It was a Saturday night at a Steubenville Youth Conference. The crowds of teenagers had entered the convention center and Adoration had just started. And then I hear it. It was audible. Not loud, but definitely noticeable. A teen was saying, while Eucharistic Adoration was going on, “I don’t believe in you.” Even while all of his friends around him were experiencing Jesus in a profound way, this teen could not take that leap of faith yet. And he wanted everyone to know it. But that quickly changed.

The priest was processing Jesus through the room and just as he passed this questioning teen, he made eye contact with him. In the midst of the music and the thousands of other teens present, the priest looked at the teen and said quietly and confidently “this is Jesus.” All of sudden, I see the teen who was once questioning the very presence of Jesus drop to his knees and for the first time said, out loud “You are real” and truly meant it. Sometimes we glaze over encounters like that, but in that moment I realized that this teen’s life and eternal life could have changed forever. When people ever ask why Life Teen does camps, conferences, or retreats, I tell them this story. We do them simply because we want people to encounter Jesus through the Church. And we want them to never be the same because of it.

It is my privilege to start as Events Director for Life Teen. I am your go-to person if you need anything in regards to any event that Life Teen does, both adult and teen. It is an honor to serve you and my hope is that whenever you attend one of our events, you will experience a radical level of hospitality welcoming you to our Life Teen family. Check back frequently as I blog about upcoming events and what God continues to do through them. Rest assured, that as we plan these events, we will be planning for excellence. From scheduling, to locations, to themes, to liturgies, and more, we will work tirelessly to listen to God and see what he wants these events to look like. God deserves our best. You deserve our best. The teens deserve our best. And when we give our best and let God move, teens will continue to drop to their knees and say, “You are real.” Thank you Lord, for the privilege of being part of that.