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| A group of 24 high schoolers from St. Clement Parish in Lancaster, along with pastor Fr. John Sasse (above) recently attended the 2014 Steubenville North Youth Conference in St. Paul, Minn. (Contributed photo) |
ST. PAUL, Minn. — More then 20 high school students from St. Clement Parish in Lancaster recently attended the Steubenville North Youth Conference in St. Paul, Minn.
They were accompanied by students from Queen of All Saints Parish in Fennimore and St. Michael the Archangel Parish in Mt. Horeb at the conference that had a grand total of 2,000 high schoolers from all over the Midwest.
Nine adults from Lancaster went along as chaperones as well as Fr. John Sasse, pastor of St. Clement, and Fr. Greg Ihm, vocations director for the Diocese of Madison.
The conference is primarily geared to helping youth grow spiritually. For some, this meant entering into a personal relationship with the Lord for the first time. For others, it meant developing a deeper and more mature acceptance of the Gospel, the Church, and a greater zeal to be a witness for Christ.
At the conference
The theme of this year’s conference was “God is.”
The conference weekend was about deepening the gifts given at Baptism and seeking to grow in holiness, being conformed more into the likeness of Jesus.
The teens heard dynamic speakers instruct and challenge them in prayer, chastity, service, and the power of the sacraments.
Some of the speakers included Paul Kim — international youth speaker, vocalist, and beatboxer; Sarah Swafford — founder of Emotional Virtue Ministries; Paul George — co-founder and director of Adore Ministries, a nonprofit Catholic organization whose mission is to call all people to worship God with their entire lives; and Deacon Ralph Poyo — founder of the apostolate New Evangelization Ministries that serves pastors and parish staff, equipping them with training, resources, and strategies for evangelization.
The teens had a chance to spend time with the Lord in many ways, and most especially in the Eucharist.
All of the priests in attendance concelebrated Mass with Archdiocese of St. Paul Auxiliary Bishop Lee A. Piché.
Franciscan University of Steubenville sponsored 20 youth conferences in 11 states and two Canadian provinces this summer reaching some 45,000 youth.
For more information, including details on next year’s conferences, go to www.steubenville.org
All of the talks given at the conference are available to view or listen to on the website.