Katie Prejean started the women’s session with a Hail Mary and a simple prayer to call upon God’s truth, especially when it comes to our roles as His beloved daughters.

Katie shared that the fundamental part of who we are is that we are loved; it’s our greatest identity. We are wanted by the very God who forged us in his sacred image. This means that, even in our mess, when our breath smells and our hair is bedraggled, we are Jesus’ chosen image to represent beautiful, selfless love. We are love incarnate! It’s also our greatest purpose. We were created specifically to love others and to be loved by Him.

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“The world promises you comfort, but you were not made for comfort. You were made for greatness.” — Pope Benedict XVI

Matt Regitz started his talk at this morning’s men session with an encouraging thought that spoke to the heart of every man in attendance, “When I’m done speaking, you will be able to eat lunch!” which was, of course, was greeted by outrageous applause.

But Matt didn’t spend too much time on silliness. He immediately began sharing some personal stories of recent struggles from his life and the lives of his loved ones – which caused me (and I suspect everyone in attendance) to reflect on our past and present personal struggles. This was important, because when we struggle, we can be tempted to believe that we aren’t where we are supposed to be…but that thought is a lie. God has us right where He wants us to be at this very moment; our challenge is to trust that!

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Wisdom is to despise the perishable things of this world and to aspire to what is eternal. – St. Francis de Sales

Bishop Edward Rice, bishop of the Diocese of Springfield – Cape Girardeau, reflected on this quote from St. Francis de Sales at Mass this morning. He challenged the 4,200+ teens to truly be wise by seeking the eternal things and not becoming caught up in the things of this world.

While he acknowledged that things of this earth are good and necessary, Bishop Rice said that our identities can become wrapped up in the latest trends and what other people think. It is then that the things of the earth become an obstacle to the ultimate purpose of our lives: Heaven. The things of this world are to help us reach eternity.

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Tonight, Bennett from LEAD gave a powerful personal testimony on the transformational power of the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

Quotables

“Throughout high school I would put on a false front because I didn’t want them to know what was really going on.”

“In the rock bottom state I was in, God used that to help me realize this isn’t who I am supposed to be, who I can be, or who I should be. I thank the sacrament of Confession for that.”

“I was thinking that my past may be who I am and measured me, but my sins don’t measure me.” 

“Every day I have to choose – do I want to stay with God or turn away from God?”