Close to 300 Hispanic high school students from across the Diocese of Columbus attended the Guadalupe Youth Summit ¡Mi Presencia Real! (My Presence is Real!) on Feb. 24 at New Albany Church of the Resurrection.
It was the third Youth Summit, the first taking place in 2019 at Columbus St. Elizabeth Church, and the second in 2021 as a virtual event. The summit was a casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and was not held.
Students attended from Columbus St. Francis DeSales, Bishop Ready and Bishop Hartley high schools, Columbus St. Charles Preparatory School and Columbus Cristo Rey High School. Also participating were members of Columbus St. Thomas the Apostle and Marion St. Mary parishes.
The event kicked off with a lighthearted icebreaker led by missionaries from the Damascus Catholic Mission Campus.
Then Myra Gonzales, youth evangelization director for Columbus Christ the King Church, spoke of her experiences growing up in a Hispanic family in Southern California where her parents, who had emigrated from Mexico, did their best to maintain the family’s Catholic faith.
In elementary school, Myra felt driven to excel in academics, sports and social activities, never settling for less than a 4.5 grade point average or being the most popular girl in school.
However, despite her confident facade, she was not happy. Then her oldest brother, who was still living at home, developed a methamphetamine addiction that led him to become abusive in his relationships. This set her emotionally adrift with little hope.
By the time Myra left home for college, she had lost her Catholic faith. At the university, she became immersed in the “party, drug and hookup” scene and drifted even further from her relationship with Christ.
But in 2013, when Myra was 18 and home from college, her father announced that he had bought her a ticket to Brazil. “Brazil?” she exclaimed. “Yes,” he said. “You’re going to attend World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro.” But Myra thought, “Hmm, Brazil, handsome boys!”
She went, but things didn’t turn out as she’d anticipated. At the opening Mass of World Youth Day, surrounded by hundreds of thousands of young Catholics during the Consecration, Myra found herself saying, “Jesus, during my whole life I have been told this bread is You. But I don’t believe it’s You. If You are real, show yourself to Me.”
As she was kneeling and staring at the elevated host, she heard His voice: “Myra, this is Me. This is Me whom you have been longing for. I love you.”
She started to cry, for she knew it was Jesus Christ speaking to her as the Holy Father was consecrating the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ.
She told the students at the summit, “It’s not just a symbol. For so long I believed it was just a symbol, but it’s actually the greatest gift. The mystery of our faith is the Eucharist. I was crying.
“I know some of you feel you’ve been forced to be here, but I want you to know that you have been chosen. It is no accident that you have been chosen and appointed by God to be here today to hear this message. I’ve been reflecting upon this, and, again, if it wasn’t for that moment at Mass in Brazil where I gladly said, ‘Lord, use me,’ I wouldn’t be here today.
“And I just want to speak to your hearts right now. I know these past two years have been really difficult with COVID, the shutdowns and the isolation. I don’t know what it was like in Ohio, but in California it was really hard as kids and families struggled with depression and suicide.
“I want you to understand that you’re not alone, and that it is so easy to question our faith, especially when it seems no one is living it. But later today during Holy Communion, you will get to live the Mass, where you lay everything down for Jesus on that altar, where the bread and wine become the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.
“It is a gift. Our faith is the greatest mystery of our entire lives.
“Life is an adventure, and we are going to experience hardships, but Jesus is with us in the Eucharist. He is here to help you carry your cross.”
Then, Father David Schalk, diocesan vicar for Hispanic ministry and emcee of the summit, addressed the students: “The theme of our 2022 Guadalupe Youth Summit is ¡Mi Presencia Real!, which means that Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist. Jesus is present at every single Mass.
“But ¡Mi Presencia Real! is also about all of you, that you are present here, you are present in the Church, you are present in your schools. Christ is asking you to be His presence, His hands, His feet, wherever you find yourselves.”
The first Youth Summit, in 2019, was the culmination of Father Schalk’s desire to bring young Hispanic people in the diocese together. About 215 youth attended. To make that possible, Father Schalk enlisted the help of the diocesan Office of Catholic Schools and The Catholic Foundation.
The summit is based on objectives put forth by the V Encuentro Movement (vencuentro.org), which “tries to discern ways to better respond to the Hispanic/Latino presence in the U.S. and to strengthen the ways in which Hispanics/Latinos respond to the call to the New Evangelization … therefore embracing the cultural diversity in the Church … and to develop effective pathways to invite, engage and form Hispanic youth, young adults, and families to live out their baptismal vocation.”
Adam Dufault, superintendent of diocesan schools, attended the 2022 summit and said he enthusiastically supported the event. Before coming to Columbus, Dufault was a teacher and a principal at a school on the south side of Chicago where a large percentage of the population is Hispanic. “Being there in that bilingual community,” he said, “I saw the faith and the beauty, as well as the struggles, of the Hispanic population and how much the Church means to them.
“This is a powerful day! This is a beautiful experience for our students, for our schools and for our diocese. It really celebrates an important population – about 510 students – who attend our diocesan (high) schools .”
Midway through the daylong summit, a panel of three Hispanic adults answered questions from Father Schalk and some students. Each panelist told his or her life story and how each had experienced discrimination and alienation because of their Hispanic heritage.
The panelists were Jatnna Garcia, administrative coordinator for the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation; Father Victor-Antonio Moratin, CPM, director of pastoral and apostolic formation and dean of men in the School of Theology at the Pontifical College Josephinum; and Jackie Orozco, news anchor at WSYX-TV (Channel 6) and Fox 28-TV in Columbus.
They spoke about the challenges they have faced because of their ethnicity – challenges unique to the Hispanic community in the United States. But they also spoke of the mentors who nurtured them, and they encouraged the youth present to seek out mentors and to realize that they will be mentors to future generations of Hispanic youth.
Father Schalk asked the panelists, “What gives you hope for the future of these young people in the Hispanic community? What resonates and encourages you?” Their responses:
Garcia: “Today! This day gives me hope because you all are here. You are getting an education, but you are also interested in experiencing God and our faith.”
Orozco: “The fact that you students are here and that you are asking questions. Just be hungry for that information because there are more and more opportunities for Hispanics opening up now.”
Father Moratin: “The doors are opening. Young Hispanics are already leaders because of their relationships with their families.
“But remember, God is in charge. He loves all of us and has a plan for each and every one of us. So pray to the Lord and ask Him what His will is for you because, ultimately, that’s the path to happiness, peace and joy in your life.”
Ken Snow is a longtime contributor to The Catholic Times as a photojournalist.
