Nearly 250 Maine Catholic youth gather for annual convention

ROCKPORT, Maine — With a theme of “Lights, Camera, Action!” featuring a red carpet event that included a banquet dinner and dancing, the 2014 Catholic Youth Convention had a Hollywood feel as around 250 Catholic teenagers from around Maine gathered at Samoset Resort in Rockport on April 25-27. By a twist of fate, the celebrities in the spotlight at the convention weren’t actors, but the Church’s newest saints, as the event coincided with the canonizations of Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II on Sunday, April 27.
A number of awards were presented at the convention. Seven teens received Saint Timothy Awards for living as disciples of Christ and setting examples for others to follow. The teens honored were: Kayla Guiggey from St. Benedict Parish, Benedicta; Hannah Gonneville from Notre Dame du Mont Carmel Parish, Madawaska; Lucas Grant from St. Mary of the Visitation Parish, Houlton; Lauren Stetson from St. Thérèse of Lisieux Parish, Sanford; Rudy Martin from St. John Vianney Parish, Fort Kent; Nate Boynton from Our Lady of the Valley Parish, Saint Agatha; and Joshua Maloney from Good Shepherd Parish, Saco.
Companions on the Journey Awards, which recognize excellence, commitment, and leadership by adults serving in youth ministry, were given to: Lynette Sirois from St. John Vianney Parish, Fort Kent; Denise Lawsure from the Portland Peninsula & Island Parishes; Monique Grant from St. Mary of the Visitation Parish, Houlton; Tracey Michaud from Notre Dame du Mont Carmel Parish, Madawaska; and Nicole Caron from Good Shepherd Parish, Saco.
“It was just an awesome experience. We got to dive in and learn so much about them,” said Emily Belanger, a member of the youth leadership team that helped plan the convention.
The weekend event included workshops focused on learning about God in a fun, faith-filled and comfortable environment, and a keynote address delivered by Joel Stepanek of Life Teen, a national youth organization. Stepanek used the example of the pope saints to encourage the teens to get to know them and to talk to God as they strive to be saints.
“The thing that really stood out for me was what they did for the community and for people,” said Mikayla Wick, from Our Lady of the Snows Parish in Dexter, “the effect they had on us to help us, ourselves, become saints.”
On Sunday, Bishop Robert P. Deeley celebrated Mass at the convention, offering many in attendance a chance to meet him for the first time since his installation as Bishop of the Diocese of Portland in February. Bishop Deeley told the youth that Jesus “calls us to live as he did, in service to one another” and pointed to the examples of Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II.
“From his earliest youth, he (Saint John XXIII) felt an attraction to the Church, to the message of the Church, to the truth of the Gospel, and to a call for him to serve in ministry,” said Bishop Deeley. “He didn’t intend, of course, to be pope. He intended to serve the Church in whatever way God called him to do. And in his life, he always answered that call.”
The bishop said, while Pope John Paul II first set out to be an actor, he discovered that he was called to serve God’s people and the Church.  The bishop pointed, in particular, to John Paul II’s great dedication to young people.
“While celebrating Mass in Boston in 1979, during his first apostolic journey to the United States, John Paul II said, ‘Again and again, I find in young people the joy and enthusiasm of life, a searching for truth and for the deeper meaning of the existence that unfolds before them in all its attraction and potential,’” said the bishop.
The bishop called upon the youth to be evangelizers as they go back to their parishes and urged them to “remember the grace you received here; remember the blessing that you celebrated here; remember the truth which you have opened for yourselves here.”
In addition to the Mass, prayer, and workshops, Saturday night’s red carpet banquet and dancing enabled the teens from different towns and cities in Maine to get to know one another, and perhaps, form lifelong friendships.
“This is a fun way to socialize and get a good dose of religion,” said Andrew McCarthy of Our Lady of the Snows, Dexter.
For more information or additional pictures, contact Dave Guthro, Communications Director for the Diocese of Portland, at (207) 321-7810 or at dave.guthro@portlanddiocese.org.