Teens become the hands and feet of Jesus

The culmination of the Eucharistic Congress Conference included a series of events aimed at the youth. The youth track, entitled “Let’s Color Our Community,” was led by Youth Minister Bea Romo, Director of Vocations Bob Cummings, and Director of the Office of Family Life Jaime Reyna.

Around 50 youths attended the track, several hailing from Holy Family Parish, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, and as far as St. Gertrude Parish from Kingsville. 

After Mass, the youth became acquainted by participating in an icebreaker game. Dr. Michele Johnston, the new director of Catholic Charities, gave a presentation, introducing teens to the social services that Catholic Charities provides to the community.

According to Johnston, Catholic Charities and Mother Teresa help over 300 people daily through shelter services and special programs. She explained that Catholic Charities offers a choice food pantry and an additional six pantries throughout the Diocese of Corpus Christi. Catholic Charities provides emergency aid, immigration services, counseling, financial empowerment classes, and special programs such as Parents as Teachers and Ministry & Life Enrichment for Persons with Disabilities.

The Mother Teresa Shelter is a day shelter that offers breakfast, snacks, lockers, shower & laundry facilities, phone/internet, clothing, first aid, referral services, and a multi-purpose activity/therapeutic center for the homeless. The Shelter also has a transitional housing center for men who apply.

After the group became acquainted with the people they would be serving, they boarded two buses in evident excitement, one for Catholic Charities and the other for Mother Teresa Shelter.

At Catholic Charities, one group of teens assembled learning kits for families enrolled in the Parents as Teachers program; another group accompanied and assisted guests in making crafts as part of the Ministry & Life Enrichment for Persons with Disabilities. And one group assisted in stocking the choice food pantry and putting together hygiene bags. The groups then came together to help carry out the curbside drop-off event. About 100 cars showed up at this event. 

Daniella Muñiz, one team leader, remarked how she saw Jesus’ love in the Catholic Charities workers and how they loved their clients. One of her highlights was hearing the people with disabilities share their experiences and what gives them hope and strength; it was beautiful to see them praise God even in challenging circumstances. 

Sarah Lichtenberger, youth leader at Holy Family Corpus Christi parish, noted how doing something outside of yourself can make people connect on a different level. A group of boys who didn’t know each other very quickly built friendships. Some teens hesitant to approach the clients became eager to bring papers and baskets to load the clients’ cars. The theme “You did it to me” and “Love one another” helped many participants come out of their shells and help clients. When one participant didn’t want to go outside to help, he thought that if he didn’t do it, he wasn’t doing it for Jesus. When he thought of Jesus, he felt he could do anything.

At Mother Teresa Shelter, the groups prepared sandwiches and lemonade to serve on the patio during lunchtime. After preparation, one group would operate the kitchen and serve lunch and ice cream while the other would deliver care packages, accompany the homeless, and switch. The youth entertained the clients with games of cornhole, connect 4, and a spinning wheel. They helped over 50 clients at this event. 

Romo noted that the clients began to help staff and the youth, which was a beautiful and Christlike way of being one together. One participant saw Jesus in another person when one of the clients decided to help us pack the things we brought. 

To Michelle Gonzalez, a parishioner from Our Lady of Perpetual Help, who not only admired her group opening their hearts for God’s love, but how much love they all put into it and how they talked to clients with so much love and respect. “All participating teens showed their hunger for God’s love,” Gonzalez said. “It was so breathtaking to witness each of our youth open up their hearts and allow God’s love to flourish into each one of them as they without hesitation became the hands and feet of Jesus.”

Following the service work, the youth returned to the Omni, ate lunch, and received a talk from Bishop Michael Mulvey. He shared a personal testimony about discovering the presence of Jesus in people we encounter: after praying for proof, a man showed up at his door begging for a pair of shoes. None of the shoes in the storehouse fit him except the bishop’s own shoes. Bishop Mulvey gave the man his very best shoes, knowing he was Jesus and deserved the best.

The youth then participated in some reflection activities before joining the Eucharistic Congress for the Adoration. During this period, some of the youth shared their testimonies of Jesus through their service work. One of the teens (Sebastian) who volunteered at Mother Teresa Shelter said, “they have suffered a lot of things and cannot do most of the things that we can do,” and was grateful he could lend a helping hand. Another youth (Armando), who volunteered at Catholic Charities, echoed a similar sentiment, noting, “we want to bring Him into everybody’s lives.” Yet another teen shared, “Living out the words ‘Loving one another’ taught me that you are doing this stuff not because you have to but because you want to.” 

The youth leaders were proud of the success of this event and plan to host more events like this in the future. “The collaboration with parish and youth leaders from around the diocese was a very cool and meaningful way to serve together as one,” Romo said.

For more information on Catholic Charities, visit catholiccharities-cc.org.

For more information on Mother Teresa Shelter, visit motherteresashelter.org.