SOMETIMES THE MOST resonant messages come from others who look and sound like us. In part, that was the reasoning to include teen speakers at the annual day-long diocesan high school Go Forth retreat held on Jan. 26.
FR. IAN GASTON, PAROCHIAL VICAR AT CHRIST CATHEDRAL, POSES WITH STUDENTS FROM ROSARY ACADEMY DURING THE DIOCESAN GO FORTH RETREAT HELD ON JAN. 26. PHOTOS BY ALAN WENDELL/DIOCESE OF ORANGE
The event, in its third year, allows students to not only worship and hear messages and testimony from speakers who have gone through the fires, but from fellow students, who like them, that wrestle with faith and search for grace.
With the main floor and balcony at the Diocese of Orange’s Arboretum filled to capacity, more than 1,200 high school students from Catholic high schools in the diocese convened recently to kick off Catholic Schools Week in Orange County.
STUDENTS FROM SERVITE HIGH SCHOOL GATHER FOR A PHOTO PRIOR TO THE START OF THE CONFERENCE.
The Go Forth retreat, part of the I Thirst movement in the diocese, featured a day of Mass celebrated by Bishop Thanh Thai Nguyen, speaker Nathan Crankfield, adoration and teen testimonials. The theme of this year’s conference was Anchored in Christ’s Love.
Students agreed that hearing fellow students tell their stories added relevance. Graham Hartung, a senior at Mater Dei, said student testimonials help him “to know that you can change too. It’s more motivating.” Several were also impressed by the bravery of the speakers who rose to speak in front of such a large gathering.
“It brings out courage in me, I bet I could do it,” said Isabella De La Cerda, a senior at Rosary Academy.
For others it may take some work.
BISHOP THANH THAI NGUYEN DELIVERS HIS HOMILY ON ST. CARLO ACUTIS.
“We need to be consistent with faith, not just read the Scriptures,” said Mater Dei senior Owen Neill.
As for testifying to a large group?
“I’m still waiting for my call,” he said.
Fr. Matthew Maxwell, rector at Santa Margarita Catholic High School said while priests and adults can talk to teens all day, “It’s important that they hear it from their peers who know what it’s like.”
MATER DEI HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS GATHER IN THE CHRIST CATHEDRAL PLAZA FOR LUNCH AND FELLOWSHIP DURING A BREAK IN THE CONFERENCE.
Dr. Erin Barisano, Superintendent of Catholic Schools for the Diocese of Orange, said the idea of the conference started about four years ago, but the student testimonials were a late add-on.
“We were dreaming what if …” Dr. Barisano said. “What would light them on fire and bring them together?”
A discussion with Deacon Steve Greco, director of Evangelization and Faith Formation in the Diocese of Orange, crystallized the idea.
Dr. Barisano said when teens hear stories of faith from peers, “Those are moments that are transformative.”
“Every year they blow me away,” said Armando Cervantes, director of Youth and Young Adult Ministries in the Diocese of Orange. “Where else do you get a better platform? This is how to become a witness.”
Cervantes said inviting all the Catholic high schools into one place reinforces the sense of their larger community. Too often, he said, “it seems we live in our bubbles.”
De La Cerda, a senior at Rosary Academy, said it is easy to feel overwhelmed in the largely secular world of education, so a gathering and messages from like-minded teens are valuable.
“I think it’s great to see all these Catholics and know we’re not alone,” she said. Servite junior Ryan Stroud echoed the sentiment.
“It’s welcoming,” he said. “It’s a reminder that being Catholic is part of something much bigger.”
“I think it’s powerful to see the slow revolution of young people toward Christ,” said Servite junior Dominick Cangey.
“I love the community it brings out,” added Dominic Morales, a Servite junior.
A FULL DAY
Throughout the day, six students from four schools shared their stories. Collectively the testimonials were both recognizable and authentic.
Kali Rankin Zelada Nigro, a senior at Santa Margarita, spoke of building walls and wearing masks before she “felt God reaching into places I had tried to hide.”
Although it didn’t happen instantly, she said that since she “sunk her anchor in Christ” it has given her incredible peace and the ability to put her angst and fear away and lower her walls. After her talk, the teenager was overjoyed.
“Honestly, it was so great,” she said. “I thought I’d be scared, but I got up there and I was so calm.”
Crankfield, a motivational speaker, podcast host and sales manager with Hallow, a Catholic meditation and prayer app, spoke in the morning and afternoon.
“The first chapter is what not to do, the second is pursuing good and avoiding the bad,” he said of his tale.
Crankfield, 32, grew up in a dysfunctional family with an absent father, half-siblings, drug and alcohol abuse, legal troubles and sexual promiscuity: all by the time he was in ninth grade. Even though he claimed searching for God as a child and seeking what his Catholic friends had, converting and being confirmed, it wouldn’t be until college that he was able to fully commit and trust in God.
“It’s not enough just being a lukewarm Catholic,” he said. “That’s one of the worst places to be. I knew what was right and was still choosing wrong.”
Eventually Crankfield, who went into the Army, enrolled in Ranger School and served in Afghanistan, said he “rooted and anchored himself in Christ. I just had to walk through the door.”
He hoped the teens on hand would do the same.