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Home  / News & Publications /  Michigan Catholic News / 2009 /  'Making the journey'

by Joe Kohn of The Michigan Catholic
Published February 20, 2009

Joe Kohn | The Michigan Catholic Archbishop Allen Vigneron talks to more than 1,300 teenagers who attended the Catholic Youth Organization's annual Rainbow youth conference. The archbishop, along with other speakers at the conference, urged the youths to discern how Christ would want them to live their lives.

Detroit — When you're a teenager trying to envision how best to follow the path of Christ, it helps to have friends at your shoulder who are serious about doing the same thing.

That kind of Christian friendship was on full display last weekend as some 1,300 high school-aged Catholics from throughout the archdiocese joined together at the Renaissance Center's Marriott hotel for the Catholic Youth Organization's 27th annual Rainbow youth conference. The teenagers worshipped, sang, danced, played games and learned lessons about their faith together — all with the focus of trying to follow Christ's example.

"You see the way Jesus lived his life," said Brynn Clowney, 18, a member of the CYO leadership council, a team of teenagers who planned and organized the conference. "We want everybody to see the great things that He did and to aspire to be more like Him. And by changing the things they do in their lives, it will help them to better themselves and become more like Jesus."

To help them, Rainbow attendees experienced presentations by a series of Catholic speakers, including Catholic hip-hop musician and youth minister Righteous B, youth rally speaker and disc jockey Anna Scally, and a number of priests, religious sisters and lay ministers from within the archdiocese. Archbishop Allen Vigneron, joined by more than a dozen priests from archdiocesan parishes, celebrated the liturgy with the teenagers on Saturday evening.

'Seeing his path'

Joe Kohn | The Michigan Catholic Archbishop Allen Vigneron elevates the chalice during the Liturgy of the Eucharist at Rainbow's Saturday vigil Mass.

On Saturday afternoon, with all conference attendees gathered before her, Anna Scally, on a stage lit by a spotlight, took the young Catholics through an examination of their lives.

"You have been put on this spinning planet for a reason," she told the young audience. "And you spend every day trying to find out what that reason is. … We're reminded of the path that our Lord had to take. Put yourself for a moment on the path Jesus had to cross."

Scally spoke at one of the four general sessions — events taking place in a ballroom with all attendees present. The conference format also had 30 workshops, in which the teenagers in smaller groups interacted with various speakers and ministers, and learned about a diversity of topics, including Scripture, culture, sexuality, grief, drugs and even technology.

Joe Kohn | The Michigan Catholic A band assembled by Sacred Heart Major Seminary for the Rainbow conference, performs during a jam session as hundreds of Catholic teenagers dance.

The youths also had access to a tabernacle placed in one of the hotel's conference rooms for quiet prayer. The theme of the Rainbow conference this year was "See His path, make the journey."

And attendees seem to have gotten plenty of spiritual nourishment for their walks with God.

"Almost all the talks have been about how you can grow closer to God, and your journey toward the Lord's path," said Lauren Naughton, a 14-year-old from SS. John and Paul Parish in Washington Township.

Joseph Gordon, a 17-year-old from Christ the King Parish in Detroit, said he was inspired by the way Scally instilled confidence in him.

"You just kind of have to believe in yourself. … You have to have faith in God's plan for you," he said. Enisha Dempsey, 16, from St. Thomas a'Becket Parish in Canton, especially appreciated Scally's advice for the teenagers to look at themselves in the mirror each day for 30 seconds and try to envision themselves as Christ sees them. Then, Scally encouraged them to see others that way, too.

"To be honest, I was totally goofing off the whole time, but when she said that I was like 'Wow,' and it actually kind of touched me," Enisha said. "I'm not always that confident, so if I do that every once in a while and think 'How do I think God sees me?' then I might think better of myself, too."

Stephen Maude, another youth group member from St. Thomas a'Becket, said he could relate more to the speakers at Rainbow than he typically could to a homily at a Sunday Mass.

