Florida Teens Experience the Unchanging Love of God
-Alexis Walkenstein

Pilgrimage of Faith

(Atlanta, GA) Three thousand Catholic teens gathered July 21, 22, 23 at the Gwinnett Center to experience the "unchanging" love of God at Franciscan University's annual "Steubenville Atlanta" Conference, a three-day event co-sponsored by the LIFE TEEN youth ministry program.

"I wanted to see what other experiences God would give me," shared Amy Youngberg, 17 from Blessed Trinity in Ocala, FL who was back for her second time.

God is Unchanging

The weekend was saturated with electrifying contemporary worship led by 31-year-old Matt Maher and his band who roused the crowd engaging them with songs like "Come, Now is the Time to Worship" and "Waves of Mercy."

After the contageous worship, conference host Paul George reeled the teens in to a place of reflection.

George said God would do a "rescue mission" here this weekend. "What do you need to be rescued from?" George asked. "Addiction? Sin? Fear?

"I don't know where you come from, if your mom shoved you in a van .... I don't know if you believe in God or if this is the first time you've heard His name proclaimed...we live in a world that's changing...He is constant and steady, a God you can build your life on."

George counseled, "Don't be afraid of the people around you - if they are getting their prayer on. If you want to lift your hands, open your hands."

George likened this type of prayerful abandonment to being like a little child with God the Father as he quipped about being a young dad, coming home to his three little kids who rush to meet him in the driveway with their arms outstretched, raised up to him in joy, anticipation and trust.

The Heart of God the Father

Danielle Chodorowski, a Franciscan graduate and youth leader, brought down the house as she delivered a gripping talk on the love contained in the heart of God, the Father. Detailing her current pregnancy, the expectation of her baby- to-be and an upcoming ultrasound, she pointed to Jeremiah in scripture, "I knew you before I formed you, before you were formed in your mother's womb."

"God the Father already knows my baby by name." "God had a party on the day He thought of you, the day you became who you are." Taking the teens deeper she exposed her troubled family life as a teen when her father walked out on the family.

"A lot of times we associate Father with our dads and it gets hard to imagine God as father.. In order to know who God is, we need to know who God is not. God the Father is not boring. God the Father is not disinterested. God the Father is not rejecting. God the Father is not disappointed..not abusive.. not too busy..not abandoning."

Tears could be heard in the soft silence as Chodorowski continued by affirming who God the Father is.

"God the Father is consistent. God the Father is compassionate,... loving... interested. God the Father does have time. God the Father is tender.....a provider, passionate, merciful, just, forgiving, and the list can go on."

"I realized I needed a daddy in my life, I started praying to Jesus, will you show me who your Father is?" Chodorowski detailed how this became manifest one day after receiving Holy Communion at Mass.

"I had the most amazing experience of being surrounded by love - a love I never experienced. All it took was asking. He's waiting, looking, hoping for you."

The Bethlehem Experience

One of the high points of the weekend arrived on Saturday evening when the True Presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament was processed and exposed through the venue. It's a dramatic part of the weekend that included powerful worship and extreme reverence.

Conference leader Mark Hart urged, "Don't wait to surrender..in the timelessness of God, you are in Bethlehem tonight."

To the chant of "Come Let us Adore Him," Jesus was processed in and placed on the altar and teens came face to face with God. Young believers worshiped Jesus as He passed through all corners of the arena, some touching the garment of the priest and even the monstrance at times. Weeping and joyful laughter broke out as real encounters of the Living God were being experienced.

52-year-old Paul Gaucher, youth leader from St. Joan of Arc in Boca Raton, FL, said, "You never see kids at adoration. You could see how captivated they were."

Sending Forth

Fr. Tim Hepburn celebrated the final Mass and even jammed on a guitar showing off his musical talent. Hepburn gave a powerful witness about his conversion twenty-one years ago when he knelt down in his bedroom and asked God to come into his life. "The Holy Spirit came to me in the depths of my soul. My life changed around."

Sending them forth, Hepburn gave these final instructions: pray that God gives you a prayer life, go to confession once a month, pray about who God wants you to share you life with and be a witness.