Members of the CYO youth council perform a dance routine at the opening of Rainbow XXXII Catholic youth conference Feb. 8 at the Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center.Detroit — Growing up, Jackie Francois thought the Catholic faith was boring.
She spent her high school years focused on achieving a top GPA, participating in extracurricular activities and having a boyfriend — but always felt a sense of emptiness.
“I was Catholic on Sundays but kind of forgot to be Catholic the rest of the week,” said Francois, a keynote speaker at the 32nd annual CYO Rainbow youth conference Feb. 8-9.
The summer after she graduated high school, she attended a youth conference and for the first time, encountered peers “on fire” for Catholicism.
“I fell in love with Jesus,” said Francois, today a singer and youth minister from Placentia, Calif., explaining her realization that she had been “walking in this darkness and hiding a lot of stuff.”
Francois admitted she hadn’t been acknowledging her not-so-great relationship with her father, as well as many extended family issues including adultery, pornography, abortion and abuse.
But when she began to grow in her faith, “I started bringing those things to light.”
“When we keep things in the dark, the devil loves that,” said Francois to the 1,200 youth packed into a large conference room of the Marriott Hotel at the Detroit Renaissance Center.
“But God wants to bring those things to the light, because God can begin to heal us and work in us,” she said. “When we bring those things to light we’re saying ‘God, I need you; I can’t do this on my own.’”
Jackie Francois shares her personal story of growing deeper in her Catholic faith as a youth.Letting it Go
Fellow keynoter Cooper Ray, a musician and youth speaker from Dallas, Texas, continued this year’s Rainbow conference theme of “Ignite the Light.”
He told the youth that many of them had come to the conference with “a lot of baggage,” and that now was the time to begin the process of letting it go and embracing healing through Christ.
“Sometimes we get so immersed in the (dirt) of the world that we forget we can let go of it,” said Ray, encouraging the teens to take advantage of the opportunities for the sacrament of reconciliation throughout the weekend.
“In one of his apostolic statements Pope Benedict said ‘the mission of the Church is to bring people back to God,’” he said. “In order to be a light to the world like Jesus is calling us, we have to first have light to give.”
Listing Catholic “fuel” such as the sacraments, prayer and reading the Scriptures, Ray reminded the youth that “light gives life” and challenged them to share the light of their faith with others.
A weekend of growth
From Rainbow’s general sessions to breakout workshops, youth from across the archdiocese were offered a number of resources geared toward their age group.
“You get to meet a lot of people who have the same faith as you; you’re not alone,” said Bree Pena, a senior at Divine Child High School in Dearborn and member of St. Anselm Parish in Dearborn Heights.
Pena attended the Rainbow conference in ninth and 10th grade, and as a junior joined the CYO youth council, which plans Rainbow each year.
Her leadership teammate Sophia Koolwick, a junior at Everest Collegiate High School and Academy in Clarkston and parishioner of St. Anne in Ortonville, explained that the CYO youth council taught her time management and leadership skills.
And, “it makes you stronger in the faith,” she said.
Leadership team chairman Brandon Ebert, a senior and parishioner at Divine Child, said the biggest lesson he learned in planning Rainbow is the “servant leadership.”
He said he hoped Rainbow participants came away with a fresh perspective of Catholicism: “Society needs to look and see that (Catholicism) is alive and growing; kids are getting more involved.”
Teddy Ceccarelli, a parishioner at St. Frances Cabrini Parish in Allen Park and also a student at Divine Child, said that as spirituality coordinator of the leadership team, she was able to develop a great appreciation for the Mass.
“I didn’t realize how much work goes into planning a Mass,” she said.
Teammate Peter Micallef, a Divine Child junior and parishioner, joined the youth council as a freshman, and said he has grown in self-confidence as a result of serving alongside his Catholic peers.
“I hope the participants see that faith isn’t a journey you take by yourself, but one you take with other people,” he said.
Encouraged to get to know teens from other youth groups, the youth engage in a fun song by Jackie Francois and Cooper Ray.Serving the People
A special tradition of the Rainbow conference is a liturgy with Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron, which was Saturday evening.
The archbishop said in his homily that service projects are a crucial part of growing as a young Catholic, but it’s important to remember “those good deeds are about people.”
When God asks us to assist others, he said, it’s not just to focus on the projects, “but to serve someone else and to accept that other person as of equal dignity with me.”
“The world says that it’s only by looking out for yourself that you will be happy,” Archbishop Vigneron said. “Christ knows better, that it is by giving yourself to those to whom he sends you, that you will have everything you are looking for.”
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More photos
To view a gallery of photos from the CYO Rainbow XXXII youth conference, visit The Michigan Catholic's photo gallery page.
