In the Gospel today, we hear Jesus speak of the wheat and the weeds growing together in the fields (Matthew 13:24-30). Bishop Edward Rice’s homily focused on how this image is very similar to what we are heading into as we prepare to leave the Steubenville Conference to return to our homes, parishes, and schools. Though we live in a culture thick with weeds, we must stand strong and engage the culture, sharing the Gospel message.

We all have that instinct to want to impress others and maintain our ego; it is simply human nature. We tend to define our worth by our outward appearances or our achievements. In his homily this morning, Fr. Chris Martin challenged us to think differently about our worth. He establishes two very significant points that apply to our approach to sin.

The dorms and hotels sit empty, expecting many high energy teens and chaperones.

The Student Union smells of hot food in preparation for its crowd of exhausted and hungry late night visitors.

The “Q” Arena remains still; awaiting the passionate singing of worship song lyrics, hearts to be touched by the ministry team, countless repetitions of the “Cross Clap” and of course, the pattering of the stadium seats proclaiming “You are My Joy”.

It is the calm before the storm.

This morning at 10am, the excited group of conference staff happily gathered together for the Volunteer Mass to pray for the fourth thousand anxious and faith-filled teens seeking to encounter God in a new way this weekend.

It was awesome to have Bishop Rice from this Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau with us and to hear him give the homily at this weekend’s closing Mass. In sending us forth from the conference, he reminded us of some very important points, and these bullet points were my big takeaways:

At Steubenville, we encounter Jesus in many special ways—in small groups, in praise and worship, in the volunteers who serve us, in the Sacraments where we encounter the person of Christ. At Mass in particular, we encounter Jesus in an extraordinary way that elevates earth to meet heaven. So with the tag-line “Elevate,” there is no other way to begin the second day of SteubySTL than with Mass.

Fr. Crisman, the Vocations Director for the Diocese of Denver, concelebrated with Bishop Rice. He preached that we must be elevated by Christ to encounter Christ, and demonstrated how that happens in a most extraordinary way at Mass.

“Our engagement in what is happening at the Mass will assist us in being lifted up to Jesus—our hearts and our very lives being elevated really to the gates of heaven.”