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July 25, 2023By Carissa Krautscheid
Two thousand Catholic teenagers from all across the western United States gathered for three days in Tucson, Arizona, for the Steubenville West Conference. Coming from all across the Diocese of Tucson and Arizona, from New Mexico and Nevada to California and even Hawaii, the teens made a considerable effort to be here.
Attendees at Steubenville West were blessed by a nationally renowned team of Father Mike Schmitz, Mari Pablo, David Calavitta, DJ Bernal, Bob Lesnefsky, and Josh Blakesley. The 2023 conference theme was Refuge, based on Matthew 11:28, “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.”
Father Mike Schmitz launched the weekend by inviting teens to assess their expectations.
“Sometimes when our expectations and reality don’t match up, we just stop expecting anything. This is the risk: to expect anything means that our expectations can be dashed. To love anything is to risk. This is the reason why so many of us have stopped expecting, desiring, and living the way God wants us to live. To live is to risk, to have faith is to risk, to love is to risk.
“In this world of trouble, Jesus is our Refuge. This means we have to risk. Jesus doesn’t take us out of this world, and he doesn’t take the pain away. As our Refuge, Jesus is there in the mess, in the brokenness, in the pain, in the reality. Jesus steps into our world and he tell us, ‘Life is worth the risk. Love is worth the risk.’ If you’re going to belong to him, it is ultimately worth the risk. Whether or not we get what we want, life and faith are going to be about risk. Life demands courage.
“Why would you have courage in a world where things break? Because you have Jesus. Why would you risk loving in a world where people die? Because you have Jesus. Why would you have faith and risk trusting in God in a world where we can expect something and not get it? Because you have Jesus. Why would we choose to love in a world where there is a lot of good stuff that can go wrong? For one reason: because you have Jesus. He is our Refuge. If, in this moment, you realized you may have stopped expecting or asking God to show up… tonight, have courage. Tonight, risk. Tonight, be brave. Why? Because Jesus is our refuge.”
Steubenville West consisted of a series of keynote talks by these phenomenal speakers, Eucharistic Adoration on Friday and Saturday, Mass on Saturday and Sunday, men’s and women’s sessions, praise and worship music, parish small groups, and fellowship among teens from across the nation.
For many, Eucharistic Adoration on Saturday night is the most impactful moment of the entire conference. Fr. Mike Schmitz processed the Eucharist around the vast room, allowing teens to draw near to the Real Presence of Christ. Maggie from St. Philip the Apostle Parish in Payson attended Steubenville West with her two younger sisters. She shared that this was her favorite part of the weekend, “It was very moving, and you could really feel God’s Spirit in the room. My sisters said that was their first time that they really felt it. It was amazing to build a strong community with people from my parish and meeting other people. My faith definitely grew a lot from this.”
Now that Maggie has returned home to Payson, she plans to spend more time being present during Adoration and the Consecration of the Eucharist. She and her sisters hope to have their own bible studies at home. “Steubenville really helped the Payson youth group a lot,” said Maggie. “When we go back to church, this will help us all be closer. Steubenville built a stronger community and helped all of us kids grow together. It will help us have a stronger youth presence in the Mass as well.”
For Alexis from St. Mark the Evangelist Parish in Oro Valley, the best part of Steubenville is “for kids to really figure out who they are and why they love God, because many times with this generation, a lot of kids are embarrassed or maybe too shy to grow in their faith and really believe in it. Steubenville is a great place to learn about your faith and truly feel the presence of God.”
Her friend, Rebecca, has been to Steubenville before. “The best part this time around,” she said, “has been seeing my friends grow in their faith because I’m pretty strong in mine. I think it’s really important to help my friends get there too. I also think that people nowadays are scared to show that they’re faithful because a lot of people put us down for our faith.”
On the final day of the Conference, Bishop Edward Weisenburger joined the teens for Mass. In his homily, Bishop Weisenburger encouraged them to “see with eyes of faith, understand with the mind of God, have hope, and anticipate God’s love even when God seems most far away. We need to be good dirt,” he said, referencing the Gospel’s Parable of the Seed and the Sower. “We need to be receptive to our God who comes to us most especially through Word and Sacrament. In those moments of reflection, a seed is planted. And remember the importance of community: no one can teach anyone the faith; the faith must be caught, by rubbing shoulders with people who have the faith.”
After Mass, Father Mike Schmitz invited Religious Sisters to come forward. He explained, “Jesus said from the moment of their conception, ‘This is a woman whose heart I have crafted in such a way that I’ve given her the heart of my bride.’ If you’ve thought, ‘Maybe Jesus crafted my heart to be the heart of his bride,’ I encourage you to step out and ask Jesus, ‘Are you calling me to be your bride?’ To be a Religious Sister is what they do. To be a bride of Christ is who they are. If that burns a little flame or spark in your heart, or if there are the beginnings of ‘I wonder…’, or if you’re tugged in that direction, I invite you to stand up.”
Over 30 young women stood, then boldly came forward in response to the honest potential that maybe God has called them to be a Bride of Christ. “Either Jesus is calling you to be a Religious Sister,” Fr. Mike told them, “or he’s calling you to do something else. In order to figure that out, I invite you to go on dates with Jesus. If you want to know if you want to spend your life with someone, you have to date them, you have to get to know them. Spend time with Jesus.”
Next, Father Mike invited all priests to join him onstage. “We got to receive Jesus because of them,” he lauded, “because of what God does in the Holy Spirit through the priesthood.” His invitation to young men drew over 80 to step forward. Fr. Mike told them, “Jesus doesn’t force anyone to be a priest.”
Then, Fr. Mike asked all dads in the crowd to stand and answer a few questions:
“Do you love being a dad?” – Yes
“Does being a dad bring you a lot of joy?” – Yes!
“Is being a dad hard?” – YES!
“Do you think sometimes that being a dad may be the death of you?” – Yes.
Father Mike turned to the priests onstage and asked the same questions of these Fathers, all of which garnered the same response: Yes!
Turning back to the discerning teens, he said, “Guys, pick your poison. You either die as fathers or you die as fathers. This is the only call. So don’t run away from Jesus, because Jesus’ call is ‘Come follow me and die.’ That’s what it is! Either way, Jesus is going to invite you into new life.” Fr. Mike invited them to “Spend time with our Lord in Eucharistic Adoration. How do I know his voice if I don’t spend time with our Lord?”
This was perhaps the most joyful part of Steubenville West. Our young people are committed to their faith and they are stepping forward in recognition of God’s call for their lives. Since they all have a lot of discernment ahead of them, please pray for all teens and young adults who stand up at Steubenville, that the seeds of faith will take root in their hearts. Encourage them to pursue holiness in their Vocations, as we are all called to do.
Steubenville West is an annual conference. All teens and youth groups are encouraged to attend the conference next July. More information can be found at steubenvilleconferences.com.