By Angela Pometto
Herald Staff Writer
(From the issue of 3/18/04)

"Do you believe in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist?"

It was one of the first questions posed to youths from around the diocese who gathered at Paul VI Catholic High School’s new gym for the Youth 2000 retreat last Friday night. If they did not know the answer to this question on Friday, they did by Sunday.

The retreat was attended by some 250 youths. Several religious orders — the Nashville Dominicans, Poor Sisters of St. Joseph, the Daughters of St. Paul and Little Sisters of the Poor — were present, as well as priests and seminarians from the diocese.

Youth 2000 is an international retreat program that began in 1990 in England. A group of people wanted to make the Holy Father’s call for a "decade of evangelization" into a reality. Through prayer, this initial group discerned that the "way to get young people back is through the Eucharist," said Suzie Brawley, Youth 2000 coordinator.

"Six thousand came to that first retreat, and talks were given in five different languages," said Brawley. From there, the event spread throughout the world, including the U.S. "Now almost every weekend there is a Youth 2000 in the United States," Brawley said, which testifies to the fact that it is touching the youth in a powerful way.

Brawley has been U.S. coordinator of Youth 2000 since it began 14 years ago. She quit her job as an attorney to become a full-time retreat master. "I did it because the youth need more opportunities to know Jesus and to learn more about our faith," Brawley said.

The format for the weekend remains the same from place to place. The weekend is full of talks about the Eucharist, the sacrament of confession and the Blessed Mother. Upbeat music gets the youths clapping, dancing and singing with joy then brings it down to a prayerful meditation. Each day the group prays a rosary together, including an international rosary on Saturday, and celebrates Mass. Confessions are available throughout most of the retreat with a number of priests present.

But the greatest difference in this retreat from most others is that Eucharistic adoration begins on Friday night and does not end until Sunday morning (except during Mass). The Eucharist is exposed in the monstrance during the talks and the rosary and the music — this is what truly makes it a "Eucharistic" retreat.

"This can transform people," said Father Terry Spect, Paul VI chaplain. Father Spect was the one of the main advocates for getting this retreat to come to the diocese. "I’ve wanted to have it here for four years," said Father Spect. He said space had been their main limitation in the past, but the completion of the new gym was an immediate invitation. "Jesus truly rules in the gym this weekend," he said.

"People need to be assured that Jesus is indeed here with us — body, blood, soul and divinity — as he promised He would be," said Kate Bergman, assistant director of youth ministry for the diocese. Bergman played an integral role in organizing the retreat. "The goal of this entire weekend was to make this known to our young people. In youth ministry we so often talk about the ministry of presence. The Eucharist is the ultimate ministry of presence."

"You see the kids learning devotion to the Eucharist and many returning to confession," said Father Bart Reynolds, a priest from the Diocese of Galveston-Houston and one of the spiritual directors for Youth 2000. "It is a powerful means of conversion."

He instructed the youth how to give proper respect to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament — exposed or reposed in the tabernacle. He claimed that if he could genuflect all the way to the ground, surely the youth present could as well.

During the homily at Mass on Saturday morning, Father Reynolds addressed the claim, by many young people, that Mass is "boring" by referring to his dislike of soccer. "It’s boring because I’ve never played and don’t know the game. The problem is me, not the sport," he said. "It’s easy to fall into the trap of calling things boring when you and I have the problem.

"Mass is the heart of the Church, and it ought to be the heart of my life too," Father Reynolds said. He also connected the Eucharist to the cross, "The Mass is the cross. If we’re not at Mass on Sunday, we’re not at the foot of the cross. That’s anything but boring."

The value of this retreat is that the youth are "having an encounter with Jesus," said Franciscan Father Joseph Mary Deane. Father Deane has helped with the retreats for eight years. "It’s an awareness of Jesus in the Eucharist and encountering the faith in an exciting way."

Father Deane spoke on Saturday afternoon, giving the basic chastity talk and a walk through common temptations of the "popular" world. The Church lays down these moral standards "not to make our lives miserable, but because the Holy Spirit, through the Church, loves us," he said.

Franciscan Father Terry Messer has worked with Youth 2000 for 10 years. He sees confession as the greatest aspect of the retreat. "It frees them from unnecessary burdens," he said.

Father John Cregan, pastor of Blessed Sacrament Parish in Alexandria, and a spiritual director for Youth 2000, said in a Saturday evening talk, "God wants to forgive you more than you want to be forgiven. You have nothing to fear. Stay close to Jesus and Mary."

He encouraged the youth to pray daily, "Lord, help me to do today what you want me to do" and to make a good confession once a month so that "you can be the most loving, other-directed person you can be with God’s help."

Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde celebrated Mass with the retreatants on Sunday morning. At the end of Mass, he recalled a talk about Mary he went to in high school that deeply impacted him. "I hope this weekend will be that moment for you," he said. "With Jesus, you have everything. Let Him be part of your life as a daily companion.

"I pray that you discover where God is calling you in life," Bishop Loverde said. "It has been good to be with you. I am made young. You are the young Church, the hope."

At the end of the retreat, Brawley encouraged youths to bring what they had learned with them once they left. "Think of simple things you can do," she said. If praying a rosary a day is too much, start by praying just a decade or even just a Hail Mary. "Y’all can change the world," she said.

"When they leave, they know Jesus is truly present and He’ll always be there for them," Brawley said. "They were able to leave their cares behind for a weekend. It is a weekend full of the peace and joy of Jesus," she said, and that joy stays with them after the retreat.

"Monday morning will be the same for them," said Father Messer. "But a day in the future, they will remember and look back on this weekend."