To Be on the Other End

By Fr. Eddie Chincha, SDB

Earlier this month, I had the blessing to accompany a group of seven young people and two young adult leaders, Lucas Gemio and Emily Maldonado (a Salesian High alumnus and Salesian Cooperator, respectively) from St. John Bosco Parish in Port Chester, NY, to the National Catholic Youth Conference (NCYC) in Long Beach, CA.

This trip was very meaningful to me in many ways. I was probably a junior in high school when Fr. Rich Alejunas and Fr. Tim Ploch invited me to go to NCYC for the first time, along with other young people from Holy Rosary Parish in Port Chester. It was an eye-opening experience of how big and diverse the Catholic Church is. And now I had the opportunity to be on the other end and give a new group of young people the same opportunity as I had. They indeed came back with a similar impression. They saw that our Church is young, active, and engaging.

I am very grateful to our parish community and its pastor, Fr. Franco Pinto, for investing in our youth. And I must give credit to the other SDBs who recently ministered here and made a great impact on the young people who are now active in our Church. Thank you to Frs. Pat Angelucci, Dieunel Victor, and Manny Gallo, as well as many others, who laid strong foundations for the mission here. They helped many young people to be formed in the faith. Now these young people are altar servers, lectors, religious education teachers, and active youth group members. I was especially impressed by the patience and cheerfulness of this group of young people.

Our flight to the West Coast was delayed and even diverted. Although they were on planes and in airports the whole day, they never complained. The young people participated in all the activities and made the best of their experience there. They currently plan to speak at the end of every Sunday Mass to share what they experienced on this trip.

Our goal in Port Chester is to empower young people to be protagonists in our mission. Thanks to this wonderful group and many other young people—together, we are making this possible!