Teens at national rally inspired to make a difference in the world

LATROBE, Pa. — Spirits were high among participants at the 2018 Byzanteen Youth Rally as they learned about reaching out to others and making an impact on the world. About 90 Byzantine Catholic teens from across the United States gathered for the July 5-8 event, held on the St. Vincent College campus grounds.

Benedictine Father Boniface Hicks of St. Vincent Archabbey was the rally’s keynote speaker. He spoke to the teens on the theme of the rally, “Who is My Neighbor?”  inspired by Fred Rogers of “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood” fame, who was from Latrobe.
 

Father Hicks’ starting point for his talk was the Gospel story in which Jesus teaches his disciples about who one’s neighbors are, the Parable of the Good Samaritan.

Father Hicks offered a three-step strategy to turn strangers into neighbors. First, think of a best friend. Second, ask yourself, “Is Jesus my friend?” Third, take action with mercy and compassion. Once strangers have turned into neighbors, he said, the next step is to turn neighbors into family.

Nathan Mott of the Eparchy of Passaic said the rally’s theme was “really inspiring.”

“It’s amazing to think about the ability we have to make such a big impact on another person’s life, based upon our own actions,” he said.

The teens had an opportunity to make such an impact by packaging 20,000 meals for people worldwide suffering from hunger. Emily Loya of St. Joseph Parish in Brecksville, Ohio, said “helping those around the world who are hungry” was the best part of the rally.

The teens made the meal packages after Brady Smith from Rise Against Hunger spoke to them about her nonprofit organization and how their generation can end world hunger by 2030.

Father Peter Borza, who was visiting from the Eparchy of Presov, Slovakia, spoke about the three modern-day bishops who were martyred by the communists in Europe: Blesseds Paul Gojdich, Basil Hopko, and Theodore Romzha. He talked about their suffering for the Catholic faith during and after the Second World War, and the teens reflected on how these men were able to make “strangers into neighbors,” even during these hard times, by living their lives for Christ.

Macrina Bagay of the Archeparchy of Pittsburgh said the talk on the martyred bishops was “extremely inspiring and very informative” and “showed how we all could grow deeper in our faith and relationship with God.”    

Dominica Lupia of St. Joseph Parish in Brecksville, Ohio, said the rally was “philosophically enlightening and gave me a sense of the problems in the whole world and not just (in) my own bubble.”

The teens also enjoyed a number of daytime activities, including swimming, basketball, volleyball, choir, a planetarium visit, and a historical trail walk. Parma’s teens swept the boys’ and girls’ basketball and volleyball tournaments.

The weekend program also included morning and evening prayer services, including Third Hour, Compline and a Panachida for the deceased. Most of the teens took advantage of the sacrament of confession on Friday evening.



Divine Liturgy on Saturday evening was celebrated by Archbishop William C. Skurla, metropolitan archbishop of Pittsburgh. Bishop Milan Lach, SJ, of Parma, Bishop John Pazak, CSsR, of Phoenix, Bishop Kurt Burnette of Passaic and Bishop John Kudrick, retired bishop of Parma, concelebrated.

The Saturday night dance had the teens on the dancefloor all night long. The Parma contingent even taught Bishop Lach how to dance the disco classic “YMCA.”

At the end of the event, Bishop Pazak announced that the next rally will be held in his eparchy in San Diego, California, in 2020.

Though the exact dates and location are yet to be announced, Bishop Lach is urging teens in the Eparchy of Parma who are interested in attending the next rally to organize parish-based groups and begin their fundraising efforts this fall.

Father Bruce Riebe contributed to this report.

Caption 1: Bishop Milan Lach, SJ, of Parma (seated center) poses with all of the teens of the eparchy who attended the National Byzanteen Youth Rally, July 5-8, in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. Two Parma priests accompanied the group: Father Bruce Riebe (back row, far left) and Father Thomas J. Loya (front row, standing, far right).
 

Caption 2: Parma teens pack food for 20,000 people suffering from hunger worldwide as part of the 2018 National Byzanteen Youth Rally, July 5-8.

Caption 3: Parma’s teens swept the volleyball and basketball tournaments. Above, the Parma girls’ volleyball team poses for a photo.

Caption 4: Teens of Annunciation Parish in Homer Glen, Illinois, pose for a photo during a stop for gas on their way to the Byzanteen Youth Rally. They had the furthest to travel to the rally among Parma teens.

Caption 5: Teens enjoy the Saturday night dance.

As published in Horizons, July 22, 2018.

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