Youth night with the Bishop held in Morristown church

MORRISTOWN  Just one day after receiving her Confirmation, Valerie Mejia spoke to her peers sharing her wisdom about the Eucharist during the latest youth night with Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney held at St. Margaret of Scotland Church here June 20.

“The holy Eucharist isn’t only the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ but it is also something precious that has led for me to get closer to God,” said Mejia, who is a youth member at St. Margaret’s. “When I was younger, it was always my dream to walk down that path and say ‘Amen’ to receive his body and blood.”

Grateful for the gift of the Eucharist, she said, “When I receive the Body and Blood I feel so thankful to have a God in my life. Without God in my life, I would have been so lost in life and would have never learned to love myself as much as I know he loves me.”

This was the sixth youth Mass and Holy Hour with Bishop Sweeney held in the Diocese, which began this past January. The theme for June was on the Eucharist. The youth events each begin with Mass followed by brief witness talks by young people followed by Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament with music. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is also offered at each of the events. This month, youth of St. Margaret’s led the music.

At the start of the event, which was held on Father’s Day, the Bishop said, “It’s a joy to be with you tonight. We come now for the sixth time with the young people of our Diocese. We come to pray for our Diocese, for our young people, for our families. As we can see so beautifully, we come in this year of St. Joseph on this Father’s Day, asking the intercession of St. Joseph, patron of the universal Church, the husband of Mary, the father of Jesus on earth to intercede for us.”

Reflecting on the Gospel read at the Mass, which recalled Jesus calming the storm, the Bishop asked the young people to think about a person that is calm when a storm comes.

The Bishop spoke about his parents when reflecting on the Gospel. “When I was growing up, my sister, my brother, myself, my mom, and my dad. They’ll be fights. Probably because I didn’t do my homework,” he said.

He then said, “My mom would repeat, ‘Jesus, help us. Jesus, we believe. Jesus, we trust in you.’

“Little by little, as I got a little older, she was asking Jesus’ help in difficult moments. In her own unique way, she was trying to build calm in stormy situations.”

During high school, the Bishop told the young people about how he learned to spend time in quiet prayer — talking to Jesus or listening to him in Jesus’ presence.

The Bishop said, “Jesus could bring peace in the most difficult situations and he is calling us to be instruments of that peace.”

In talking about his father, the Bishop said, “I came to learn my father said his prayers as well, even though my mother said them more often. There was a faith he had deep down that I didn’t always see when I was a kid or teenager and when he was very sick before he passed, he was so much at peace. He was so grateful to God about all the gifts and blessings he had received in his life. For him the storm may have been a long storm, but he also came to know the Jesus who stood up on that boat during the storm.”

At the end of his homily, the Bishop said, “Jesus will teach us and show us when the storms of life come, ask him to be with us. He will give us the gift of his peace.”

Father Pawel Tomcyzk, diocesan director of Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults and youth ministry at St. Paul Inside the Walls in Madison, and the chaplain at Fairleigh Dickinson University and Drew University, Madison, is the coordinator of the youth nights with the Bishop and assisted with the evening. Also assisting was Father Edward Rama, administrator of St. Margaret’s and diocesan vocations director, who led the Holy Hour.

Following Mass, the Holy Hour was held with Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. In addition to Valerie speaking, Angelissa Gutierrez, another young person from St. Margaret’s, shared her testimony about the Eucharist and spoke about struggles she had with so-called friends. She said, “When I returned to the Church, I found a place without judgment, a place that accepted my flaws and embraced my interests. I know Jesus Christ’s presence made a difference and once again, while friends come and go God will always be there for me and we all need to embrace his love as he embraces all of us.”