By Ruby Thomas, Record Staff Writer
Two hundred youth and young adults — representing the Archdiocese of Louisville and the dioceses of Owensboro and Covington — took part in the first Encuentro (Encounter) for Hispanic young people April 2 at Holy Family Church, 3926 Poplar Level Road.
The theme of the event, sponsored and organized by the Archdiocese of Louisville’s Office of Multicultural Ministry (OMM), was “An Encounter with Mercy.”
Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz, who celebrated the opening Mass, spoke during his homily about Pope Francis’ trip to Mexico in February.
The archbishop shared with his young listeners how the Holy Father met with young people in the city of Morelia, in the state of Michoacan.
The Holy Father told the tens of thousands of young people who’d gathered, that though the youth of Mexico weren’t the country’s hope just yet, they were certainly the nation’s wealth.
The archbishop told the young people gathered at the Encuentro that he believed the same about them.
“You, the young people, are very important to the church and to the life of society,” said the archbishop.
A question that stemmed from the pope’s statement to young Mexicans, the archbishop noted, is “how do I become the hope?”
The answer, the archbishop said is to become unselfish.
“If you want to be the hope of our church, of the nation and the hope of your family, you must think of others,” said Archbishop Kurtz.
One of the secrets to becoming unselfish is getting rid of fear, said the archbishop.
“If you’re fearful just for yourself, then you are thinking only of yourself,” he said, telling his young audience to be like Jesus’ disciples who were without fear because they’d encountered Christ.
Archbishop Kurtz urged his listeners to use the day to make new friendships, but also to have an encounter with Christ.
Following Mass, Reinardo Malavé, who serves as a coordinator for Hispanic youth and young adult ministry in the Diocese of Orlando, Fla., delivered the day’s keynote address.
He started by asking the young people if they believed they were “the most incredible beings God ever made?”
“You are the most incredible being God ever made and not just because mom said so,” Malavé said. “If you do not believe me, let’s read about Jeremiah, an incredible story of a young man God calls.”
Malavé went on to share the story of how God called Jeremiah to be a prophet and Jeremiah’s doubt because of his youth. He then asked the young people how many of them would commit to sharing their Encuentro experience at school on Monday.
How many, he asked, would commit to being a prophet like Jeremiah and witnessing to those they encountered?
Malavé also repeated the archbishop’s question: “How can you be the hope of this nation?”
Malavé told the gathering that they had to start with knowing Christ. To know who Christ is, he said, you have to love one another, he said.
“Do you know everyone at your table?” Malavé asked. “That’s how you start. You start by getting to know who the other person is.”
He said each person is important and each person needs to be treated with respect.
Malavé told the group further that “everyone of us has the ability to bless someone else. Everyone of us can transform and change the world every day.”
He noted that the youth will start becoming the hope of the future in their homes.
“The most important place is your home,” he said. “The church needs to start at home. That’s how you start becoming the hope of the country.”
Eva Gonzalez, director of Hispanic ministry in the OMM, said this first Encuentro for Hispanic youth and young adults was a response to many in the Latino community who had been asking for more events involving young people.
Gonzalez said this Encuentro also served to prepare the young people for the fifth national Encuentro, which is scheduled for September of 2018 in Dallas, Texas. The national Encuentro, said Gonzalez, will focus, in part, on ways to involve young, second and third generation Hispanics in the church.
