11:30 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 21
Afternoon included the Comedy Club and a quick bite to eat it. Then it was off to the last general session – Mass in the Sprint Center. Steve Angrisano warmed up the crowd and invited them to the next NCYC in Indianapolis in 2011.
Before Mass the U.S. ambassador to the Holy See Miguel Diaz spoke to the youth via a recorded message. He encouraged them to take care of the planet and to work to end hunger.
Bishop Robert Finn of the Diocese of Kansas City celebrated the Mass with the more than 20,000 youth and adults gathered.
“What’s great about NCYC is that during Mass and during all the sessions no one is afraid to sing out. At church sometimes people are shy, but here everyone is really happy to sing out loud,” Morgan Guillory, of St. Jude Thaddeus, Beaumont, said.
Bishop Jaime Soto of the Diocese of Sacramento gave the homily. He began by showing off his texting skills and telling the youth “u r gr8” which got a big round of applause.
“These days the Lord Jesus has been tapping into the homepage of your heart. Jesus is the ultimate Facebook of God, and he wants to be your friend. Jesus is the IP address of the way, the truth and the light,” Bishop Soto said.
Many priests assisted in communion, bringing the Eucharist to the very top of the stadium.
“Seeing everyone at Mass was the coolest thing. Just seeing everyone come together and worship was great. That was the best part of the weekend for me,” Juan Hilario, of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Port Arthur, said.
After Mass the youth posed for a group photo and then the hike back to the buses began. Three youth from St. Henry, Bridge City, decided they still had time for a quick impression of a centipede as they stuffed themselves into an oversized convention shirt.
“We learned a lot and we met a lot of new people. This was my second time and the first time you go you’re almost overwhelmed so you might miss something. The second time you notice a lot more and you have more time for workshops and everything without being rushed,” Dylan Mumbach, of St. Henry, Bridge City, said.
1 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 21
After the morning round of workshops it was lunch time. Some of the youth elected to eat at the Reign Forest Café, the convention’s food court, which was serving up sandwiches, pizza, mac and cheese and more.
The youth talked about their favorite things so far. Trading was a high point as was the exhibit hall where they could buy CD’s of the artists playing at NCYC, and of course the workshops.
“My favorite workshop so far has been the Eracism one. It was just very real. It looked at some issues that we really need to deal with. There’s about 10 Catholics at my school, and sometimes you feel different so it spoke to me,” Anne Marie Dailey, of St. Mark the Evangelist, Silsbee, said.
After lunch most of the groups broke off to go back to the exhibit hall or to various workshops. The hunt was on for cool hats and t-shirts to trade. The cheese hats from Wisconsin are the most sought after headgear this year.
11 a.m., Saturday, Nov. 21
Day two’s morning general session opened with a performance by the hip hop Christian band Righteous B. They invited the crowds to get closer and soon it was a sea of hands waving.
“Music is one of my favorite things so Righteous B was a very different perspective to view Christian music in. It’s not a genre I listen to a lot, but they were really different,” said Sydney Eddingston, from St. Elizabeth, Port Neches.
After the youth got back to their seats Steve Angrisano introduced a few teens who had stories to share about how God affected their lives.
Phillip Ryan spoke about his journey through chemo therapy and how God helped him and his family through his battle with a brain tumor.
The session ended with performances by The Animators, a group of youth here at NCYC that has been putting on skits and musical numbers throughout the convention.
After that it was off to workshops. We broke off, and some of us attended Jerry Goebel’s workshop titled Beyond Belief. Goebel was a familiar face to some as he has been to Southeast Texas several times and at the diocesan Youth Convention as well.
“Lots of people have extraordinary gifts but they don’t use them. Look around you. Does God make ordinary? No. We all have gifts, and it’s up to us to figure out how to use them in the best ways,” Goebel said.
