Dear Friends,
I had a wonderful experience at the recent Steubenville Atlantic Conference held
at the picturesque St. Francis Xavier University Campus in early August. Please find an article below by a reporter for the Catholic Newspaper The New Freeman.
SAINT JOHN — Two young people from St. Rose of Lima Parish in Saint John, inspired by the Steubenville Atlantic Conference and a leadership program in Nova Scotia, told teens at their parish church in early August that “God is love” and to “trust” in Him.
Aric Pitre, 17, and Bernadette Dobbelsteyn, 16, said at the August 9 – 10 weekend masses in the church, they took part in a late July five-day Franciscan Leadership Evangelization and Discipleship (LEAD) program in Monastery, NS in Our Lady of Grace Monastery and attended the August 1 – 3 Steubenville Atlantic Conference at St. Francis Xavier University (St. FX) in nearby Antigonish.
Developed by Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio, LEAD is designed to equip and empower high schoolers to witness to their faith among their peers and get them ready for “ongoing service in evangelization” through training programs in scripture, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and the lives of the saints. The week involves workshops on how to develop a prayer life, overcoming sin through the sacraments, and other ways of developing a deeper faith. LEAD also focuses on being an effective witness through sessions on how to share a personal testimony, servant leadership, how to answer difficult faith questions, and being an authentic witness.
WITNESS was the theme of the second annual three-day Steubenville Atlantic Conference attended by 1,000 teens of high school age and chaperones and group leaders mostly from New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador and sponsored by Franciscan University and the Archdiocese of Halifax. Thirty-three youth, volunteers and young adults from St. Rose, including parish youth minister Lita Dobbelsteyn, went to the conference. Also among the participants were Bishop Robert Harris of the Diocese of Saint John and Father Peter Osborne, administrator of St. John the Baptist and Stella Maris parishes in Saint John.
At the end of the 6 pm mass at St. Rose, Mr. Pitre admitted that while he and Ms. Dobbelsteyn weren’t sure what to expect from LEAD at Our Lady of Grace Monastery they were “really pumped and excited about it… but I knew that God wanted me there for a reason. I mean the signal couldn’t have been any more clear. Lita asked me to sign up for it while I was in adoration (of the Blessed Sacrament at St. John the Baptist Church in Saint John).”
“While I was there I met so many great people, but I didn’t know what kind of people were going to be there, but they were all like me in a way, they all loved Jesus so much. As the week went on I got to know them, and we helped each other through the week by learning new things. I learned so many different ways to pray, and evangelize. I have a whole new understanding and a lot more respect for scripture,” he added.
“Now that I’m back I feel so much more comfortable with what I believe in,” concluded Mr. Pitre. “I think I went there to deepen my faith but I know that’s not what happened at all. I believe I went there and became more comfortable with the faith I have now. I expanded upon my relationship with me and Jesus, and now I have a way better understanding of who I am with Him in my life. Now there is a huge opportunity to deepen my love for Jesus Christ, our God and Saviour. I thank Jesus so, so much for what he’s done to get me there, and make me who I am. So I just want to leave you with some advice, just trust in the Lord. Don’t be tempted by the devil, because you are all better than that. He knows exactly who you are and what he wants with you.”
He said later the monastery was a special place. “It was a beautiful spot, there are holy springs there and there have been miraculous healings there from the water.”
The high schooler, who is a member of the St. Rose Teen Life Teen Band and part of the EDGE crew assisting younger teens at the parish, added that it was an “amazing” conference at the university. “I had never been to Steubenville before. I loved the talks and the music. The music really caught my attention because I play in a couple of music ministries myself. I loved the adoration. It’s funny, I was telling one of the sisters there that I used to get chills when I watched Sister Act 2 because I used to love seeing the kids praise the Lord, and now I am a part of that, and the chills still run up my spine. I love the conference so much, and I could see a huge impact and change on some of my friends.”
‘Extraordinary’
Ms. Dobbelsteyn, who is also in the band and part of the crew, spoke at three of the four weekend masses about the LEAD program. She said they weren’t “sure what to expect and we (she and Mr. Pitre) were both a little nervous because we were the only ones that we knew. However through prayer, I realized that God was going to be doing great things that week…. The week started and it wasn’t awkward at all! People who had just met were talking as if they had been friends for years. I knew that this week was going to be tons of fun. On the second day, we started having daily prayer times where we would meditate on scripture and we started having adoration. That’s when I realized that not only was this going to be a fun week at ‘church camp’ but that I was going to grow in my relationship with Christ.”
