'But who do you say that I am?' - Turn conference energizes youth

By RENEE WEBB
 Content and Design Coordinator

Students in grades 7-12 had the chance to reflect on “But who do you say I am?” – exploring not only who Jesus is but who they are in the eyes of God - during the Turn Conference held Feb. 28 in Jefferson.

According to Danielle Fennessy, diocesan faith formation coordinator, nearly 60 students attended the conference that was collaboratively organized by the diocese and a committee of parish faith formation leaders. 

Bishop’s keynote
Bishop John E. Keehner was the keynote speaker. After sharing his background, he read Matthew 16:13-23 that focused on a conversation Jesus had with his disciples asking them who they say he is. The bishop asked the youth who Jesus was, to which some replies were: leader, holy man, miracle worker, teacher, savior and Prince of Peace.

“All of that is true but does it really tell us who Jesus was?” asked the bishop. 

Reflecting on the Scripture passage, the bishop pointed out that even though Simon Peter had responded to Jesus, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” That response had been inspired by God and more than likely Peter didn’t really know what that label meant.
“Jesus tells him what it means to be the Messiah. It will mean suffering and taking up the cross. Peter wants nothing to do with that. Jesus tells him you cannot have the glory without suffering,” said the bishop, comparing it to athletes and musicians putting in the practice.
Bishop Keehner asked the students to think about the labels they give themselves.

“We all do it and sometimes it is because people do it to us. We label ourselves. I’m stupid. I’m boring,” he said, noting that many things can impact the labels such as where they live, what they like to eat or do. “Are the labels necessarily wrong? Sometimes. Somebody may label us in order to hurt us or pigeon-hole us so we are kept in the corner.”

Labels given by others and to oneself, the bishop noted, can be accurate sometimes and sometimes wrong but either way in most cases they do not define the individual at a deep level. 

The bishop also reflected on the pandemic and how masks made it more difficult to identify people and communicate.

“But let me ask you, don’t we wear at least metaphorical masks all of the time?” he asked. “We put a certain image out there of who we are.” This can happen because people fear that “if you see me for who I truly am, you won’t accept me.”

Even at age 60, Bishop Keehner said he sometimes asks the Lord “who are you calling me to be? Of course, the answer is, God is calling me to be myself.”

He told them that God sees through the masks and he asked them to think about who they are in God’s eyes.

Further into his keynote, the bishop read Exodus 3:1-12 where God revealed himself to Moses in a burning bush. 
“Where is the burning bush in our world today? If we recognized it, we would all be gathered toward it wouldn’t we? I would suggest there are burning bushes all over the place, but we are too blind to see them,” said Bishop Keehner. “Not only do we have masks that cover our mouths, we have masks that cover our eyes.”

The bishop reminded them that life is full of difficult choices everyone must make as those choices reflect “who we are or who we want to be.” Knowing how to respond to the question – Who do you say that I am? – determines “not only our beliefs about Jesus but also what we believe about ourselves.”

He asked them to look in the mirror and imagine it was Jesus looking back at them.
“Think about what he sees,” said Bishop Keehner.

Mass, breakouts and more
Bishop Keehner presided at Mass with Father Bill Schreiber of Jefferson St. Joseph and Father Ross Caniglia of Lake City Our Lady of the Plains as concelebrants.
In the homily, Father Schreiber pointed out that it was good to strive to become a better person and help others do so, but he cautioned about focusing too much on perfection as that can cause excessive anxiety.

Deacon Don Evans was a breakout speaker“Perfection may be for heaven, but here and now we’re in the process of being perfected,” he said. “Our goal as Christians, as disciples of Jesus, is simply holiness – to be more merciful, strong, faithful and loving – wherever we can. And how is it we start? By receiving God’s mercy and love.”   

The good news, Father Schreiber added, is that “we have a God who calls each and every one of us friends and is ready to help us whenever we ask.”

Breakout speakers included Deacon Don Evans who spoke on I Am Set Apart, Sue Gradoville addressed I Am Enough and Justin Derry delivered I Am Human. A fourth breakout allowed the students to make a craft that reflected their Catholic identity.

Along with the keynote, breakouts and Mass, students participated in eucharistic adoration and had the opportunity to attend confession. 

There was also ample time for teambuilding and fun as the students were broken into small groups of four to six students of their own age for reflective challenges throughout the day.

“The challenges helped the individuals meet new people on their own team and other teams,” said Fennessy, who noted among the activities were Rock, Paper, Scissors games and the hype tunnel. “It helped them reflect together on the breakout sessions through the day.”
Sticky notes and an “I Am” wall encouraged the students to look at themselves in the way Christ would as well as send positive messages to others – something that was reinforced in the breakout by Gradoville.

An optional after party at the rec center in Jefferson closed out the day.

Student response
Porter Degeneffe, a ninth grader from Asencion Parish of Boone County, described the conference as a good way to learn about God through fun activities. One of the main messages that stood out to him was the importance of following God’s path for your life and reflecting on personal beliefs.

He encourages other students to attend in the future because “it’s a good time.”
Meredith Hjelle, a seventh grader from Coon Rapids, said she enjoyed the conference – meeting students from other parishes and hearing from a variety of speakers.

“I really liked the message from the bishop,” she said.
Kathleen Hildreth of Our Lady of the Plains Parish in Lake City described the conference as fun and found everyone to be very welcoming. She particularly enjoyed the breakout sessions especially the one on mental health.

“I also think the bishop did a good job talking about and relaying how the Scripture verses (Matthew 16:13-23 and Exodus 3:1-12) can relate to our own lives,” she said.

Teddy Johnson, a ninth grader from Ascension Parish of Boone County, said it was great for everyone to meet other students and learn about the faith.
From the bishop’s talk, he took away the importance “of finding yourself - who you really are - was very powerful.”

Johnson called the conference great and added, “I think everyone should learn all of these messages and be exposed to this sort of stuff.” 

Organizers reflect
Fennessy said the bishop did a wonderful job of opening up the Gospel.

“We often try to put Christ and the Gospel message in a small, neat box and don’t let God’s full, transformative power shape our life,” she said. “When we take off our own labels of who Christ is and let him reveal himself to us, we can do so many great things, with great faith.”

Among parish leaders on the core team to organize the event with the Office of Faith Formation were Stephanie Hall, religious education coordinator at Jefferson St. Joseph; Megan Ulrich, DRE at Ascension Parish of Boone County and Sandra Hildreth, DRE at Lake City Our Lady of the Plains Parish. 

Hall called the day a wonderful success, noting it ran smoothly and they received feedback from the youth that it was fun and they would spread the news for next year. 

“The day ran incredibly smoothly,” Ulrich said. “We had such a great group of kids who were definitely open to learning and growing in their faith. You could tell that the majority of them wanted to be there and were excited.”

Ulrich heard feedback from the youth that they really liked the team challenges and games along with meeting the bishop and taking selfies with him.
The youth, added Hall, appeared to enjoy meeting the bishop because he was so down to earth and approachable. Selfies with the bishop“The committee who plans Turn is incredible,” said Fennessy. “They are so aware of the needs of their students and families at their parishes. It comes through when they planned this conference. They met and encouraged the teens where they are at.”

Ulrich extended gratitude to Fennessy and the diocesan Faith Formation Office for their help and going “above and beyond with the conference this year.”

“I think overall this it was a perfect balance of games, speakers, activities, youth downtime - they even played on the playground for a while - prayer, reflection,” said Hall. “I saw so many new friendships being made; I think what makes this new friendship great is that our Catholic faith is the center of these friendships.” 

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