Greetings in Christ!

Greetings in Christ!

Once again it is my honor and pleasure to announce the theme for the 2008 Franciscan Summer High School Youth Conferences. This year our theme is “WITNESS”. The verse from the Bible that will guide us this year is from the book of Acts:

“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth." Acts1:8.

The promise of God is that when the Holy Spirit comes upon us, we will receive power. What is that power? How do we access that power? How do we use that power? Pope Benedict VXI, himself, recently wrote, “Who is the Holy Spirit? It is a fact that for many Christians He is still the “great unknown.” This summer we will seek not just to learn about the Holy Spirit, but to get to know Him as the living presence of God in our lives. And we will get to know His power – the power he wants us to have that we might be witnesses.

And what is it that we are to witness to? The undeniable reality that Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of our heavenly Father, took on flesh and became a man like us, except without sin. And that this Jesus, who through signs and wonders revealed His divinity to all whose hearts were open, committed the ultimate act of love and sacrifice by taking up the cross and dying on that cross in our place. Through His death, Jesus conquered our greatest enemy – death. And now, through faith in Jesus and the waters of Baptism, we have been brought into the family of God and have access to heaven through our union with Jesus. That is our faith! That is our hope! That is what needs to be proclaimed to our lost and dying world!

But a witness is more than someone who talks. A witness shows through his life that Jesus is Lord. The word “martyr” in Greek means witness. That is why there is blood on our logo – to remind us that being a true witness to Christ may cost us our very lives.

Once again, throughout the weekend we will spend time with Christ in Adoration, be fed by His Body and Blood at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, receive His forgiveness in Reconciliation, enter into praise and worship with powerful music, and be encouraged and challenged by some of the finest Catholic speakers in the country.

God continues to deepen and empower these weekends through His Holy Spirit. Last year over 37,000 teens and chaperones attended one of the High School Youth Conferences. I am still receiving emails about how God changed lives. I know this summer God is going to pour out His goodness in abundance, as well.

I want to personally invite you to be a part of these amazing conferences. Come to know Christ. Come to know the person of the Holy Spirit. Come to know the power of the Holy Spirit. Come to have God change your life forever!

In His Peace!
John K. Beaulieu
Director of Youth and Young Adult Outreach