Catholic young adults sing for the Synod

Under cloudy skies on a late afternoon in October, about 45 young adults gathered on steps outside the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul to sing their hearts out. Some were casually dressed in jeans, and others were dressed up. A group of young men wore light gray shirts identifying them as seminarians studying at St. John Vianney College Seminary in St. Paul, and five young women wore habits of their religious community, Pro Ecclesia Sancta.

“It’s important for us to be here just for the archdiocese and the Synod,” said Pro Ecclesia Sancta Sister Leann Luecke, 29. “The whole archdiocese is supporting and contributing, and we wanted to participate and show our support for the archbishop (Archbishop Bernard Hebda) and Bishop (Andrew) Cozzens.”

The group’s singing performance will be part of a video for the sixth and final week of the Archdiocesan Synod Small Groups at parishes, which focuses on two topics: youth ministry (grades 6-12) and young adult ministry (ages 18-35). Video clips from the Catholic Softball Group and other young adult groups are integrated throughout the video.

The Synod Small Groups are providing the opportunity for wide discussion on three focus areas Archbishop Hebda identified for the 2022 Archdiocesan Synod. Ideas discussed with help shape next year’s Synod Assembly, which will lead to a pastoral letter from Archbishop Hebda, followed by a pastoral plan.

Therese Coons, director of the Archdiocesan Synod’s executive committee, said that many members of a Synod executive subcommittee that worked on materials for the parish consultations had attended a performance of the musical “Catholic Young Adults: The Musical,” written by Father Kyle Kowalczyk, pastor of St. Maximilian Kolbe in Delano, and were impressed by its quality, Coons said. The song also recognizes that young adulthood is often a time of searching for meaning in life, and speaks to how that meaning is ultimately found in Jesus, she said.

“So as a group, we just thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be fun to end the Synod on a note of hope about the young leaders that we have today in the Church and who are the leaders for the future of the Church,’” Coons said.

Chad Berg, a parishioner of St. Mark in St. Paul, who performed in “Catholic Young Adults: The Musical,” wrote the song “Look Up” for the Synod video. “They really wanted a song to be in the same spirit of that (musical),” Berg said. His direction was for a song that is fun, exciting and a way to celebrate the end of the Archdiocesan Synod.

But it also was to be a song “that gives hope about the future of the Church,” showing that youth and young adults “are here and there’s a lot of hope to be had in that,” he said.

“It’s reverent and funny at the same time, which is wonderful,” Coons said. “I think he (Berg) hit a home run with this.”

Berg also was asked to be a reader for the Synod Small Group videos used in sessions five and six.

He said he doesn’t have a lot of experience writing original music, but started to write and performed in the Summit Singers, an a capella group at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul.

“So, through that, I had a lot of experience arranging music, using lots of different voices and, obviously, singing all different types of music, too,” he said.

The song has humor, Berg said, showing that Catholic young adults don’t take themselves too seriously, “and we try to make it really catchy and great for a crowd and for repeating and singing along.” Lyrically, the song can have multiple meanings, Berg said, but the primary meaning is about the increasing spirituality of his generation.

“People are abandoning religion, perhaps,” he said, “but they are maintaining a strong sense of spirituality.” They’re leaving organized religion but they’re still yearning for Christ, he said. “So, there’s a lot of hope in that.”

Berg said when people hear the lyrics — “I’ve seen beauty that makes me cry, passions overload, an imprint on my soul” — “that’s saying we will recognize beauty as something that is ingrained in the human soul by God.”

With “I felt wonder I recognize, I feel it taking hold, and no I won’t let go,” Berg said it means “I feel something that I know that comes from a greater power.” And the refrain, “So I look up, up, up to Christ the Lord,” is saying, if we just take the familiarity of Christ in our life and direct it towards him, towards God, then we’ll really find peace. And that’s kind of the goal,” he said.

Emily Abe, 26, a parishioner of Holy Family in St. Louis Park, and a member of its young adult group, brought her guitar along with her singing voice to the video shoot. She said it was important to be there “just to show the archdiocese we exist.”

“The young adults exist and we are serious about the faith, and we want to pass on the true faith,” Abe added. “There aren’t a ton of young adults who are really engaged in the Church. There are a lot more ‘nones,’ but it was important for me to be here because I just want to show people that they exist.”

Nestor Arguello, 31, a real estate agent who works part-time at the University of St. Thomas Catholic Studies Department, came with his wife, Melina Arguello Sotro, 26, who works at St. Thomas with the Habiger Institute for Catholic Leadership’s Latino Scholars program and who was a reader for some of the Synod Small Group videos. They brought some of the students to the shoot.

“It’s been great to be part of the Synod small groups and now to be a part of this video — it’s just a lot of fun as well,” he said.

A message from Archbishop Hebda is included in the video. “Our patron, St. Paul, tells us to rejoice in the Lord always,” he said. “We can rejoice and choose hope, for our God has a plan. Together, we can shape the future of our Church if we only look up,” and the archbishop points skyward.

Berg, who studied finance and economics at the University of St. Thomas, works in banking. “Music is something that I do, I love to do it and do it on the side. It’s a blessing to be able to still be involved in it despite having a full-time career.”

The video is currently only available to see at the Session 6 meetings of the Synod Small Groups. It may be publicly available online at a later date.