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Teens, young adults lead
Holy Week activities
By Lynanne Lasota, The Catholic Sun
April 3, 2008
QUEEN CREEK — While passersby honked, teenagers dressed as Jesus, Roman soldiers and veiled women walked down Ocotillo Road behind a large wooden cross March 21.
The teens, parishioners at Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish, reenacted the Stations of the Cross for more than 200 others on Good Friday.
The group walked to the top of a hill at Desert Mountain Park where they portrayed Jesus’ crucifixion and burial. Legionary of Christ Father Michael Shannon, the parish pastor, read mediations in Spanish and English at each station.
Teens, young adults and families in the group were also part of the Mission Youth missionaries. Wearing “Be Not Afraid” T-shirts, they rang doorbells in the neighborhood to share their Catholic faith.
Youth from the Phoenix area, Tucson, and California also joined this Holy Week evangelization project at Our Lady of Joy in Carefree.
“We are not going to convert people but wanted to invite those who are Catholic to participate in the Easter services,” said Ana Luisa Carrillo, a missionary coordinator at Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Catholic missionaries
Mission Youth is part of Regnum Christi, an ecclesial movement affiliated with the Legionaries of Christ. In its eighth year, the Holy Week missions were supported by eight dioceses in North America this past Holy Week. Mission Youth challenges active young Catholics to follow Jesus Christ as modern-day apostles ready to share the Gospel with the world.
Our Lady of Joy’s second year of participation began on Holy Thursday. The missionaries gathered for a day to get acquainted, train, and attend the Mass commemorating Christ’s establishment of the Eucharist and Holy Orders.
On Good Friday they prayed with Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted at Planned Parenthood. Last year, the bishop noticed them with their identical shirts and blessed the wooden crosses around their necks.
“It was a sending off,” said Peter Faulk, youth coordinator at Our Lady of Joy Parish. The group then went to bring the joy of the Savior as ambassadors of Christ.
“It’s not just going to the impoverished countries. We need it here,” Faulk said. “Everyone’s impoverished in some way.”
At Our Lady of Guadalupe, 50 girls and 20 families registered to be missionaries. Some traveling from as far as California camped out in the church’s hall. Parishioners provided food and showers for the welcomed volunteers.
Prayer and service filled each day. In the morning they canvassed the neighborhoods knocking on doors. Many doors were closed quickly but the missionaries persevered.
On one occasion a woman with five children saw the missionaries and opened the door before they reached the porch. She was a fallen away Catholic ready to have many of her questions answered.
“Our emphasis for the whole mission was to support the parish,” Faulk said. The missionaries planned prayer services and activities throughout the week.
On Good Friday the Our Lady of Joy participants also led Stations of the Cross. They held tiki torches while people took turns bearing the cross’ burden.
“The youth all had the opportunity to carry the cross and feel the weight,” Faulk said. He believes the live stations helped bring the Scripture to life.
Coordinators also wanted the missionaries to have time to pray for those involved.
“The missions served the parish and people of the communities as much as they served the missionaries,” said Matthew Reinhardt, ConQuest Boys’ Club leader at Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Times were scheduled for participating in Mass, confessions, and eucharistic adoration. On Holy Thursday the missionaries took turns staying with the Blessed Sacrament through the night.
“It was like staying in the Garden of Gethsemane,” said Caeli Austin, a 15-year-old Our Lady of Guadalupe missionary who went to adoration in the early morning hours.
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