The National Catholic Youth Conference

Group of young ladies traveling to NCYC with
chaperone Irene Lempke of Spirit Catholic Radio.

It’s been a few days but I’m still on a high from what I experienced at the National Catholic Youth Conference (NCYC) in Indianapolis last weekend.

Words cannot describe how powerful it was to see 23,000 teens so excited and on fire for their faith. Although I went 10 years ago when I was in high school, this time, going as a chaperone for the youth group at St. Patrick Parish in Gretna gave me a different perspective, especially since I’ve grown so much in my faith since then.

The Nov. 21-23 conference featured Mass, workshops, musical performances, eucharistic adoration and a theme park inside the Indianapolis Convention Center filled with fun activities, service opportunities and a wondrous, widespread wearing of crazy hats by the Catholic teenagers.

The closing Mass was my favorite part. Seeing that many people come together to take part in the Eucharist is overwhelming to say the least. The Holy Spirit was unmistakably present during the Mass.

NCYC really solidified my faith. It really rejuvenated me in my faith journey and my faith walk with our Lord. I feel so blessed to have been able to experience NCYC with the group of girls from Gretna. It was wonderful to see their joy as they experienced one of my fondest high school memories.

Here are some of their reflections on NCYC:

Lyndsey Harpenau: NCYC truly impacted my life in the best way possible. It brought me closer to God and strengthened my faith. It inspired me to make Mass on Sunday a priority and to have some alone time with God every week. I was most inspired by the Mass on Saturday night and the motivational speakers. It was awesome to see more than 100 priests proceed to the altar when Mass started. The speakers really hit home for me. They taught me great life lessons that I will carry out the rest of my life.

Callie Hawkins: It was really insane to see 23,000 other Catholic teens come together to celebrate our King.

Ellie Karloff: It was fun to be surrounded by so many people who believe in the same things as I do.

Jillian Staley: It changed my life. It changed my outlook on everything. I could relate to just about everything I heard from the speakers. It was one of the best experiences I have ever had. I hope I can experience it again. If you haven’t been to NCYC, you must go!

Lizzy Isaacson: NCYC was a great experience. It gave me more courage to live out my faith because I got to see thousands of other teens who are on fire for Jesus and are trying to live their lives for him.

Abby Brown: I loved the speakers because they were really inspiring and motivated me to do more with my faith. I am really thankful I got to go to this amazing conference with some amazing people.

Kayla Calvert: One of the best things I took away from the weekend is how blessed I am to have the parents I do and that I am going to try harder to get along with them, especially my mom. God gave me two amazing people for parents.

Blogged by Irene Lempke, Advancement Coordinator