New Ulm MN
This was the 29th Annual Diocesan Youth Rally in New Ulm MN, though Youth Director Sister Margaret has only been there two years. They have a well organized Youth Council who do much of the planning and they also had an excellent High School Facility. On a rainy Minnesota weekend several hundred teens gathered even though many had Prom the night before.
The youthful MCs began with icebreakers in the gymn and one of their team gave a personal testimony of how his life changed when he was forced to go to the National Catholic Youth Conference. After some more activities they all moved into the auditorium for our Evang-a-Ganza. As they entered I heard one boy say "I feel I'm walking into a rock concert." He didn't realize he was not so far from the truth!
The auditorium was new and very well equipped with both lights and sound. It was reminiscent of our Hawaii youth rally last fall, both the venue, and the response. The official T-shirt of the day had Yoda on the front, so I began with a Star Wars clip to tie it all in. We found a local American Idol at one point, and the teens up on the stage with me stayed throughout. With a sea of cellphones as we ended, I told them to remember that God is always calling them and they just need to pick up.
The dance to end the rally was a little different as they had a local Catholic DJ who not only showed them moves to the songs, but also tried to weave in the theme of the day, that Christ is our Light. I could not recall ever before seeing a DJ who used his craft to evangelize, and so I encouraged and congratulated him. One teen e-mailed his response to the day:
"I have to say that SAL SOLO's concerts/speeches really made me feel good about myself and SAL himself gave me that energy to actually turn my life around and if it wasn't for me getting to listen to SAL SOLO, I'd still be a total mess. THANK YOU SAL SOLO and GOD BLESS YOU. YOU ROCK!!!"
The youthful MCs began with icebreakers in the gymn and one of their team gave a personal testimony of how his life changed when he was forced to go to the National Catholic Youth Conference. After some more activities they all moved into the auditorium for our Evang-a-Ganza. As they entered I heard one boy say "I feel I'm walking into a rock concert." He didn't realize he was not so far from the truth!
The auditorium was new and very well equipped with both lights and sound. It was reminiscent of our Hawaii youth rally last fall, both the venue, and the response. The official T-shirt of the day had Yoda on the front, so I began with a Star Wars clip to tie it all in. We found a local American Idol at one point, and the teens up on the stage with me stayed throughout. With a sea of cellphones as we ended, I told them to remember that God is always calling them and they just need to pick up.
The dance to end the rally was a little different as they had a local Catholic DJ who not only showed them moves to the songs, but also tried to weave in the theme of the day, that Christ is our Light. I could not recall ever before seeing a DJ who used his craft to evangelize, and so I encouraged and congratulated him. One teen e-mailed his response to the day:
"I have to say that SAL SOLO's concerts/speeches really made me feel good about myself and SAL himself gave me that energy to actually turn my life around and if it wasn't for me getting to listen to SAL SOLO, I'd still be a total mess. THANK YOU SAL SOLO and GOD BLESS YOU. YOU ROCK!!!"
