National Catholic Youth Conference 2017

Diverse workshops lead Catholic youths to consider their lives of faith

Compiled by John Shaughnessy

The National Catholic Youth Conference (NCYC) in Indianapolis offered two days of faith-related workshops for the 20,000 youths from across the country to attend. Here is a selection of some of the 100 workshops and the descriptions from the conference guidebook.

Church Isn’t Boring, You Are!

“As a teen, Paul Kim went to church for two reasons: girls and donuts. Through a miraculous intervention, God revealed to him that the Catholic faith offered more than he could ever hope.”

When God Wrecks Your Romance

“Discover how God wants to work everything for good in our lives, even relationships that are broken, and how sometimes the best blessings come through the worst heartache.”

Love Yourself

“The biggest lie today, which underlies so many bad decisions, sins and dysfunctions is that we’re only lovable IF….The Gospel shows us we’re lovable BECAUSE.”

An Attitude of Gratitude: Exploring the Spiritual Practice of Being Grateful

“It’s easy to get caught up with having the newest and best material things: phones, shoes, cars and the like. Sadly, many times these things don’t satisfy our desires. They hold us only until the next newest and best things are available. Let’s take a look at the spiritual practice of gratitude. It’s a simple yet profound practice that can change our world and our relationship with God.”

PB&J: Patience, Balance and Joy

“At every Mass, we are being fed in body, mind and spirit. We are being fed PB&J: Patience, Balance and Joy. We know we need and hunger for more PB&J in our lives. If we allow God to feed us, we are supposed to become what we eat.”

Real Love is For Real

“God is love! Our confusion and/or obsession with the sexual part of who we are, and its perceived power over us, has made it difficult to find or to believe in real love. We will be better at loving God, ourselves and others when we grow in the virtue of chastity. Then we can find the love, peace and joy God desires for us. Come discover the truth: sex without love is empty and not the sacred, awesome gift God designed for us.” †

 

(See all of our NCYC 2017 news coverage here)