The Valley Catholic
youth & young adults
February 25, 2014
7
Diocese of San Jose sponsors
middle school youth rally
By Roberta Ward
The Diocese of San Jose Office of
Youth and Young Adult Ministry
sponsored a middle school youth rally
in early February which attracted over
100 young people from local parishes,
themed to “Reach for the Gold,” convened at St. Justin Parish (Santa Clara)
gym.
Steve Do, DSJ Youth and Young Adult
Director, noted the many “tweens” who
were present, and thanked Andrew
Brown, coordinator of Faith Formation
at St. Lucy Parish, Campbell, and his
team of youth ministry coordinators
with providing assistance with the
event.
The day began with a series of “icebreakers” and songs, and Do introduced
keynote speaker Brennen Cull, Director
of Youth and Young Adult Ministry at
Holy Trinity Parish in El Dorado Hills
in the Diocese of Sacramento.
Cull also serves as Northern California contact for Life Teen International and is a husband and father of
two children.
“Brennan’s passion for his faith,”
Do explained, “comes from a desire for
all of us to seek a personal and living
relationship with Jesus Christ.”
In reference to the day’s theme, Cull
said that “there are different ways God
uses sports to show our life with God,”
for example, stories about competition.
“God knows we can relate to that – it is
about reaching a goal – we can relate
to that!
“My relationship with God is OK
most of the time,” he said, “but don’t
settle for mediocrity. In our faith, in our
Singing at youth rally.
‘Tweens’ engage in icebreaker at Middle School Youth rally. (Mario Trinidad photo)
Keynoter Brennen Cull exchanged ideas
with middle school students during rally.
Musician Martin
Gaytan from the
Archdiocese of
Los Angeles.
walk with God, God is salvation – not
the same as our earthly gods! There may
be many runners in a stadium, but only
one wins.
“We Christians play and exercise for
something that will never die. I live out
my faith on a daily basis with the goal
being to get to heaven. We need the
Mass and Eucharist,” Cull said.
“I need Jesus’ body within me. I was
22 when I fell in love with my faith.
Before that, after Confirmation, my attitude was ‘it’s done.’ Now I’m asking
what it’s all about! Reach for the gold!
Give it your all!”
Cull told the tweens “what it’s about
are three essential aspects of faith:
prayer life, the Bible, and the sacraments. Prayer is our connection to the
Father and the Bible contains everything
you need to know. The sacraments are
when Jesus Christ becomes visible. He
becomes one of us – take Him out into
the world.”
There were nine catechetical breakout sessions which included groups
for all boys or all girls, just for eighth
grade girls, masculine spiritualty for
boys only, a call to vocations, and ‘crosstraining” geared to keeping a balance
between growing personal faith and
daily practical concerns.
Connect with Youth and Young Adult Ministry
Youth
Ministry
www.dsj.org/ym
Young Adult
Ministry
www.dsj.org/yam
Diocese of San Jose Youth Ministry
@DSJYouthMin
@DSJYouthMinistry
Young Adult Catholics of San Jose & Santa Clara County
@DSJYoungAdults
www.dsj.org