Welcome to live.stlyouth.org, the live blog site which chronicles the Steubenville St. Louis Mid-American youth conferences from 2009-2014, as well as other events sponsored by the Office of Youth Ministry in the Archdiocese of St. Louis. Feel free to browse this site, be inspired, reminisce, and post your favorite #tbt moments from this site to your favorite social media outlets!
We want to let you know that our coverage of SteubySTL has moved to a new site - Steubystl365 - where we have already posted some awesome stuff. Why? Find out by clicking here.
Please pray for us, and for all the teens and adults who have attended - and will attend - our conferences. We pray for you all of the time, and will continue to do so.
Another Steubenville Conference has come to an end, the best way we know how: with Mass. Bishop Rice spoke at length in today’s homily about what it means to leave an event like this and get back to normal life – or, as he called it, “the new normal.” Because after an encounter with Christ like this, what was normal before can’t be normal anymore.
Near the end of Mass, Bishop Rice invited Fr. Martin, vocations director of the Archdiocese of St. Louis, to come forward and call up any young men and women who have felt God’s call to discern the priesthood and religious life. Fr. Martin spoke a few words to the young men, and Sr. Consolata to the young women. They both encouraged these teens to listen to Christ’s voice over any other. Hundreds of teens came forward to be blessed by the bishop and prayed for by 3500 of their peers. Read more »
A key gift of our faith is that we don’t have to go it alone. Teamwork makes the dream work, and so we made it a team effort at the conference this morning.
Sunday morning started out with men’s and women’s sessions, relying on our brothers and sisters to be our teammates. Adam Bitter and Brian Greenfield led the men, and Megan Mastroianni and Sean Forrest were with the women. There was a little worship, a little fun, and a lot about identity as men and women of Christ and the virtue of chastity.
The men entering into worship:
And the women having some fun:
“This day, God is asking you to put away your old self and become who He created you to be,” Brian said told the men. Read more »
When was the last time you took advantage of the Sacrament of Reconciliation?
One of the staples of the Steubenville conferences – and the Catholic faith – is the opportunity to encounter God in the sacraments. If anyone ever asks you, “Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ?” you can confidently answer with a yes.
Through the sacraments, we come to God (and He comes to us) in tangible ways. And through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, you can hear that you have been forgiven.
Last night, to help prepare for the sacrament, Fr. Martin offered a short reflection. He shared a quote from St. Faustina, who said that all of your sins are but a drop in the ocean of God’s mercy. And after they’ve been confessed, they’re gone.
If you’re here at the conference this weekend, we hope you will take advantage of the sacrament, and have courage. The priests are here for you. Let God encounter you in the Sacraments. Read more »
It’s probably not a secret that we love social media – as the official #steubystl Social Media Team, we are all about sharing what God has been doing at these conferences through our Live Blog and accounts on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Vine, YouTube, and Flickr.
Bl. James Alberione, founder of the Daughters of St. Paul (aka “the Media Nuns”), said that we need to pick up the camera and microphone and speak in the language of our own time. Social media is definitely one of the main languages of our time, and we love multiplying the good of the Gospel message by sharing it with you (and whoever else you might share it with through retweets and hashtags). Read more »
God is real? It sounds so simple, and yet it’s so complicated.
We live in a world full of questions, doubt, and atheism. So how do we know that God is real? And how do we know that His love is real?
Faith is not a feeling, and emotions are not enough. Faith and reason must go together. Emotion alone is not enough because our feelings can be deceptive. We can know what God has said through His revealed Word and the Church – and if our emotions don’t line up with His revealed Truth, then we have to look again.
And we know that God is real because everything that begins to exist must have a cause. “If you walked deep into the Amazon jungle, a place where no human being had ever been before,” Sean said, “and found a red rubber ball, wouldn’t you wonder where it came from? It didn’t put itself there.” Whatever created the universe must have been timeless and spaceless – eternal. And we call that timeless, spaceless, eternal being God. Read more »
It wasn’t quite a keynote. God is going to keep us on our toes this weekend.
We heard three short talks on who God is before moving in to a brief time of Eucharistic adoration. First, from Brian, we heard that God is strong. “The weight of responsibility [to try to be something we aren’t] feels heavier than the strength we have inside – but we don’t have to carry it all. God carries it for us.” Because God is strong.
Megan was up next, sharing how God is faithful. She reflected on how Psalm 37:4-5 has proven true in her own life. We need to trust in Him, and then He will act (but be careful to get that order right – it doesn’t say that He will act and then we trust). “Let’s anticipate God’s faithfulness. Thank Him in advance for His faithfulness to you.” Because God is faithful. Read more »
Once again, the arena became our church where we celebrated a beautiful, closing Mass. We were blessed to have Archbishop Carlson as our presider. To read today's readings, click here.
Archbishop Carlson greeted the teens with the title, "Young Church", and spoke about the parable of the sower who went out to sow. He proclaimed, "God is waiting expectantly for you to produce great fruit!". He praise God that each person here had the opportunity to be bathed in the grace of love. He then asked them, "Is your heart ready?" The teens answered with a loud, "Yes!"
