Fr. Mike Schmitz began his vocational call by thanking every vocation in the house. He thanked the single people, the married people, and the religious. Everyone is called to some vocation, and it is inspiring to see so many people answering their call through Christ.
David began by bringing a few teens up on stage. He asked them to quickly define these words: to date, dating, seeing each other, and hooking up – according to today’s culture. The answers were quite despairing. Answers included talking about sex, no strings attached, and conditions.
David then asked the teens about the goal of dating. The arena all answered in unison, “marriage”. So, according to our culture, we are supposed to prepare for this sacred union of marriage by a no strings attached and a hook up culture. Really?
The world is constantly disintegrating the ideas of the way of dating and marriage that God has for us. David explained that, “The world doesn’t understand the sacredness of marriage”. So how do we get back God’s idea?
Noelle Garcia had the opportunity to speak to the ladies of the conference today on the topic of authentic friendships. We as a generation consider ourselves very lonely, despite the amount of “friends” we may have and the amount of “likes” we receive on social media.
We need relationships to survive. Specifically, we need our female friendships. Women are sensitive; we are able to sense. We can sense when others are in need. We can sense when someone needs us. So, Noelle challenges us to have this attitude toward our friends: “You are responsible for them and getting them through this journey.” That journey can be many things ranging from one bad instance in their life to the journey to Heaven.
David Calavitta began his talk by speaking these words. These are words that you don’t necessarily want to hear. They may cause feelings of doubt or worry or even fear. However, David did not end his message there. He continued that thought by saying, “God does not need you, and that’s good news. God wants you.” What a wonderful feeling to be wanted, to be longed for by someone, to belong. If God didn’t want you, He wouldn’t have created you!
“If you’ve ever been to a Steubenville conference, you know we are never really finished.”
Father Dave Pivonka said this today at the end of Mass. Father was referring to the opportunity to come forward if any of the teens felt God might be calling them to religious life. However, isn’t this true in a different capacity? We are never really finished. While we may load up on the buses and head back to our assorted homes and parishes, the call to our vocation and to holiness is ever beckoning. No matter what our vocation is, we should all continue everyday to answer that call, whether to married, single, or religious life.
