Dear Youth and Young Adults,

The World Youth Day Pilgrimage was a success! It was a great sight to see all of you opening up to the experience. These kinds of events will impact your lives for years to come. Thank you for your generous gift. The icon and picture of our late Holy Father, John Paul II, has a prominent place on my desk. I will think of all of you when I look at it.

For all of those who could not make it, you were deeply missed but not forgotten. We prayed for all of you during our pilgrimage. As we look forward to the upcoming school year, yes its coming up, I hope to see even more of you at our event. Please spread the word about all that we have done as a group to your friends in school. Let them know they are welcome to join us. The more people that we have the more fun we can have.  

Enjoy the rest of your summer!

Sincerely in Christ
Deacon Richard J. Smith

 WORLD YOUTH DAY
Here are some pictures and stories from our World Youth Day Pilgrimage!

The local world youth day retreat was amazing.  It was so inspiring and it really strengthened my relationship to God.  I loved the music they played during Adoration and through out the day.  I remember when we got to the shrine; after we ate dinner we went into this building and sang and worshiped God.  Deacon Richard and the rest of us were doing the motions to the songs.  I thought that it was so much fun.  Especially when he really got into the songs, like most of us did.  Another thing that I enjoyed was being able to watch the Pope’s Mass. Though it was 12 midnight and we were all tired, it was still inspiring to see the number of Catholics who actually were attending the Mass.  Almost like the amount of Catholics who came to the local WYD.  It was so much fun and so inspiring.
~Madison Hopson

Going into the trip on Saturday afternoon, I was tired and hot.  I was relieved that they had cut down the length of the pilgrimage for the heat warnings, because just standing there I was sweating.  When we got there, however, all the speakers and nice people who helped pull it together were just as hot as I was, yet they still had smiles on their faces.  It made me realize how silly I was being.  The church was absolutely beautiful and everything about the trip really made me just want to thank God over and over for everything I have. Although the walk was tough, I realized it was worth it.  Jesus died for us, so a two and a half mile walk is nothing in comparison.  I also got a chance to bond with new people.  I'm really glad I went and it was a wonderful experience.
Elise Gerardi

This weekend was way more interactive and fun than I ever would have guessed. The way the people spoke to you and taught you things, in my opinion, made kids our age more interested and knowledgeable about the subject.  We did things like the walking Rosary, Confession, Adoration, group talks about different subjects such as Mother Teresa, and Padre Pio, and so much more.  We did a lot of singing, but not your normal church songs, they were upbeat, and fun to sing songs that still got a holy message across. The only thing I was really thinking about when we first started the weekend, was sleeping outside with no tent.  But when I got there and we started to do things, it was the least of my concerns. I learned so much that weekend and would do it again in a heartbeat.  The paper that this weekend was advertised on doesn't nearly stand up to what it turned out to be for me.
-Geena Bevenour

RECAP OF OUR LAST MEETING
We had a very productive meeting on August 12th. I was really impressed with the turn out and all of your ideas. There was great interest in taking a day retreat to Washington DC.   I was impressed with your enthusiasm for our proposed service projects.  I will get more detailed information to you very soon.   In the meantime, remember to check your calendars, and mark them for our next upcoming events!

UPCOMING EVENTS
NEXT MEETING SEPTEMBER 23RD 6PM IN THE CHURCH
ANOINTING MASS SEPTMEBER 28TH

IDEAS IN THE WORKING
BIKING TRIP October 4th ?
PRO LIFE MOVIE NIGHT OCTOBER 17TH
CHRISTMAS BAZAAR EVENT? (NOT TO EARLY TO THINK ABOUT)
ONE DAY RETREAT TO WASHINGTON D.C.
SOUP KITCHEN
MUCH MUCH MORE!
LINKS
here are a list of links that we can all use to answer those nagging questions that we may have about our faith and also to find great ideas for our youth group!
www.vatican.va
www.newadvent.com
www.ewtn.com
www.oyya.org
Vocation Links
For those of us who may be thinking about a voation to the priesthood or religious life, here is a few web sites that talk about vocations here in our area.
www.scs.edu
www.heedthecall.org
www.ihmimmaculata.org

contact info
if you have any questions or suggestions for the youth group, you can call me at the parish office at 610-265-4178 or email me at rsmith@mdpparish.com

HERE ARE SOME PICTURES FROM OUR MOST RECENT EVENTS