By Steve Polley

Director, Office of Youth Ministry and Religious Education

What does it mean, to touch a life for a lifetime? For many it is one of the greatest gifts God could ever give a person. One such example is stated in this note sent to me by a young person who attend the high school youth rally:

"Hi Steven,

The rally was great! Thank you so much for coming to see us and reminding us just how much we’d been missing out on. It was a great experience and I am hoping to be part of many more to come. I truly, can’t wait until the next gathering. Thank you again for reminding me how important it is to join together with other Catholic youth to celebrate our faith. Yours truly, and God Bless."

-- Shelly Hines, St. John the Baptist Parish, Spearville

On March 25 – 26 there were 111 other young people from the diocese who experienced the same thing as Shelly. They came together from all areas of the diocese, and found themselves banding together, building up and strengthening the Body of Christ.

From keynote addresses by Anthony Keiser, to an immersion experience by visiting local nursing homes, to special topic breakout session on relationship, depression and peer pressure, the youth and adults who attended the rally were greeted with an excitement that drew everyone into a closer more personal relationship with Christ.

I am very pleased with this year’s rally. The Diocesan Youth Council worked extremely hard and spent many hours preparing. I am very proud of each of them and for the format that they put together. I know that in some special way, every young person’s life was touched by what took place here this weekend.

My hope for the future would be that more young people would respond like these 112 young people did and be open to the experience and say "yes" to diocesan activities in the same way that Shelly did.