The greatest commandments of our Catholic faith are to love God, and to love our neighbor as ourselves.

But, as Bishop Edward Rice reminded the 3,000 teens, leaders, and volunteers today during the Steubenville Conference closing Mass, Jesus calls us to go a step further. We need to love with our whole heart, so we can become fearless disciples.

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Our Saturday morning Holy Mass was celebrated by Bishop Rice of the Diocese of Springfield–Cape Girardeau. This was a votive Mass, celebrated in special recognition of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. We were blessed to be joined by priests and deacons from different youth ministry groups that came to the conference. Our team priest, Fr. Joe Freedy gave an empowering homily where we learned about how exciting in can be to be “all in” for Jesus.

Sometimes we can feel scared of what life with Jesus actually looks like. Fr. Freedy let us know that living for Christ is not stifling, but an opportunity to live life to the fullest. The saints have gone before us. Saints like Teresa of Calcutta and Maximillian Kolbe listened to the stirring of the Holy Spirit in their hearts, and they were all in for God. Their fearlessness and examples of selfless love provide us inspiration for our faith lives today.

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What is the purpose of this weekend conference? It’s simple: individual hearts and their journey with Christ. Imperfectly, with mistakes along the way, this weekend is about joining the journey of hearts being pursued by Christ.

The Closing Prayer at Mass says, “… to lead us from former ways to newness of life.” This weekend, a time of restoration, is a beginning point of Jesus leading us to be better than we were before we came. Somewhere along the way, God touched your heart this weekend. Maybe it was during Mass, Adoration, Reconciliation, or in the words of a talk. What He has in store for you next a mystery. The graces from this weekend will bear fruit in the days and years to come. There is a whole journey of life and grace ahead. The key to this weekend is what you do next.

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And… we’re back for week 2!

We began our weekend the best way Catholics know how: with Mass! Bishop Rice was the celebrant for our volunteer Mass for the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Today is one of many days our Church dedicates to the Blessed Mother. Who better models missionary discipleship? No one.

Mary: a woman pondering and a woman on the go.

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What does our faith mean to us – both as individuals and as a Church?

In today’s first reading, we hear the story of the prophet Amos. Amos was called by God, but he didn’t desire to be a prophet. He didn’t know how to prophesy when God called him, but he still said yes. He trusted that God would provide what was necessary. Amos went and told God’s people to reform, turn away from their sins, and be faithful to God. King Amaziah sent Amos away, because like many of us, he didn’t want to hear a challenging message. But Amos never gave up, because he knew God’s call for him was real. Even though it was difficult to pursue God’s calling, Amos stayed faithful.

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