Alice parishes collaborate in Mini Youth Spectacular
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March 22, 2014
Father Pete Elizardo, pastor of St. Joseph, addresses the 250 youth in attendance at the Alice Deanery's Mini Youth Spectacular held Saturday, March 22, at the St. Joseph Youth Center.
Under the direction of the Diocesan Office of Youth Ministry, the Alice Deanery held their first Mini-Youth Spectacular—the largest Mini-Youth Spectacular to date—with 250 students from nine parishes from throughout the Diocese of Corpus Christi participating. The event was a product of collaboration amongst Our Lady of Guadalupe, St. Joseph and St. Elizabeth of Hungary, the three parishes in Alice.The pastors of St. Joseph, Father Pete Elizardo, and of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Father E. Julian Cabrera, were the keynote speakers. They spoke to the youth on the importance of evangelization and sharing their faith, relating this to their anointing at baptism to be “priests, prophets and kings.” This is the meaning of being “Branded by Mission,” which was the theme of the Mini-Youth Spectacular and was taken from Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium.
The day included praise and worship music by Steve Cortinas and his band and inflatable games at which many of the teens enjoyed playing and meeting teens from other parishes. It also included breakout sessions in which the girls discussed with Chelsea Nye their beauty as children of God—not needing to buy into the media hype of beauty. The boys discussed “the gentlemen within them” with Deacon Emede Gonzalez, learning that chivalry is not dead.
The day concluded with a meditative Stations of the Cross, which related each station to real life challenges the youth face today such as bullying, peer pressure and suicide. Adoration, reconciliation and Mass were also a big part of the day’s event.
“We should get to know everyone in our youth groups, everyone in our parish and everyone in our schools. We are the family of God and we should start getting to know our family,” Father Elizardo said.
Father Cabrera also connected the need for the young church to be priests, prophets, and kings in their families and schools. He celebrated the Mass and directed his homily to participants in the Mini-Youth Spectacular.
Many youth commented on how great the day was and that they are looking forward to the upcoming diocesan wide Youth Spectacular, which expects more than 700 youth in attendance. They also are looking forward to the next Mini-Youth Spectacular in Alice.
Jaime Reyna, Diocesan Director of the Office of Youth Ministry, worked with Julia Fracker of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Polly Gonzalez of St. Joseph and Abbe Garcia of St. Elizabeth to organize the event.