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By Erika Anderson
Staff Writer
ATLANTA--Three years ago, when 18-year-old Michelle Garriott went to the
Youth 2000 prayer festival for the first time, her life changed forever.
"I walked in the room and they were saying a rosary in front of the
Eucharist and this whole sense of peace came over me," she said. "Now
I feel that peace every time I walk into a church where the Blessed Sacrament
is."
The international prayer festival is Eucharist-centered and has been held at
St. Joseph's Church, Marietta, for the past six years. It began in the United
States in 1992 in response to a call by Pope John Paul II at World Youth Day
1989.
Led by the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal from the Bronx, N.Y., a Youth
2000 weekend includes Masses, music, talks on the sacraments and times of
meditation and worship. Above all, the retreat stresses the power of Jesus'
real presence in the Eucharist, which is exposed throughout the weekend. For
Garriott, who said that she always knew that the Eucharist was the body and
blood of Jesus but did not always believe, Youth 2000 transformed her from head
knowledge to heart knowledge.
"Before Youth 2000, I always received the Eucharist, but like my
Protestant brothers and sisters, it was just a representation," she said.
The priests who lead Youth 2000, Garriott said, gave her a new love for
Jesus in the Eucharist because of "the way they talked about the Eucharist
and what it meant in their lives."
When Garriott attended her first Youth 2000 three years ago, she said,
"every single thing in my life had led up to that retreat."
"When the time came to call people with vocations up, I totally felt
God's arms around me," she said. "I wanted to stand up, but I didn't
really want to stand up in front of everyone. I felt a lot of strength to stand
up and now when I receive the Eucharist, I feel that strength to stand up every
day."
Garriott plans on attending Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio
next year to study theology, as well as to discern a possible vocation in
Religious life. She believes that Youth 2000 is a retreat like no other.
"The Eucharist being present every single second of that retreat and
having people pray for us and adore the Eucharist is what really sets that
retreat apart from all the rest," she said.
Herb Blanchard, a St. Joseph's parishioner who has coordinated the event for
the past few years, said that the retreat is a way to introduce teens to the
Blessed Sacrament.
"The Eucharist is the center of our faith, and a lot of teens don't
really learn about it. They just know it's something old people do," he
said. "Youth 2000 is a way to bring them to the Blessed Sacrament. It
introduces them to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and teaches them how to be
quiet and how to let him talk back."
Blanchard believes that many participants experience a transformation during
the weekend.
"I think they're searching. They're looking for the truth," he
said. "The priests' talks are just so dynamic and they are concentrated on
what teens want. By having the monstrance on top of an altar with 60 or 70
candles surrounding it, they know it's important."
Blanchard, a father and grandfather, said that he is involved with Youth
2000 because it is "one of the most powerful programs I've seen to show
the love and real presence of Christ in the Eucharist," and because teens
leave the retreat with the truth.
"I really think teens want to search, they want to find their faith and
they are willing to learn," he said. "They want to step out and find
their faith and they want to live it and be true Catholics. Youth 2000 helps
them to do that."
The Eucharist is also at the center of the Life Teen program in which many
parishes in the Archdiocese of Atlanta participate.
During the Mass, teens are invited up around the altar for the consecration,
giving them the opportunity to experience Christ on a new level. Sarah
Niehuser, 16, a parishioner of St. Ann's Church in Marietta, said that she
feels blessed to be around the altar at the most sacred point of the Mass.
"Every time I go around the altar, I'm reminded of the Last Supper. I
see the priest as Jesus and everyone around me as the disciples," she
said. "When I receive Communion, it's Jesus giving me so much of
himself--not just his body and blood, but his entire life--his salvation and
his gift of eternal life."
Randy Raus, national director of Life Teen and director of youth ministry
for St. Ann's, said that the Mass is at the heart of the Life Teen program.
"We put a lot of effort into the Mass so that it can be a great
celebration with teens and their families," he said.
Raus said that there are usually two Life Nights a year that focus on the
Eucharist so teens can learn about Jesus' real presence. At St. Ann's, teens
have the opportunity for adoration of the Blessed Sacrament at the end of
almost every Life Night. Raus dismisses those who believe that fun is the only
priority for teens.
"That's really not the case with our teens," he said. "The
way they go to adoration is really beautiful. It will make you weep to see the
reverence that they have for Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament."
Katie Meyer, 17, said that having the chance to adore Jesus in the Eucharist
almost every week has given her a better understanding of his love for her.
"It's made it more real," she said. "It's made me realize
that we don't have to be perfect, that even though we sin, we can still be a
part of Jesus and he can be a part of us."
Like many teens at St. Ann's, Meyer regularly attends Mass on Fridays at
6:30 a.m. Unlike the 6 p.m. Life Teen Mass on Sundays, Friday morning Masses
are more subdued. There is no music. Teens, along with others in the
congregation, kneel in the pews during the consecration, and there is no
clapping during the closing song. There is only Jesus.
"It gives me a sense of comfort knowing that Jesus is in me,"
Meyer said. "It helps me to live my life for him."
Raus said that the "great thing about Life Teen is that all the
segments have been fueled by the Eucharist."
"When these teens leave and go to college, they have been tied to the
source and summit of our faith and not on some youth minister that gives great
talks," he said. "The only individual it's based on is Jesus."
Andrew Dalton, 18, said that his involvement in the Life Teen program has
deepened his love for the Eucharist.
"I didn't really question it, but I didn't have my whole heart in it
like I do now," he said.
Dalton relies on the Eucharist, he said, to help him avoid temptation and
live his life centered on his faith.
"It makes me accountable for when I step out of the church," he
said. "I want my will to be God's will and the Eucharist helps me live the
life."
Niehuser said that the Eucharist has made her life less complicated.
"When you sit in adoration, you just feel the Holy Spirit moving
you," she said. "With all that's going on and all the chaos, it just
comes down to being so simple and just sitting in front of Jesus."
Raus said that there has been an outpouring of miracles because of the
Eucharist.
"This is not a fad or a trend, but a real call to holiness," he
said. "There is a lot of spiritual grace in the Eucharist. It's always
been there, but I think we're just becoming more aware of it."
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