FLORIDA: MARY ROCKS! YOUTH CONFERENCE

Photo: Live music, both original and songs by other Christian artists, was performed by Kingsway band for the youth conference.

The 2019 Mary Rocks! Youth Conference was held at Mary Help of Christians Center in Tampa on Saturday, January 26.  The theme of the conference – Who are YOU? – was presented by keynote speaker, Eric Papp, and speakers, Sr. Joo Yun Park FMA and Steve Jarosz.  The conference began with an opening prayer, was followed by a skit then broke out into sessions.

Steve Jarosz spoke to the youth about having a community of faith in addition to friends and sports teams.  Sr. Yoo Jun Park focused on getting the young people to recognize the identity we each have of ourselves, how it is viewed, how it changes and how we can interpret that picture of ourselves differently depending on what perspective or light we hold.  The keynote speaker, Eric Papp, spoke about the different aspects of ourselves that we put out into the world and about approaching situations with our beliefs first (rather than with our feelings) so as to live in a manner true to how and who we truly are.  He also said that when we focus and center our sights on Christ, and recognize and see Christ in us (first), our strengths and gifts come through.

The next part of the conference included time for fun and festivities.  The young had lunch, participated in the Don Bosco Festival games that were running simultaneously on campus and enjoyed music by Kingsway who performed on the outdoor altar by the lake.  The youth conference ended with a holy hour of praise and worship before the Blessed Sacrament.