Joyful gathering of young adults: ‘This is what Christ’s Church looks like’

Urged to find their joy in the Lord, rely on Jesus to enter the fullness of life and support one another, more than 100 young adults and others smiled, prayed and laughed as they gathered for Mass with Archbishop Bernard Hebda, a rousing speaker and fellowship at St. Albert the Great in Minneapolis.

Asked what brought him to the evening sponsored by Edina-based Center for Evangelization and Discipleship, Chad Berg, 29, of St. Mark in St. Paul said it was quite simple: “This is living out my faith. This is what Christ’s Church looks like.”

Chris Stefanik, an internationally known Catholic speaker, author and multimedia presence, spoke in the church after Mass on finding joy grounded in faith that remains even through great hardship.

Stefanik recalled that as a teenager he admired tough guys, including a comic-book-like character on a poster he put in his room called Slash. Until his parents coerced him into attending a religious retreat and he met a 65-year-old man who looked truly happy and noted, “This guy was not cool. He looked nothing like Slash. I looked at him and I thought, ‘Slash is dead. I am dead. I want what he has. I want joy.’”

In his homily, the archbishop noted the day’s Gospel from Luke, when Jesus is asked who will be saved and he responds, “Strive to enter the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough.”

“Think about getting through any narrow gate, it’s not really in my nature,” Archbishop Hebda said with humor, while noting that Christ didn’t talk about being nimble or small enough to go through the gate — but being strong enough.

“We all know when we are strong and weak, the limits of what we can do,” the archbishop said. “Only when God works through us can we do more.”

“I hope that relying on Christ will be enough to get me through,” Archbishop Hebda said.

The archbishop, Stefanik and Frank Kiesner, a member of CEND’s founding board of directors, pointed in their remarks to the group to the importance of youth and young adults to the Church, stressing that one of three pastoral themes of the Archdiocesan Synod, which culminated with a Synod Assembly in June, is forming “youth and young adults in and for a Church that is always young.”

The archbishop is writing a pastoral letter to be released next month on the feast of Christ the King that will give direction for meeting the priorities of the Synod, which also include 1) forming parishes that are in the service of evangelization and 2) forming missionary disciples who know Jesus’ love and respond to his call.

“We have such great hope in young people, not only now in renewing the life of the Church, but in the future leadership roles you will take on,” the archbishop said in closing remarks at the Mass.

Archbishop Hebda, as well as Stefanik, Kiesner, young adults and others, stayed well after Stefanik’s talk with food and conversation in the church hall. Brenda Sevcik, 24, of St. John the Baptist in Savage, came to the event with a friend from that parish, Kathryn Gaydos, 30.

Knowing Stefanik’s ministry, hearing about CEND, which was formed in 2020 to bring young adults together and amplify their involvement in the Church, and hoping to meet fellow Catholics in the archdiocese, propelled Sevcik into attending the event.

“I see a great need for God and Jesus, for joy,” in her generation of young people, said Sevcik, the music director at St. John the Baptist. “How can we bring the Gospel to them, to let them know they are loved and saved?”