“There was one night I remember at adoration. We were all sitting on the altar in front of the Blessed Sacrament. There were some youth that were bawling their eyes out as God was opening up their hearts. Others were in such deep meditation that it seemed as though they were in complete and total union with Him. That night, I was so filled with joy, true joy. Everything began making sense to me and things that I had heard for years finally ‘clicked.’ Things like ‘God is love’ truly made sense to me. I realized that not only does God love but that He is Love! That, that is his being. And the entire week was like that, filled with different spiritual experiences and touching moments. It was extraordinary.”
Ms. Dobbelsteyn remarked that during the LEAD program it didn’t take long to get to know the others involved. “From day one to day seven there was a world of a difference. Their faces had changed, their outlooks on life. Everything had changed for the better and I know it was because the Holy Spirit had touched them. The Holy Spirit was truly present in the week the entire way through. He never ceased to amaze us. I am glad to say that I am positive that God will continue to shape and mold the participants of Franciscan LEAD 2008 for the rest of our lives.”
The teen was just as positive about the conference. “From what I’ve seen and experienced, the Steubenville conferences are always filled with memorable moments that the Holy Spirit was a part of. He definitely did incredible things even if we don’t see or understand everything He did. We’re sure to understand at some point in our lives whether it be tomorrow or 30 years from now. God works. If you are open to it, He will give you things that you never could have even imagined.”
“These conferences are extremely effective! There are numerous stories that you hear of love and conversions all leading back to the weekend and how a seed was planted in people’s hearts…. I always find it difficult to encourage others to come to things like this. They have a hard time believing that a weekend filled with Christ could be fun. But if you come looking for good food, you’ll find it. If you come looking to meet good Christians, you’ll find them. If you come looking for a good time, you’ll definitely find it. And if you come looking for Christ, then get ready because He’ll blow your mind away,” said Ms. Dobbelsteyn.
Sharing the faith
Fr. Osborne celebrated the mass at St. Rose and in his homily mentioned that the Steubenville Atlantic Conference was a great spiritual experience where the young shared the faith with each other and reached out to the Eucharist. However, he offered his listeners a bit of a reality check after they’ve come down from the Steubenville “mountain” by reminding them it’s more difficult to share one’s faith with those who don’t have the same beliefs or whose faith isn’t as strong.
The priest referred to the Sunday Gospel, Matthew 14: 22-33, that reported Jesus’ walking on water in the midst of a storm toward the disciples’ fishing boat. St. Peter started to walk on the waves toward the Lord, but the storm buffeted his faith and he began to sink. Fearing that he’d drown he called out to Jesus and reached out to Him. The priest said the storm battering the fishermen was representative of the world.
Fr. Osborne suggested the “strong” are willing to reach out to the Lord, family or friends for help. He said it’s a sign of weakness to go it alone and give in to a particular type of “loneliness” that begs acceptance by others even if it means rejecting ones values or what is right. This is wanting, at great personal cost, to be part of a group that may be more accepting of the world than God.
“It was a great weekend,” said Lita Dobbelsteyn. “We grew closer as a group and much closer to God as we were encouraged by the speakers to make ourselves available to Him so that He could do what He wanted to do in our hearts and draw us near to Himself.”
After the mass seminarian Owen Burns addressed the teens in a session at the Monsignor W. J. Osborne Family Centre in the basement of St. Rose School on Manawagonish Road in the city. He has completed his second year of theology at the Irish College in Rome.
Mr. Burn’s presentation focused on Satan’s sword, the use and misuse of the tongue as a powerful weapon for good or bad. He said people can use it to “cut” or to praise and worship God, to build rather than bully and destroy. The harmful effects of bullying people, especially youngsters, he said, often stay with them.
Daily there were masses, prayer and fellowship, Eucharistic adoration, Sacrament of Reconciliation and talks with a courtroom theme such as Cross Examination, The Juror’s Box, Beneath the Surface, Court’s in Recess, Charged and Convicted, What’s Your Verdict? and Can I Get a Witness? Workshops focused on how to pray, discern vocations and witness to family, and on social justice, the value of marriage and how to share the Gospel.
Organizers of the annual Steubenville event stated, “Basically, it’s a weekend to get rocked by God, to get serious about life in Christ and his Church, and to learn the truth of the Gospel.”
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