Young adults' 'hearts are ready' for ministry

By Blanca Morales - Florida Catholic

MIAMI - Young adults finally had a ministry just for them, a result of the 2014 synod. But how to craft the outreach?

Everyone, including Marta Vargas, knew what Miami usually means to the young: partying under the neon lights of nightclubs. How to compete with that?

Then she hit on it: a celebration of a distinctly Catholic kind of light: to “light up the darkness by being light to a hurting and yearning world.”

That decision by Vargas, coordinator for the new ministry, produced the theme for the first-ever archdiocesan rally for Catholics 18 to 35 years old. Called Illuminare la Notte ("Light up the Night"), the rally drew nearly 200 of them June 5 at St. Kieran Church in Miami.

With almost 200 participants, most of them Spanish-speaking, the June 5 event began with a bilingual Mass celebrated by Bishop Peter Baldacchino, also pastor at St. Kieran. He was joined by Father Biju Wells and newly ordained Father Bryan Garcia.  

After Mass readings, which alternated in Spanish and English, Bishop Baldacchino spoke about purity and the vocation of marriage as presented in the book of Tobit, the day’s first reading.

A bilingual rosary and Eucharistic Adoration followed, with the Sacrament of Reconciliation offered for all those interested.

Vargas invited everyone to take a candle and bring it to the altar before the Blessed Sacrament as a symbol of prayer and participation in the ministry. As Adoration closed, participants were called to process toward the parish hall with their lit candles, symbolizing the call “to be a light to each other.”

With glowsticks to light up the social hour -- another "light" theme -- the event finished with singing led by Pastoral Juvenil Hispana (“Hispanic Youth Ministry”).

In her welcome, Rosemarie Banich, archdiocesan director for Youth and Young Adult Ministry, noted that the largest number of registered participants hailed from St. Barbara’s young adult group, Caminando con Cristo (“Walking with Christ”). Other participating groups included Discipulos de Cristo (Mother of Christ) , LIFT (Mother of Christ), Encuentros Juveniles and Jovenes de Maria Inmaculada (Immaculate Conception).

Still other groups included Luz Dominica (St. Dominic) , Castos Por Amor (St. Dominic), Regina Coeli (St. Raymond) ,  Voceros de Cristo (St. Agatha) , the Juventutem Miami young adult Latin Mass group, Kairos (St. John Neumann) and the young adult groups at St. Augustine, St. Edward and St. Gregory. Many young adults also came individually from various parishes.

Members of Catholic Panthers, students from Florida International University, not only attended present; they also created Illuminare’s Facebook presence, and Pastoral Juvenil Hispana aided in recruiting Hispanic young Catholics.

The various cultures in the archdiocese remain a challenge: Vargas wanted the event to be “universal,” bridging cultural differences. She knows, for one thing, that participants in young adult groups speak various languages including English, Spanish, French, Creole and Russian.

“Growing this new event into a multicultural experience is the plan,” she said.

That was one of her reason for calling the rally Illuminare la Notte, she said -- an Italian name that "everyone can own," Vargas said. “Rome is where all Catholic roads lead.”

Vargas was inspired also by Christ's saying in Matthew 5:14: “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hidden.” He called his followers to witness by letting their “light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.”

She’s gotten some positive feedback from those who attended on June 5.

“Illuminare la notte was great. I hope we have more nights like this in the archdiocese,” a participant wrote on the event’s Facebook page.

Young adults of the archdiocese have a lot to look forward to: more Illuminare events, socials, a pilgrimage to Cuba, and building up young adult community in Broward County.

Also in the talk stage is a gathering called Agape Café, from a Greek word for love. Marta Vargas said it will be designed to "bring young adults together to express their faith creatively through music, poetry, art and connect with each other and their respective groups over coffee, tea and dessert."

Vargas says she's confident that “the time is here and hearts are ready.”

Find out more:

Young Adult Ministry of the Archdiocese of Miami

Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry on Facebook