During the I Am Encounter on March 15, two participants — who also attended the National Catholic Youth Conference in Indianapolis last November — stood in front of the crowd and gave witness talks about their faith and how it fits into their lives now that they are in high school.
The first speaker, Sandy Vessels from Meade County, addressed the attendees as her “brothers and sisters” before saying, “If I could get just one of you to take the next step in your faith, then all of this would be worth it.”
Vessels shared that she had a difficult childhood and ended up living with her aunt. Soon after moving in, she began to attend church with her aunt and now volunteers there on Wednesday nights.
“I have been helping teach a kindergarten church class for about three years. At first, I did it because it felt wrong not to say yes to something like that,” she said.
Vessels, who has lost both of her parents, said that she “started trying to find a purpose to keep going. I felt like I was at the end of my rope.”
After falling into depression, feeling heartbroken and lost, she found purpose in teaching the kindergartners, she said. And the effort helped her understand her faith instead of pulling away from it, she said
Vessels noted that she begrudgingly attended NCYC with her sister after her church’s youth minister “bugged” her to go every single Wednesday before the conference. She said that she was filled with regret.
“I didn’t want to go,” she said. “I had no intention of getting anything out of this.”
Vessels said that the conference “completely changed the way I thought about my faith, and how I was supposed to show it.”
The second teen speaker, Anthony Castaneda, is a sophomore at St. Xavier High School. He noted that aside from his many hobbies, the most important thing to him is his faith, which has guided him through every struggle.
A cradle Catholic, Castaneda shared that he hasn’t questioned his faith, but as every high schooler does, he has struggled with his sins — “cussing, sloth, pride and wrath.”
He told the crowd that he made some poor choices in the past and that his guilt and sense of loneliness distanced him from God.
The sacrament of Confirmation was the beginning of his faith transformation, he said, though he felt anxious and unprepared leading up to it. Castaneda attributed his participation at NCYC with helping his faith “reach its absolute peak.”
“Mass was really thrilling to see, as lots of people were putting their heart and soul into songs, including me,” he said. “My most speechless and memorable moment was adoration. … I am positive that I didn’t get the exact same reaction as everyone else, like when I was looking around I saw people crying. But the only thoughts that I could think when gathered in that moment were that I am honored to be here and learn about the people that inspire me — a man named Jesus.”
