Teens Fire Up Faith At Steubenville

By ERIKA ANDERSON, Staff Writer

Published: August 21, 2003

ROSWELL—Inside the Blessed Trinity High School gym, miracles were happening. Teens by the hundreds were grouped together in colored T-shirts bearing the name of their parishes. Their hands were in the air. Their eyes were closed. The name of Jesus was on their lips. Praise was in their hearts.

There, in the gymnasium, lives were changed.

The annual Steubenville Atlanta high school youth conference was held July 25-27. Leaving behind the sticky and hot outdoor venues of previous years, the event was held inside at Blessed Trinity for the first time.

But the heat and fire in the hearts of the 1,500 teens who attended from all across the Southeast and beyond was not diminished by the new location.

With dynamic speakers and music provided by members of the St. Ann’s LIFE TEEN band, the power of Steubenville was undeniable.

Bob Lesnefsky, a youth minister in New York, led the teens in chants such as “Yo! My Jeezy is off the heezy forsheezy.” (Translation for adults: Jesus is really cool.)

But the real heart of the conference was not in the speakers or in the skits performed by the Young Apostles, a group of teen leaders who guide the participants. It was not even in the music. It was in the same place in which the heart of the church lies—in the Eucharist.

Saturday night Father Tim Hepburn, chaplain at the Emory University Catholic Center, led Benediction and processed throughout the gymnasium, spotlights reflecting off the monstrance containing the Blessed Sacrament. The reactions were strong. Young people praised, cried or even laughed, so overcome by the power of Jesus in the Eucharist.

Robert Stephens, a senior and a parishioner of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in New Orleans, said that the highlight of Steubenville was Saturday night’s time of adoration.

“It was awesome. I just felt really peaceful,” he said. “The music was great, but more than that I just really felt the presence of God.”

Vinnie LeDonne, a teen from Holy Trinity Church in Peachtree City, called Saturday night “pretty amazing.”

“That’s really what moved me,” he said. “Just seeing everyone’s faces and reactions.”

This year, teens spent the night in classrooms at Blessed Trinity and Queen of Angels Elementary School, both located adjacent to St. Peter Chanel Church. The girls slept in classrooms at BT, the boys at Queen of Angels.

They spent the weekend bonding with friends and meeting new ones, and drinking up the presence of Jesus.

On Sunday morning, Archbishop John F. Donoghue visited the teens to preside at the closing Mass, which was celebrated by Father John Gordon, a priest of the Archdiocese of Newark, N.J.

During his homily, he encouraged teens to take from Steubenville their experiences of God and apply them to their everyday lives.

“The age of miracles is not over,” he told them. “If God can change bread and wine into his own body and blood, how much more can he change us?”

“You are children of promise,” he told participants.

“Are you gonna get in the game or stay on the sidelines?” he said. “A weekend like this is like the Glory Be. ‘Glory be to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit,’ but back on Monday, it’s as it was in the beginning. You conference junkies know what I’m talking about.”

“We can do it. Let’s get in the game and win a victory for Jesus Christ,” Father Gordon said.

Following Communion, the archbishop addressed the teens and was welcomed with a standing ovation and cheers.

“I’m grateful for your warm welcome,” he said. “It’s always a pleasure to me to come to this annual Steubenville Atlanta conference.”

“I stand here and look out and see 1,500 young people giving glory and praise to God, and I can’t tell you how great that makes me feel,” he told them. “I wish all your bishops could be here because I’m sure that they would be as proud of you as I am of all of you.”

He encouraged the teens to be bold in their faith.

“You will leave here carrying Christ back to your diocese, and I pray that you always stand up for Christ,” he said. Despite difficult times in the church, he said the teens will make the difference. “I’m confident the future of the church is in excellent hands.”

Filing out of the gym after Mass and grabbing bag lunches to sustain them, teens buzzed excitedly with their experiences.

Maura Klein, a sophomore from St. Augustine Church in Covington, said she had a specific goal in coming to Steubenville Atlanta.

“I wanted to get into a spiritual mode and strengthen my faith before school started,” she said. “I definitely did that.”

Jessica Horton, a junior who attends Our Lady of Mercy High School in Fairburn, also came for a reason.

“I wanted forgiveness. I wanted confession. I just wanted to be happy and joyful in God’s presence, and that happened 100 percent,” she said.

Wearing a necklace with a dozen rosary rings strung around it, Brianne Hardesty was touched even more than she expected. A Baptist, Hardesty made the decision after Steubenville to become a Catholic. A California resident, she attended the conference with her cousin.

“It was so cool. Everything just came naturally to me,” she said. “Everyone was just singing and crying and I started crying too. It was just awesome. I can’t wait to become Catholic.”