Indianapolis: Inside the city’s convention center, the sound of pure joy and enthusiasm of 20,000 people, mostly high school youths resounded in great shouts. But, the crowd went from rowdy to reverent. They knelt in silence as a eucharistic procession twined through the Indiana Convention Center, the Eucharist held aloft in a monstrance carried by Indianapolis Archbishop Charles C. Thompson.
The attendees included youth from 145 dioceses around the country, and even from Australia, Canada, and England. They came to participate in the largest biennial Catholic youth gathering in the United States: the National Catholic Youth Conference, or NCYC, held this year from Nov. 21-23.
The theme this year was “Blessed. Broken. Given.” To explore the theme and to encourage youths to read the Scripture daily, four general sessions held in Lucas Oil Stadium across from the convention center dove into the story of the Road to Emmaus during the course of the conference.
The youth began the session with the musical praise of the band, For King and Country followed by a videotaped welcome.
“Dear young people of NCYC,” said Pope Francis in his first recorded address to conference participants.
As with the eucharistic procession, the youths’ shouts turned to silence as Pope Francis read his message.
“I send you an affectionate greeting and my prayers at this moment of encounter that you are living,” he said, occasionally lifting his eyes from a transcript to the camera. “May it be an opportunity to deepen your faith and communion. May it light your missionary hearts with the courage and strength to live in and with the Lord, always as a Church sent forth. “Go and fill your surroundings, even the digital ones. Not of convictions,” Pope Francis said, setting his paper down and speaking off-script directly to the youths. “Not to convince others. Not to proselytize. But to bear witness of the tenderness and mercy of Jesus.”
He closed his message by blessing the participants with the sign of the cross. “And don’t forget to pray for me,” he added.
Moments later, the darkness of the stadium was broken as one ambassador from each delegation present streamed into the arena, each carrying a candle. With the area encircled in candlelight, several singers dressed in choir robes ascended the stage and chanted the Emmaus story from the Gospel of Luke. From the stage, Cleveland Bishop Nelson J. Perez reflected on the reading.
Source: The Criterion/ Todays Catholic
