A change of heart and defining choices mark ‘awesome,’ first-ever ‘Holy Fire’

Times of prayer and reflection were part of the Holy Fire event on Feb. 28 at the Pike Performing Arts Center in Indianapolis. It also included ice-breaking moments of a dance party and a performance by a magician. (Photo courtesy of Madeleine Budde)

By John Shaughnessy

Fourteen-year-old Margo Cave didn’t try to sugarcoat it.

She wanted it to be known that it wasn’t her idea to take part in Holy Fire, a daylong gathering of faith and fun hosted by the archdiocese for middle school Catholics who were being invited into a life-changing commitment to Jesus.

“My parents forced me to come here,” said Margo, a member of St. Bartholomew Parish in Columbus. “And I didn’t have any friends with me.”

Then she smiled as she recalled the unexpected change that happened to her during the event on Feb. 28—an event that began with ice-breaking moments that included a dance party and a performance by a magician and later turned to faith-filled opportunities to take part in the sacrament of reconciliation, eucharistic adoration and the celebration of Mass.

In the late afternoon, she joined a long line of youths who picked up a battery-powered candle, placed it in front of a monstrance containing the holy Eucharist and prayed to Jesus, filling the Pike Performing Arts Center in Indianapolis with a glow of reverence.

“Adoration was really moving,” Margo said later.

“I got to go right up there in front of Jesus with a candle. I felt Jesus was there.”

She paused for a moment and said, “I thought it wouldn’t be a great experience, but it turned out to be a lot of fun. And it didn’t matter that I wasn’t here with any of my friends. I was here with Jesus.”

Standing next to her, her 13-year-old brother Howie nodded and said, “Today was a really good day. I felt like I’ve grown in my faith a lot. During adoration, I never felt that close to Jesus before. It was really emotional. It felt like the Holy Spirit was present in the room.”

‘Two moments that blew me away’

The reactions of Margo and Howie are exactly what Rachel Gilman had hoped for as she planned the Holy Fire event that drew 830 middle school youths from the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, the dioceses of Evansville and Lafayette, and other parts of Indiana. Thirty-two groups from the archdiocese participated.

“I call it an encounter experience with Christ—to hear the basic Gospel message of Christ’s love and invite them into that relationship with him,” said Gilman, the archdiocese’s director of youth ministry. “It’s really meant to leave them with having made a choice by the end of the day.”

The Holy Fire event was a first for middle school students in the archdiocese—an important age group that the archdiocese’s Office of Youth Ministry hopes to influence even more through such large-scale gatherings, Gilman said.

She noted that previous research has shown that young people make the decision to live out their faith by the time they are 13.

“I think it’s now 11,” she said. “This is such a crucial age in their faith development and their decision-making of whether they want to follow Christ or not. So, to provide an event where they’re actually asked that question and given reasons why they should—and also witnesses to that—that alone met my hopes. And there were two moments that blew me away.”

The first occurred just before lunchtime when it was announced that the sacrament of reconciliation was being offered during the event.

“The sheer number of kids who got up to get in line almost ended up wrapping around the entire wall of the auditorium—which probably equaled about 200 kids,” Gilman said. “And that was just when they announced it. I was shocked. During the day, at least several hundred kids received that sacrament, which was amazing.”

The other moment came during adoration.

“The kids were told that if you’re willing to commit yourself to Christ, go up to the side of the stage, pick up a candle and leave it before Jesus in the monstrance. When they announced that, 75% of the auditorium stood up and moved to do that. The immediate desire to do that was incredible. But then also the way they prayed. They were so engaged.”

She beamed as she said, “It was such an inspiring moment that in just eight hours Jesus could work so many wonders with so many kids.”

‘There’s where you find joy’

The climax of the day came when Archbishop Charles C. Thompson celebrated Mass for the middle school students, who he called “great witnesses” of the faith.

“You could have slept in today,” the archbishop said during his homily. “You could have watched television, hung out on the computer or played some games, or maybe there’s a ball game or something else you could have done. And you chose to be here.”

Now, the archbishop told the youths, it’s essential to choose to “stay united with Jesus, connected with him, and stay attentive to his voice” because that’s when “things fall into place” in a person’s life.

“There’s where you find courage,” the archbishop said. “There’s where you find hope. There’s where you find joy. There’s where you find peace.”

That’s the Christ-centered approach that guided the life of St. Carlo Acutis, the 15-year-old youth who died in 2006 and was declared a saint by the Church in 2025, the archbishop noted.

“That’s a saint you can identify with,” the archbishop told the youths. “He loved to play soccer, he wore jeans, he wore regular clothes, tennis shoes. You often see him with a backpack on. He’s got a sweatshirt on. He loved playing games. He was an ordinary boy that the Church declared a saint. Ordinary as each one of us here. Fifteen years old, but his love for the Eucharist transformed him.”

Let the Eucharist and your relationship with Christ transform your life, the archbishop encouraged the youths.

“As the bread and wine is transformed—transfigured—into the body and blood, soul and divinity of Christ, let our lives be transformed, transfigured, as well.

“Let us offer ourselves with him. To take up our cross. To walk with him. To suffer with him. And to rise with him.”

‘This has been awesome, one of my favorite days’

After Mass, Archbishop Thompson followed his ritual of spending time with youths in these moments.

He posed for photos with them and talked with groups, including those from the parishes of St. Malachy in Brownsburg, St. Gabriel in Connersville, St. Rita in Indianapolis, St. Mary in Rushville, St. Joseph in Shelbyville and St. Margaret Mary and St. Patrick, both in Terre Haute.

The joy in those moments reflected the impact of Holy Fire.

Looking back on the day, 11-year-old Gabriel McKenzie felt a sense of transformation for others and himself.

“The Holy Spirit has been on most of us today,” said Gabriel, one of 194 middle school youths from the Evansville Diocese who traveled to Indianapolis for the event. “I wasn’t expecting a change in my life and my spiritual growth so significantly. It was super great for us.”

At 14, Benjamin Dyer also embraced Holy Fire’s invitation to enter into a life-changing commitment to Christ.

“What brought me here was my faith in God and staying true to my faith and sticking with God through all the hard times of my life,” said Benjamin, a member of St. Pius X Parish in Indianapolis. “This has been awesome, one of my favorite days. Just seeing everyone cherishing God.

“It’s crazy to see how many people showed up and are followers of God, who want to stay true to God.” †