Sporting events bring youth groups together

The Saturday morning Mass at Nuestra Señora de San Juan de los Lagos, Madre de la Iglesia usually has about 10-20 people. July 9 was not a regular Saturday, as the parish had invited the youth groups from Our Lady of Pilar Parish and Corpus Christi Cathedral for Mass and a morning of sports.

Father Henry Artunduaga celebrated Mass for more than 80 people; many were youth.

“We should have more days like this where our youth can exercise instead of playing computer games and watching television for hours,” Father Artunduaga said during the Mass. He told everyone that taking care of “our body is good for our soul.”

Jaime Reyna, Director of Youth Ministry for the Diocese of Corpus Christi, coordinated the event involving the three parishes. Nellie Serna, Youth Director for the Corpus Christi Cathedral Parish, and Adrian Hernandez, Youth Director for Our Lady of Pilar Parish, assisted Reyna to ensure the success of the project, which took several weeks of planning.

Parents from Nuestra Señora de San Juan de los Lagos, Madre de la Iglesia prepared both volleyball and soccer fields.

“All volunteers labored with love just to see the youth have a great time,” Reyna said.

Parents and parishioners watched and supported each of the youth groups as they took turns playing volleyball and soccer. Families were cheering and having a great time as younger siblings supported their older brothers and sisters, Reyna said.

As the first day of this event ended, youth from Our Lady of Pilar were heard saying; “we are going to tell our friends about this and will bring more people here next week.” A second round of competition was held July 16 with new faces present at the Mass.

“The energy around the games was exciting and addictive as people were just cheering for everyone at some moments of the game,” Reyna said.

The games’ coordinators concluded their youth had a great time and it was beyond their expectations. The fact that a “partnership” was established with these parishes and their youth, can be used as a model for future sporting events, retreats, pilgrimages and fundraisers involving youth ministers from various parishes, Reyna said.

“Other parishes can use this model to work together. Sometimes, this helps when resources are not always available to small parishes and youth enjoy meeting other peers,” Reyna said. Youth ministers can network with other youth ministers so partnering youth events can be easy and fruitful for all.” 

The Office of Youth Ministry at the Chancery is available as a resource for other parishes to use in this manner, Reyna said.