Dear Priests and Youth Ministers,
On behalf of Bishop Michael Driscoll and the Diocese of Boise, we are honored to invite you and the teens of your parish to the Idaho Catholic Youth Convention in which Jesus is at the heart and center of the weekend.
This year's theme is ARISE, and it is taken from a powerful story in the fifth chapter of the Gospel of Mark in which a young girl is dying. Her father, desperate to save her runs out to find Jesus. Once he finds Him, the father frantically urges Jesus to come back to his home, for the man knows that Jesus is the only one that can heal his little girl. Upon arrival, they discover that the child has died. But Jesus lays His hands on her and says, "Little Girl, I say to you.....Arise." Instantly the girl responds.
The ICYC planning committee chose this scripture passage because it is a message that all of us need to hear, especially our youth. It is a powerful reminder that whatever state we are in, even if it's at the brink of death (spiritually, emotionally or physically) Jesus is always running to us. He comes running into our broken world to bring wholeness, mercy, forgiveness, love, healing..... and ultimately life. He lays His hands upon us and calls us to Arise, to respond to His invitation of love, to turn our backs on the lies of this world and to follow Him. For as we know (and what we so desperately want our young people to know) is that once we've been touched by Him, our lives will never be the same. This is truly the heart of conversion....
There are 3 main goals that we hope to accomplish through the Idaho Catholic Youth Convention.
1) To bring our Catholic Youth together in order to experience the bigger Church
2) To have fun and to help teens realize that our Catholic Faith is relevant, dynamic and powerful.
and most importantly...
3) To give teens an opportunity to encounter Christ, to be touched by Him and to have their lives forever changed by His love.
As priests and youth ministers, you are in the trenches every day of every week ministering to the hearts of the young people that God has called you to serve. We know that ICYC is just one weekend out of the year and yet, it is our deepest prayer that this conference will support the important work that you are doing and will be life giving to you, your teens and your youth ministry programs.
It is our desire to serve you and the youth that attend ICYC. As the months and days count down to March 9, 2012 please know that you and your young people will be in our prayers daily and may God bless you in all that you do to build up His Kingdom!
In Christ,
The ICYC Planning Committee