A few songs into the praise and worship concert and moments
after Father Gregory S. Thompson hit a low note on his
guitar, smartphone flashlights began to wave rock-concert
style in the Bishop O’Connell High School auditorium in
Arlington.
Points of light radiating outward was an image of what the
daylong confirmation retreat challenged the seventh- and
eighth-grade participants to be: lights in the darkness.
Confirmation is about “God choosing you to do amazing things;
He wants you to change the world,” said Brian Kissinger,
youth minister at St. Mary of Sorrows Church in Fairfax and
one of two retreat speakers.
The evening concert that had youths clapping and cheering was
only one of the unique elements of the Jan. 17 event, which
drew nearly 200 teens from five diocesan parishes.
Typically each parish hosts its own confirmation retreat, but
Father Thompson, O’Connell chaplain, wanted to offer another
option.
The primary purpose was to “bring students closer to Christ
and to prepare them for confirmation,” he said, but it also
was an effort to serve diocesan parishes. The largest
contingent of retreatants – 109 – hailed from St. Anthony in
Falls Church, with a number from St. Raymond of
Peñafort in Springfield, Holy Spirit in Annandale, St.
Ann in Arlington and St. Mary of Sorrows. Some came from
Catholic schools, but most were public school students.
“Every parish has different resources, and if we can do
something to help them out, wonderful,” said Father Thompson.
The multiparish retreat also was an opportunity to introduce
students to the spirituality that permeates O’Connell and to
bring teens from different parishes together “to help build
the diocesan community,” Father Thompson said.
Those goals seemed promising in Yara Rios, an eighth-grader
at Corpus Christi School in Falls Church. She said it was
“very cool” meeting people from other schools, and although
she’d already been considering attending O’Connell, the day
solidified her decision.
After morning icebreakers, youths listened to a talk on the
apostles and martyrs, one on the Gospels, and one on
confirmation and how to be an evangelist. O’Connell graduate
Madeline Bernero, St. Mary of Sorrows director of religious
education, was the second speaker at the retreat.
Bernero said illuminating the lives of the martyrs and saints
gives teenagers’ concrete examples of lived faith. For
Catholics, “the saints are our heroes, and all they did was
to say ‘yes’ to God every day, in small and ordinary ways,”
she said.
Following each talk, students broke into groups to discuss
the main themes. A large number of Hispanic teens attended
the retreat, and one group was led in Spanish.
The day’s lineup included adoration, confession and a
recitation of the rosary, Mass celebrated by Father Thompson
and a pizza dinner.
During his homily, Father Thompson shared his message using
everyday examples teens could connect with, referencing “The
Lego Movie” and a character named “the Special.”
“Each one of you is a ‘Special,'” said Father Thompson.
“Maybe that sounds trite or bland or boring, but each one of
you has a special role to play. … Each one of you has
gifts, talents and abilities that are unique to you.
“You might say, ‘I’m young, I don’t have a whole lot (to
offer).’ But just because you’re 13 or 14, doesn’t mean that
you’re not called.”
Christ needed the apostles to continue His mission, and He
needs you, Father Thompson said. In a world with so much
suffering and violence, “what if everybody knew that God
loved them? Especially after your confirmation, go out and
tell your friends, your families, that they are loved.”
In his talk prior to Mass, Kissinger told the teens that
people sometimes think confirmation is when you decide to be
Catholic. That’s not the case, he said. “It’s not about
telling God you’re on His side; it’s about God telling you
He’s on your side.”
To evangelize is a key responsibility of the confirmed, said
Kissinger. And it’s a simple, but far from easy, task: “You
must speak truth with your words and love with your life.”
Reflecting on his presentation during the pizza dinner,
Kissinger said many teens see confirmation as graduation from
faith formation. But his prayer is that they will walk off
the O’Connell campus knowing the sacrament is “God equipping
them with the Holy Spirit so they can go out and make
disciples.”
Father Thompson said he’d consider hosting the retreat again
next year, but his first hope is that this year’s
participants are prepared to receive the third sacrament of
initiation.
Between bites of pizza, St. Ann eighth-grader Senam Adedze
said she was looking forward to confirmation. A lot of times
after retreats your initial enthusiasm fizzles, she said. But
today felt different. “I’m ready to put into practice what’s
been preached.”
