Rise Up! High schoolers join in a Catholic revolution

By KATIE LEFEBVRE, Globe staff reporter
July 29, 2004

Students and adults from the Diocese of Sioux City rose up and became part of a Catholic revolution at this year's Steubenville conference in Steubenville, Ohio.

The theme of the conference was Rise Up, a Catholic revolution. Students and adults were asked to stand up for their Catholic faith and what they believe in.

"The point was we cannot keep our faith to ourselves anymore," explained Randy Ricklefs, youth minister at St. Mary Parish in Spirit Lake. "We as Catholics need to rise up and live our faith in the world. Steve Agrissano made a statement that summed up the weekend, 'In the Passion movie, Jesus turned to his mother while carrying the cross and said "I make all things new." This weekend made all our hearts new'."

The conference was held July 16-18 on the Franciscan University campus. Those attending from the diocese met up with other groups from Des Moines and Jackson, Neb. to travel in five charter buses to Steubenville. Altogether there were about 190 students and adult chaperones. The buses were sent out in five different directions and all met in Des Moines at St. Mary of Nazareth Church before heading to Steubenville.

Attendees from the Diocese of Sioux City were from St. Mary in Spirit Lake, St. Patrick's in Sheldon, Blessed Sacrament in Sioux City, St. Joseph in Wall Lake, St. Anthony in Primghar, Sacred Heart in Spencer, St. Joseph in Milford, Sacred Heart in Boone, St. Malachy's in Madrid and a few others.

During the conference there were three Masses held in a large auditorium big enough to hold all participants. The attendees were also given the chance to experience several guest speakers including Bob Rice, Mark Hart, the vice-president of Life Teen; Father Stan Fortuna and Steve Angrisano, who was at the youth rally in the diocese a couple of years ago.

Confession was another significant part of the weekend. There were over 2,000 people at the conference and according to Ricklefs about 95 percent of them went to confession.

"It was a weekend of massive confession lines, adoration, prayer, Mass, music and incredible speakers," said Ricklefs. "The lines were huge. These kids just poured into the confessional. That is a big part of it."

Another part of the conference that was powerful for the attendees was adoration of the Blessed Sacrament that took place on Saturday evening.

"My favorite part was probably adoration because it was such a great experience to see everyone praying before the monstrance and being filled with Christ," said Gerri Patterson, an attendee from Blessed Sacrament Parish in Sioux City.

One thing that Patterson took from the conference that she will use is a quote from one of the speakers, "There is nothing you can do that can make God love you more." She explained that this quote spoke to her. She realized that no matter what she does, God will not love her more but he loves her an infinite amount.

This is the second Steubenville conference that Patterson has attended. She added that she plans on going to the young adult conference next year for students who have already graduated from high school.

"It is a great experience and everyone should at least try it once," said Patterson. "It is really fun and just a really good experience."

Gineal Schrunk from St. Mary Parish in Spirit Lake traveled for a third time to experience the spiritual weekend. She noted that she really liked meeting the people at the conference. When the buses left for the conference, the students were separated into their different communities. On the way home, the students were mixed together.

"The singing there is so amazing," said Schrunk. "They have 2,000 people all just singing. They are not caring about what everyone thinks about them. They are just praising the Lord and it is awesome."

Schrunk commented that she would like to apply to become a Young Apostle to help with next year's conference in Steubenville. The Young Apostle Leadership Team is a group of teens who want to learn about leading others. The team goes to Steubenville the week before the conference to get things ready. They also serve their peers by welcoming participants, performing skits, teaching participants the theme song and sharing their testimony.

She added that each year she has learned something different at the conference. This year she felt that God will always be with her not only in the Ohio auditorium.

Another parishioner from Blessed Sacrament in Sioux City, Rheta Ford, has attended the conference four years in a row and would like to continue by going to the young adult conference next summer. She noted that one reason she has continued to attend Steubenville is the closeness that she experiences. She has met many people and become closer to them through her experiences.

Ford explained that one of the most memorable things for her was "being so close to God and so close to people that I trust celebrating adoration with me."

One thing that she will take with her that she learned is "how God loves us each in our own way and no matter what we do, he could never love us less than he does already."

"This is my 10th year of going," said Sue Grieve, youth minister at Blessed Sacrament Parish in Sioux City. "I know what it means to the kids that go. I always see a change in their faith life by the time they come back. Most of them have been Catholic their whole life but being able to talk about it and experience it in a different way makes a difference in their lives."

She added that now the students have someone in their parish that has experienced something similar to what they have and they can relate to each other. The students can talk to each other about God without being made fun of. The participants also have people who can help them be accountable for their faith life.

"They come back with a deeper understanding of God's unconditional love for them," said Grieve. "They experience an inner peace and joy that results from that. They understand how important it is to pray everyday and to be in contact with God to keep that conversation going all the time."

Megan Dougherty from St. Patrick's in Sheldon was also among those who attended. In reference to adoration on Saturday night, she said that she "was crying because I was ashamed of ever having doubted this wonderful God, the love, the grace, the spirit and the son, who makes all things new. He wipes everything clean."

"This weekend was radical, and I wouldn't trade what I had there for anything I could have done elsewhere," she concluded.