Youth Ministry Brings the Faith P
High School youth group Catholic HEART Workcamp mission trip to Montana
High School youth group at an evening of OLA Taize Prayer
4
ope Francis has urged young people to be involved by sharing their faith with one another. “The Church needs your momentum, your intuitions, your faith,” he wrote after the 2018 Synod on Youth. “And when you arrive where we have not yet reached, have the patience to wait for us.” In turn, we are blessed to have youth in our parish who are committed to living the faith and sharing the Good News. The COVID-19 pandemic ended in-person youth group meetings, at least for the time being. Youth Minister Johann Rubia-Miller says it’s been difficult for the youth, but at the beginning of the pandemic, they adapted by meeting over the Zoom videoconferencing platform. However, when school started this last fall, the youth said being on Zoom at school all day was enough and wanted another way to connect. So, Johann has connected with our youth in a variety of ways, whether through social media or with outdoor, socially distanced visits. She focuses on different topics and uses videos, articles, and questions to engage the youth. She hopes to do more in-person visits and events in the future, once it’s safe to do so. “It’s hard because we can’t replace the time physically together,” Johann says. Before the pandemic, Johann was using the EDGE program for the seventh and eighth-grade students and Lifeteen for the high school students. The mission of the Youth Ministry program is to “engage and transform the lives of our modern youth culture through the sacramental life of the Catholic Church, providing leadership and adult ministry opportunities.” A major part of our Youth Ministry program is service. Over the years, the program has performed many projects to benefit our community — think of a service project, and they have probably done it! As Johann says, the youth always desire more service projects. Before the pandemic, the youth were offering child care during the 9:30 a.m. Sunday Mass. They also collect soap and personal care products for the St. Vincent de Paul food locker. Also, they’ve gone to downtown Sacramento to bring food to the homeless, and collected coats and socks to be distributed. The youth group members also serve in most of the ministries for the 11 a.m. Sunday Mass.
