Inner peace and profound joy can only be found when living united in Christ, Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde told a group of more than 250 young adults at the first diocesan-wide young adult Mass.
During his homily at the special evening Mass on Sunday at St. Agnes, the bishop noted that one must not be content with having a living relationship with Christ alone, but to experience that relationship with the community of the Church and to share it with others, he told the crowd.
“Once we experience Christ’s love for us, we cannot help but want to pass it on to everyone,” he said. Recognizing the challenges of evangelization such as indifference or rejection, he encouraged his young flock to carry out their mission to evangelize regardless of the difficulties.
“We are called to be witnesses at home, at the workplace, anywhere we interact with others,” he said. Living out the faith and simply being an example is among the greatest types of evangelization, he said during his homily at the Mass, concelebrated by eight priests from around the diocese. Among those in the congregation were Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia.
Commending the young adults for being a “vibrant part of this household of faith,” the bishop said, “Young people are searching for truth, light and goodness. Young people are looking for answers to life’s deepest questions and slowly and gradually we come to discover the answer — Jesus Christ. Christ and the Church are always connected. There can be no separation because the Church is the other presence of Christ in the world.”
The bishop said, “Your seeking Jesus is really your response to His seeking you. Our yes to Him is actually a response to His yes to us, a yes He gave fully in His dying and rising precisely to save us.”
Calling the bishop’s homily “awesome,” Sam Kepler, a parishioner of St. Rita Church in Alexandria, felt inspired and encouraged to continue to live out her faith. Reiterating the message of the bishop, she said, “We’re seeking Christ because he’s seeking us. You can never hear that message too many times.”
Kieran Fletcher felt inspired before the Mass even started, he said. The sight of the crowds of young people who gathered for the diocesan young adult Mass was overwhelming for Fletcher, a graduate of Georgia Tech, who moved to the diocese six months ago. There were rarely any young people at his home parish in a small town in rural South Georgia in the “middle of nowhere,” he said. It was encouraging for him to be around other young faithful Catholics.  
“I appreciate that [Bishop Loverde] recognizes that we’re a significant part of the Catholic community and that he cares about what we think,” said Georgina Baumgartner, parishioner of St. Rafael Church in Rockville, Md. She drove from Maryland for the chance to be around other young Catholics. Because many young adults like herself have not yet found their vocation, Baumgartner said she often feels like she’s in a “sort of limbo.” She continued, “We’re looking to find our way in the world, and he spoke to us directly.”
 “It’s nice that he talked about us being a community. He recognizes that we’re trying to come together and that he sees us as a family within a family,” said Jen Varela of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Arlington. The diocese currently has 17 established young adult groups in parishes with four more forming this fall.
Angelus Virata was grateful for the opportunity to meet with the bishop after Mass at the parish hall, where the young adults gathered for refreshments. She wanted to personally thank him for his encouraging message to be witnesses and evangelize, said Virata, who volunteers with Renewal Ministries evangelization mission trips.
The bishop commissioned the young adults to be witnesses to the Gospel. “Set aflame with Christ’s love, go forth to witness, go forth to invite everyone to come to Jesus, go forth to invite them to come to the family of God- the Church,” he said. “Let us transform society with the blazing fire of God’s amazing love.”
Henrietta Gomes can be reached at hgomes@catholicherald.com.

(c) Copyright 2007 by Arlington Catholic Herald