Amid the Pandemic, Ou
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Continues to Bring Christ’s Light
uring a World Youth Day 2013 address, Pope young parishioners serving others through week-long Francis spoke the following words to millions of diocesan summer camps. While COVID-19 prevented young Catholics who had gathered in Rio de Janeiro, these usual gatherings from taking place, nothing could Brazil: “You too, dear young people, can be joyful get in the way of our youth’s desire to serve! witnesses of His love, courageous witnesses of His “Of course, the summer camps were canceled this Gospel, carrying to this world a ray of His light.” Here year, so we decided to find things to do here,” says at Our Lady Star of the Sea, our Youth Ministry is Youth Ministry Director Catherine Savilla. “We found proving just how true these words can be. four one-day service events in June and July. The best Service to the Jacksonville community and beyond way to gather was outdoors, so one consistent thing we has always been a key component of our Youth Ministry could do was building and cleaning projects.” program. A typical summer would see many of our With this in mind, members of our youth ministry helped with the BEAM (Beach Emergency Assistance Ministry) garden and cleaned the playground and indoor facilities at Sanctuary on 8th Street. In July, they attended a Faith + Action day that drew over 60 youth and adult chaperones from around the diocese to perform service projects that had been approved for the Urban Plunge camp. “All these jobs get lined up months in advance,” Catherine says. “So, when Plunge was canceled, it meant that these people had already been waiting. It’s heartbreaking to know that we were lined up to go and serve and do this work, and then we couldn’t do it. Some of these houses are just incredibly run down. So the diocese figured out a way to do one-day events called Faith + Action. We were able to rebuild decks and porches, extend a woman’s handicap-accessible ramps, clean gutters and replace the diverters on her rainspouts.” Youth Ministry service opportunities continue this fall. In October, our middle and high schoolers participated in a beach cleanup, and this month they will again tend the BEAM garden, in addition to preparing and serving a Veterans Day dinner at the Mission House. Mary Kate Flynn, a senior at Ponte Vedra High School, tries to take advantage of every service opportunity that our Youth Ministry provides. This summer, our Youth Ministry helped clean the playground and “It is always so worth it,” Mary Kate says. “If I could facilities at Sanctuary on 8th Street in downtown Jacksonville. go back and do them all again, I would. I really enjoy
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