In my role as Youth and Young Adult Minister, I am blessed to walk with young people. I do my best to guide them and help them encounter Jesus. In July, I was able to help lead 87 youth and chaperones from around Vermont to the Steubenville East Conference in Springfield, Massachusetts. We spent the weekend of the 25-27 having fun, joining in community, listening to talks from gifted speakers, singing praise and worship music, spending time in Adoration, and participating in Mass and the Sacraments. The theme of this year’s conference was Consumed, and the speakers discussed various things that consume our lives – the idols we often place in the way of God. They also talked about how God desires to consume us in His never-ending love – we simply need to relinquish control and allow Him to work.

Over the weekend, I reflected on what consumes my mind. Going into the trip, I was nervous, feeling pressure to facilitate encounters with God among the youth. Additionally, my mind was consumed with logistics and safety protocols, ensuring everyone was secure and comfortable. Of course, that is all part of my job and vital for me to consider, but I realized I hadn’t always left space for God. As much as I am a “leader” in ministry, I am always being led first. While I might desire to facilitate an encounter with God for each person, that is ultimately out of my control. I can’t be the primary mover. Those moments are between each individual and God.

Yet, we were there together.

Our faith features many moments where we have incredibly intimate experiences with God. When we go to Mass, we receive Jesus, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity in the Eucharist. The God of the Universe dwells within us, coming into our broken human flesh and inviting us into His all-consuming love. What could be more intimate?

Yet, we are together.

As Church, we are God’s pilgrim people and His mystical body on earth. These are inseparable. While we are each on our own faith journeys, as iron sharpens iron, we are designed to work together, to pray together, to strive together. At the conference, I had the privilege of talking to our youth, hearing some of their stories, and witnessing how God was moving in their lives. I got to see the physical manifestations of them opening their hearts – maybe they raised a hand or bowed their head in prayer, maybe they wept at the beauty before them in Adoration, maybe they prayed together and for one another. During our trip, we were pilgrims, venturing individually and together into the unknown to encounter God. Living as God’s pilgrim people, we are constantly given the same opportunity to unite in hope.

One highlight of Steubenville East is Saturday night Adoration. The Priest processes Jesus inthe Most Blessed Sacrament around an arena filled with students. During Adoration, I was able to see youth from all over Vermont adoring and praising Jesus. I couldn’t help but think about the gifts we’ve been given. No matter how often we might feel fear about the future of the Church, we have so many gifts before us. In that moment, I saw 87 of them. We have a God who desires to consume us in the fires of His love. He forges our communities, shaping them just so; He refines them in His glory, drawing us ever-closer to Himself. Despite different backgrounds, we are all welcomed into Christ’s all-consuming love. As Pilgrims of Hope, we can experience it side-by-side.