to defy convention and restore their relationship.

“Boys and girls,” Bishop Caggiano appealed to the young people, “don’t wait until tomorrow… God is inviting you tonight to make the commitment to dare to be different. If you are ready to do it, then so am I, and so is everyone in this Church. The time is now.”

DARE TO SHARE: During one ice breaker activity, young people accepted various “dares to be Catholic,” including sharing an entire cake with strangers in the crowd.

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