Speakers at youth rally call teens from across the state to ‘live an abundant life’

Julia Eckrich, director of youth and young adult ministry at Our Lady of Grace Parish in Noblesville, Ind., in the Lafayette Diocese, shares a witness talk in the Indiana Convention Center during the Indiana Youth Rally for Life on Jan. 22. (Photo by Sean Gallagher)

By Sean Gallagher

Frigid winter temperatures did not keep nearly 1,450 youths and their chaperones from across the state from making their way on Jan. 22 to the Indiana Convention Center for the Indiana Youth Rally for Life.

Rare blizzard-like conditions in southern Louisiana, however, did keep the rally’s scheduled keynote speaker, Katie Prejean McGrady, from traveling to Indiana from her home 26 miles from the Gulf Coast where 7 inches of snow had fallen the previous day.

Prejean McGrady, a noted Catholic author, speaker, radio host and podcaster, did speak in a 10-minute pre-recorded video to the youths gathered at the convention center for the second annual youth rally. (Related: See a photo gallery from the event | More photos)

She shared with her listeners that God in Jesus Christ is offering them “an abundant life” that is a gift and not something that they can earn or create on their own.

“We become saints, not just because we work really hard,” Prejean McGrady said. “We become saints because we embrace an abundant life. We live life to the full because the Lord has invited us to this full life, and we walk with him.”

She then gave the youths three suggestions to do daily to enter more fully into this abundant life: read from Scripture for five minutes; listen to the voice of God in silence for five minutes; and ask God in prayer, “Lord show me what you want me to see today.”

If her listeners do this faithfully, Prejean McGrady said, they will become like Christ’s disciples whom he sent out to preach and heal just as he had done.

“When we read Scripture, when we listen for his voice, when we sit quietly and ask him to show us what he wants us to see, then we, too, can go out,” she said. “We, too, can be these witnesses. We, too, can live and proclaim the abundant life.”

Filling in for Prejean McGrady during much of the rest of the rally was Catholic author and speaker Dom Quaglia.

Encouraging the youths to give themselves “face-to-face time” with God in personal, conversational prayer, he said this will lead them more fully into the abundant life that Prejean McGrady had described, an abundant life that saints across the ages had embraced.

“The saints are people who live this abundant life, but sainthood is not reserved just for a few wild and crazy people,” Quaglia said. “It’s not reserved just for people who travel the nations to preach or have some other kind of miraculous story in their life. Sainthood is a call for all of us.”

In a later reflection during the rally, Quaglia was clear with his listeners that, while God calls all of them to an abundant life, they need to know there will still be difficulties in the midst of it.

“Anyone who has ever said yes to the adventure that God has called them to knows that it’s not all sunshine and rainbows,” he said. “Every adventure has trials and challenges.”

One such challenge is to be a witness to pro-life principles in a society that often rejects them.

“You and I have to choose to build the culture of life,” Quaglia said. “We live in a culture that isn’t always so pro-life, and we have to choose to help build that culture of life. And you may not always be prepared to speak about it, but I would encourage you to try to prepare to speak to people about what you believe and why you believe it. Pray for the courage to do so.”

A witness talk was given during the rally by one of its attendees, Reyna Santos-Ramirez, a junior at St. Joseph High School in South Bend, Ind., in the Fort Wayne-South Bend Diocese.

She reflected on her pride in her Latino heritage and the joy she’s experienced in helping families who recently emigrated to her hometown from Central and South America at a Catholic social service agency.

Reyna recalled recently helping a mother of a family from Venezuela get clothes for her children.

“The smile she had after receiving all of her things was one of joy and relief in her knowing that her kids had some clothes to get them by,” Reyna said.

The teen also reflected on the challenges of being Latino in today’s society and the difficulties she’s experienced in prejudicial attitudes shown to her and others.

“Your ethnicity and race shouldn’t be something that should stop you, but something that will make you stronger,” Reyna said. “We all need to not only treat immigrant and immigrant families like we would treat our Lord, but also we should all try and find the courage to walk with them, befriend them and get to know their story, just like you would want someone to know your story and know that you are loved.”

The rally’s emcee, Julia Eckrich, who serves as director of youth and young adult ministry at Our Lady of Grace Parish in Noblesville, Ind., in the Lafayette Diocese, also gave a witness talk about the experience of her and her husband in being foster parents for 13 children during the past four years.

Noting that “we never know what we’re getting into” when they get a call that they will be receiving a new foster child, they nonetheless “just say yes, and we trust that the Lord has their story written if we’re just a small part of it.”

“In all of this, we try to bring love and joy and stability and a lot of Jesus to each of these kiddos,” Eckrich said.

Describing both beautiful moments and difficult challenges in caring for foster children, she said that all of them are ultimately searching for one thing: love.

“And who is the ultimate author of love? Who is love himself? God,” Eckrich said. “So, we always try to bring God into these new relationships as they’re in this new environment… .”

For her and her husband, “Foster care is more than just providing a roof over a child’s head,” she continued. “It’s answering Christ’s call to love and care for the most vulnerable among us. As Catholics, we’re called to be the hands and feet of Jesus, reaching out with compassion and hope.

“Whether by becoming a foster parent, supporting a foster family or simply praying for those in the system, each of us can play a part in bringing healing and stability to children in need.”

Ruby Martin, a junior at Father Michael Shawe Memorial High School and a member of Prince of Peace Parish, both in Madison, took part in the rally for the second year in a row.

“It’s good to know that there are so many other people who feel the same way,” Ruby said of the large gathering of youths in the convention center. “It makes a big impact on me to see everyone out here supporting the pro-life movement.”

Sherie Coolie left for Indianapolis at 5 a.m. on Jan. 22 from her home in Posey County in the Evansville Diocese for the rally and the Indiana Mass for Life and Indiana March for Life that followed it.

The director of faith formation and youth ministry at St. Francis Xavier Parish in Poseyville and St. Wendel Parish in St. Wendel, she was grateful that so many young people from her faith communities and her diocese had shown their commitment to the gospel of life.

“I’m really proud of them that they’re stepping up like this,” Coolie said. “They care enough about this that they’re willing to sacrifice their schedules. Some of them are missing extracurriculars and athletic events that are important to them.”

Her gratitude wasn’t restricted to those who came from southwestern Indiana but was also expressed for all the youths at the rally.

“It definitely gives you a sense of unity, that we’re all in this together,” Coolie said. “We’re not alone in this. We have support across the whole state.” †

 

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