"In a few minutes, you will be on the bus going home. Make sure Jesus is in your heart." He spoke of all the ways they will need to serve when they go home and to do that, they need to have Jesus in their hearts. The Archbishop closed with the message, "God doesn't want us to be far from him, He wants us to be close." You can listen to the entire homily by clicking anywhere on this sentence. Read more »
You would think that after a full day, the teens would be worn out, but their energy seems to be picking up as the day goes on. Adam and the band brought us back with some rousing tunes that most teens would know, including "Happy" and a Steubenville favorite, "Livin' on a Prayer". We then went into "The Great I Am". This time, Adam asked the women to sing by themselves saying that women have so much beauty in their voices. He called the men to listen to the women. He gave the men a chance to sing for the women. He said that maybe the men's voices don't have the "beauty" the women's have, but they have "thunder". To listen to the audio of the singing click here.Read more »
Paul George spoke to a packed room full of high school graduates. The lights were dimmed to showcase several key videos that moved some of the teens to tears. Paul began by assuring the teens that it is possible to have a life of faith after high school, but it is not without effort. If teens aren't careful, they could end up belonging to what Paul called the "fasting growing religion, 'I Don't Care'". He said high school graduates easily fall into a trap of apathy that separates them from everything that matters most: family, friends, silence, prayer...etc. He said that 70-80% of high school graduates, 3-4 years after graduation, no longer attend church.
What happens to college students? Paul calls it the "Ism's". Read more »
Fr. Mike Schmitz began his homily asking why people watch a sport instead of playing it. He said, "I don't like watching someone else do something. I want to be part of the action, a part of the story." He then said that movies help you to be a part of the story, especially when there is singing. Before we knew it, Fr. Mike broke into song, belting out "Let it Go" and then transitioned into "Love is an Open Door" from the popular movie, "Frozen". He invited the crowd to sing along. They all sang along, of course, knowing all the words.
Late night, early morning- Last night after Adoration, the teens met with their small groups and had an opportunity to go to reconciliation with one of the many priests here. It was a late night, but they still came into the arena this morning with a buzz of excitement in their brightly colored shirts. Once they were seated, they look like colored blocks of a quilt, pieced together. They were greeted with loud music blaring from the arena sound system. Some of them were clamoring to see if their #steubstlselfie made it to the big screens. Different groups started chanting cheers, doing the wave, and bouncing around an occasional beach ball- all activity that you might see before a rock concert or a big sporting event. But, these teens are here for a much greater reason: They are here to experience God. They showed up...and God will answer! Read more »
Paul George warmed up the teens with stories from Louisiana, including one about a crab having a hold of his thumb and blood was gushing everywhere (we cannot vouch for the absolute validity of this story). He said that pure male instinct came over him and he bit the crab in half! The teens enjoyed his stories and were in stitches over the crab story.
Fr. Mike Schmitz officially started the conference with a prayer and Paul followed with this important message to the teens,
"I don't know why you are here, but we all come needing something more. Tonight, let God know what you need...what do you crave, what do you desire?"
We were introduced to the foundational verse for this conference, from Isaiah 12:2,
"Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; For the Lord God is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation." Isaiah 12:2
Adam Bitter is a musician who is passionate for Christ. His variations in musical style, intense song writing, and seemingly boundless energy have been inspiring the St. Louis community for many years. Adam is currently the music director at Incarnate Word Parish in Chesterfield, where he enjoys spending time with his parish community, fueling his passion for composing music and leading worship. At Adam’s core, he most loves living out his vocation as husband and father. He has been married to his beautiful wife, Heather, for over a decade, and their three daughters, Sadie, Gracie, and Annie, are true gifts from God. He is currently teaching his many music students guitar and piano, and he mentors countless others. Read more »
Before every conference begins, dozens of staff members, volunteers, and members of Franciscan LEAD gather for Mass to pray for the success of the conference, safe travel, and God's protection upon us all.
Today is the Feast of St. Benedict, and the readings for the day are powerful - you can read them here.
We were especially struck by the Responsorial Psalm, from Psalm 51 ~ "My mouth will declare your praise."
Father Brian Fischer, the director of the Catholic Youth Apostolate for the Archdiocese of St. Louis, gave a powerful homily, which you can listen to in its entirety here.
And Father Brian also offered a blessing for all who are travelling to the conference via Vine.
Final preparations are underway for Week 1 of the Steubenville St. Louis Mid-America Youth Conference, with staff, volunteers, speakers, musicians (we're loving their band practice selfie, above), and teens packing up and getting pumped to head back to Springfield for another fun, inspiring, faith-filled weekend.
People have been sharing their plans to prepare with us on Twitter (@steubystl) - head on over to see how they're getting ready!
Our biggest preparation, as always, is prayer - we've been praying hard for months and are so looking forward to sharing this weekend with you. See you in Springfield!
The first night of Generation Life is underway with MC and musician Daniel di Silvo helping to get the teens fired up as they stand against abortion. The action was captured on social media.
For more follow hashtag #genlifestl on Twitter:
@stlyouth
@archstl
Andrea Koenemann is preparing for her third trip to the March for Life in Washington, D.C., this week, and she's as anxious and excited as ever to share that journey with her friends.
Koenemann was one of about 400 teens, decked out in sweats and warm boots, who met at St. Cletus Parish in St. Charles Jan. 19 for a Mass and send-off before boarding buses to make the 20-hour overnight journey to Washington. St. Cletus was one of five satellite locations across the archdiocese that held send-off Masses for all 1,600 teens participating in Generation Life, the annual pilgrimage sponsored by the archdiocesan Catholic Youth Apostolate's Office of Youth Ministry.
On January 22, 2014, about 1,700 pro-life high school and eighth grade students from the Archdiocese of St. Louis will join hundrends of thousands of other pro-lifers in Washington D.C. to stand up for the unborn at the March for Life.
In the days leading up to the March, the St. Louis youth will take part in the Generation Life Pilgrimage to experience the presence of Christ's love and compassion through presentations from incredible speakers, Eucharistic Adoration, Mass with Archbishop Robert J. Carlson and more. The education and spiritual nourishment provided will help prepare the youth to be witnesses for life and human dignity amongst a culture of death.
This year, you will be able to share in the experience of the Generation Life Pilgrimage from home. We will keep you up to date through Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Vine and, of course, right here on the STL Youth Live Blog!
To follow our accounts on Twitter, click these links:
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