Youth to learn how to 'Just Be'

By KATIE LEFEBVRE, Globe staff reporter
Sept. 13, 2007

SPENCER - The 2007 High School Youth Rally invites students to "Just Be."

"The theme was chosen because we are told how to be by our parents, by our friends and by the media," said Jessica La Fleur Malm, director of youth and young adult ministry for the Diocese of Sioux City.

"We are surrounded by voices telling us how to be. The theme 'Just Be' is really a starting point for the sub-themes that will come out - just be Catholic, just be a witness to your faith or just be a person of prayer. It is simplifying a complicated message."

The youth rally is planned for Oct. 28 at the Clay County Regional Events Center in Spencer.

The day will begin at 11:30 a.m. with a welcome and gathering prayer followed by Mass at 12:15 p.m. celebrated by Bishop R. Walker Nickless.

Mike Patin, who has presented at the National Catholic Youth Conference (NCYC), will give the keynote presentation at 2 p.m. He has worked with teenagers and adults in a variety of settings and served as an adjunct faculty member at Notre Dame Graduate School of Theology in New Orleans.

"He has been at NCYC a number of years," said La Fleur. "I personally heard him speak to our high school kids when I was in Cedar Rapids - phenomenal. He is great speaking with adults and teenagers. I like that the message is for both of us. When he is talking to kids, he is talking to adults. It is not watered down. It is solid. He has a great message and so much energy for kids."Following the keynote, youth and adults will have the opportunity to attend two mega-workshops. There will be six or seven workshops to choose from that branch off of the "Just Be" theme. In the past there were several little workshops, said La Fleur.

The entertainment for the evening will be Remedy Drive, an independent rock band from Lincoln, Neb. The band is currently on tour promoting its most recent album, "Rip Open the Skies."

The youth rally will come to a close at 8 p.m.

"It is an opportunity for teenagers to gather with the local church," said La Fleur. "It is an opportunity for us to get together to praise, to worship, to learn and experience our faith together. We really get to mingle with other Catholics in our diocese."

Students interested in being part of the choir, a musician, a reader or an altar server at the youth rally Mass, should contact Janet Klein at kleinline@nethtc.net or (712) 540-5240.

Cost for the day is $20, including lunch and dinner. T-shirts can be ordered for $10. The registration deadline is Oct. 15. There will be no registrations taken at the door and substitutions will be taken only until Oct. 22.

Registrations must be received by Oct. 15 to get a T-shirt. La Fleur said no more T-shirt orders will be taken after that date.

Anyone interested in more information should contact their campus or parish youth minister. Registration information is also on-line at www.scdiocese.org. If there is someone from a parish not sending a group, who wishes to attend, they should contact La Fleur at (712) 233-7561 or jessical@scdiocese.org.