"Usually, they just read the Bible at church," said Stephen, 15. "(The speakers here) tell you stories and experiences, so they relate to you more."

He added that he especially liked the way Righteous B used music to talk about Jesus.

All about atmosphere

Joe Kohn | The Michigan Catholic CYO youth council members Chris Pokladek (left) and Selena Warminski (right) pray over Anna Scally, a keynote speaker at this year's Rainbow conference.

As much as the teenagers seemed to have gained from the conference presenters, they also were strengthened by each other.

When they weren't praying and learning about their faith, they were playing games in the hallways — lined with banners, one from each youth group present — or attending jam sessions in the grand ballroom.

"It's a God-oriented atmosphere," said 16-year-old Mary Patchett from St. Mary Parish in Port Huron. "You can feel the love in the room, basically."

Lynne Lulis of SS. John & Paul Parish added that it helps to have her peers around as she learns about different aspects of the Catholic faith.

"You have a sense of being closer to them," Lynne said. "That way you have a better relationship and you can talk about anything with them. And when you have a whole bunch of people worshipping with you, that just brings you closer together."

Some teenagers even had accounts of how the Rainbow youth conference changed their lives. Emily Hoffman, a 17-year-old from St. Charles Parish in Newport, was one of them.

A few years ago, Emily said she didn't even like going to church, but through her friend's persistence she begrudgingly agreed to go to Rainbow.

"I thought this was going to be the dumbest thing and I didn't even want to spend any money on it," Emily said. "And I got here, and everyone was so open and accepting, and you had the freedom to express yourself and be open with your religion."

In a sense, she said, it "saved" her. Now, Emily is a member of the CYO youth council who helps organize and conduct the conference.

"It's cool to be Catholic here," she said, "and it's a good way for teenagers to be drawn to their faith."

A teen, team effort

Joe Kohn | The Michigan Catholic Members of the youth group from St. Keiran Parish in Shelby Township sing and dance on stage during a Rainbow jam session.

One aspect of Rainbow that stands out to adult volunteers and youth ministers who attend the conference, is that the event — one of the largest for any age group each year in the archdiocese — is organized by teenagers.

The youth council, a group of youths from different parishes in the archdiocese, gather each Saturday morning for most of the year, choosing the conference's theme, picking speakers, deciding upon what will be presented, and making arrangements at the Marriott.

At the conference, they emcee various parts of the conference, and oversee youth participation in each event and in the liturgy.

"What we want to give people is — if not an experience that will change their life — just an experience to kind of change their direction a little bit or give them some insight on what their spirituality is and who Jesus is," says D'Angelo Walker, 18, Rainbow coordinator, who attends De La Salle Collegiate High School in Warren. "What we're doing is setting people on the right path."

Deacon Richard Misiak, who serves as both deacon and youth minister at St. Edith Parish in Livonia, has been taking the St. Edith youth group to Rainbow for years. He said it's always impressive to see what the youths put forward at the conference.

"The youth council works really hard, and there's a great dedication there because they meet all year long," Deacon Misiak said.

The element of Rainbow that means the most, he added, is the fellowship experienced among the teenagers.

"Friends are what's important, first and foremost, in a youth ministry setting," he said. "People come together for a sense of belonging."

Carol Bodiya, the youth minister at St. Clement of Rome Parish in Romeo, says the efforts of those who put on Rainbow allow youths to see their faith in a different light.

"It gives them an opportunity to see faith as something that's alive," Bodiya said. "They see it in a lot of other people, and it gives them an opportunity to hear in the (workshops) certain aspects of their faith that they may not know about."

Members of the youth council said it was gratifying to see everything coming together at the conference — and added that it's their hope that their fellow teenagers take a lot away from the conference, too.

"I'm pretty sure," Walker said, "that anyone who came to this conference would be blessed by it and would be changed for the better."

• Archbishop Transition Updates: www.aodonline.org/archbishop