Tucson AZ

The Diocese of Tucson extends across half of Arizona down to the Mexican border. They have long held a Youth Fest for Junior High kids, but this was the first time for 6 years that they included High School, running two seperate tracks. They only came together for our Teen Mass at the end, just over 700 in all. The day's theme was "FAITH - DO IT!" and the youth ministers got them to yell it out frequently. The Bishop used to be in charge of Vicariate 2 in Chicago, and he is very focused upon social justice after a recent mision trip to Nepal. I heard he did 7 workshops during the day for the 2 groups.

The first order of the day for me was to give a brief testimony to the Junior High track with some icebreakers. Next came our Evang-a-Ganza for the High School. They were not shy about coming up onstage, and one boy showed off his brake dancing skills during MAGNIFY. In the afternoon it was the same for the Junior High group, and even more of them flooded the stage. Interestingly they seemed more attentive than the older crowd when I was speaking, which challenges conventional wisdom that younger kids cannot concentrate as well.

One adult commented that she noticed the teens actually got it, even if it was only on some 10 second item that was said that actually penetrated them. When they all turned off their cell phones and paid attention she knew the message had got through to them.

For the half hour before Mass, in addition to High Schol and Junior High, we were joined by some children who had been taking part in a special day for altar servers. I did some icebreakers with the whole crowd and when we got to the American Idol skit, there was the biggest flood of "contestants" that I ever had! There were small choirs, one teen did "Mary had a little lamb" but the winner was a tiny 6 year old girl who sang "Twinkle twinkle little star!"














For the Teen Mass, the kids clapped along and participated, and the Bishop showed slides of his Nepal mission during the homily. I was reminded of our recent trip top India. He told the youth how blessed they are to have so much and how the Nepal youth have similar aspirations but little chance of reaching their goals. There was a collection taken up for them. It seemed like a good day was had by all, and once again there were various MySpace messages from the teens, like:

"whats up sal, that show you put on today was great"

"hey Sal! your concert @ the Diocese of Tucson was sweeet =P. It made me think twice. Thanks for everything it was prettey kewl"

"Hey good concert at the Diocese of Tucson youth day. the music kicked some major butt."

"Hey I had a fabulous time at the youth fest I love your music. Hopefully I get to see you again someday. You enjoy your life the way that you are. may God bless you now and always."

"Awesome concert at the Diocese of Tucson.... loved your music"

"Hey good concert at the Diocese of Tucson youth day I love your music"

There were a few people there from Mexico. Some Carmelite nuns told me they run a school on the border and some Mexican children come over each day for their education in English. Once again, lots of new friend requests on MySpace since this youth rally!