St. Rita CYO retreat prepared youth for Easter

     Recently, St. Rita in Harahan’s CYO began something new to try to help form the youth group into something better.
     The adult Core Team decided it was time for a change and wanted to form a youth Core Team. On this youth Core Team, there are many positions, including president, secretary and my position as service coordinator.
    This new youth Core Team developed the idea for a March 23 “Paschal Mystery Lock-In.” Members of the Core Team decided we needed to plan an event that would bring the younger members CYO closer together and allow us bond. What better way to do that than to stick all of us together for 12 hours straight?
    The focus of the evening was to prepare CYO members for Holy Week. Multiple talks on the subjects of Palm Sunday, Good Friday and the Resurrection were given by youth Core members. Coming from a peer and not an adult, these talks truly hit home with our members.
    CYO member Ryan Schwing gave a talk on the Resurrection that impacted member Joelle Lorenzo.
    “Ryan talked about how Jesus rose for us,” Lorenzo said. “He died for us. He gave us a pep talk about taking that and going to do good for the world.”
    Because the event lasted 12 hours, we knew we couldn’t keep the tone serious all night, so the youth Core Team threw in a variety of  fun games during the night. One was a seven-part obstacle course, with two teams racing to the finish line.
    “During the obstacle course, it was challenging,  yet fun, and it brought the teams closer together,” Emily Maffee said.
    The goal of the night was accomplished. The kids who attended got a lot out of the experience and enjoyed growing closer to the youth Core Team and to each other.
    “The lock-in was a chance for me to step back from my normal routine and really prepare myself for Holy Week,” Jesuit High School junior Will Thompson said.
    Rachel Lang is a member of St. Rita’s youth Core team. She is junior at St. Mary’s Dominican High School in New Orleans.