“Today Jesus tells us we are called to serve our brothers and sisters, no matter what the need, whether in prayer or in action. Are you willing to pray for your friends? Are you willing to serve your friends?”

This morning, we were blessed to have three of our shepherds here to celebrate Mass with us: Archbishop Carlson from the Archdiocese of St. Louis, Bishop Rice from the Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau, and Bishop Kemme from the Diocese of Wichita.

Archbishop Carlson began his homily by reminding us that the God who has invited us here for the Eucharist is the same God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and all the saints. That same God most likely touched many of our hearts and souls this weekend. He also placed prayers and goals on our hearts, but we are not able to achieve those goals alone. We need each other. We need to be bold and inspire hope in one another by how we live our lives because none of us need to walk alone.

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Jim Walsh is a member of Sacred Heart Parish in Valley Park, MO where he served as a youth ministry core team member for nine years, and where he has been serving as the sacristan for the 5:30 pm Mass for the past nineteen years. He has been attending our Steubenville conferences since the year 2000.

He first began attending these conferences as a core team member with his parish, and since 2010 has been volunteering with production.

Jim’s role with production is quite a commitment. He and two other folks drive from St. Louis to Springfield on the Wednesday before our first conference to begin setting up the arena, and they stay long after the second conference has ended to tear down the stage and bring the Office of Youth Ministry’s equipment back to St. Louis. And if you ask anyone at all, our stage setup keeps getting better and better, so we all really appreciate it!

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