Home / News & Publications / Michigan Catholic News / 2010 / 1,400 teens gather for faith, fun at Rainbow
1,400 teens gather for faith, fun at Rainbow
by Robert Delaney of The Michigan Catholic
Published February 5, 2010
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Photo by Bro. Michael Radomski, OFM
Archbishop Allen Vigneron delivers the homily during Mass last Saturday at Rainbow XXVIII at the Detroit Marriott in the Renaissance Center. |
DETROIT — "First of all, love Jesus," Archbishop Allen Vigneron told the 1,400 teenagers from throughout the Archdiocese of Detroit gathered Detroit's Renaissance Center last weekend to learn more about their faith and share it with others.
Archbishop Vigneron spoke of the qualities of love, drawing on St. Paul's discourse on love in 1 Corinthians 13 in his homily at the Saturday evening Mass during Rainbow XXVIII.
For nearly three decades, the Catholic Youth Organization has sponsored the big annual event in downtown Detroit, and the theme was "kNOw God, kNOw love."
The apostle's famous description of love describes how Jesus loves us, the archbishop said.
"He's the one who bears all things, endures all things. He's the one whose love will never fail," he told the teens.
And we all have a capacity to love and be loved, Archbishop Vigneron continued.
"We all know there is no higher aspiration than to be faithful in love. This is what God most wants from you. This is the great paradox of Christian life: To give ourselves as a sacrifice is to have everything," he said.
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Photo by Bro. Michael Radomski, OFM
Teens from four parishes — Our Lady of Hope, St. Clair Shores, St. Edmund, Warren, St. Mary of the Hills, Rochester Hills, and St. Irenaeus, Rochester Hills – take part in some informal discussion between sessions. |
"All of us, each of us, is made for love, is made to receive God's love," Archbishop Vigneron added.
The archbishop's homily especially resonated with Sarah Duxter, 17, a member of the youth group at St. Raphael Parish, Garden City. "That's my favorite quote from the Bible – that 'love is patient, love is kind,'" said the Canton High School senior, who was attending her third Rainbow conference.
She also said she liked the talk on self-esteem given by Fr. James Bilot, pastor of Divine Child Parish in Dearborn.
"He talked about how, if you have self-esteem, people will have confidence in you," Sarah said.
Also from St. Raphael, Nicole Murzen was attending the Rainbow conference for the first time. She was among a number of teens who said they especially liked the presentations by keynote speaker Fr. Tony Ricard, a priest from New Orleans known for his motto, "Don't be stupid," as he travels the country urging teens to avoid self-destructive life choices.
Nicole also had good things to say about speaker Tammy Evevard, vice president of the LifeTeen movement:
"It was like Tammy was having a conversation with everyone in the audience," said the 17-year-old Garden City High School senior.
Fr. Ricard and Evevard were also favorites with Sydney Muylaert, 15, from SS. Simon & Jude Parish in Westland.
"Fr. Tony's message was, if you know you're doing something wrong, don't do it anymore," said the home-schooled sophomore.
Sydney said she "could so connect" with Evevard's message about accepting God's love, "because sometimes I'm just so caught up in all the electronics and trends I don't take time to talk to God and listen to Him."
Max Montpetit, 17, from Our Lady Star of the Sea Parish in Grosse Pointe Woods, said he was attending his second Rainbow conference. "It's very nice, because you get to be yourself. People here are happy, and you get to talk about God – you can't talk about God most places," he said.
Max also said he was impressed by Fr. Ricard's presentations. "Fr. Tony gets you, he understands you, and gets you recharged in the faith," said the 6-foot, 6-inch junior at St. Mary's Preparatory, Orchard Lake.
St. Colette, Livonia, youth group members Joe Paul, 14, Derek Ralls, 15, and Michael Murphy, 14, were all attending their first Rainbow conference, but said they would certainly recommend it to other teens.
Derek said he liked the conference "because we can share Christ, because we all have the same beliefs."
Michael said, "Fr. Tony did a really good job. He caught my attention with his 'Don't be stupid' message about not making bad choices."
Joe commented, "I liked Fr. Tony the most, as well. The way he communicated with us – it's hard for an adult to catch a teenager's attention, but he did it really well."
As a member of the CYO Youth Council, Chris Phanord of St. Gregory the Great Parish, Detroit, was one of the 22 teens who worked on planning this year's Rainbow conference.
"We practiced a lot, worked hard, and everything is turning out successful. We're all pretty proud of each other," said the University of Detroit Jesuit High School sophomore.
Chris said he believes the great thing about the Rainbow conference is "the experience of being around other teens from other parishes and schools, and hopefully getting a better understanding of God and our religion.
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