Teen Congress spotlights resurrection, renewal

   Teens and young adults around the archdiocese are familiar with the Teens Encounter Christ (TEC) retreat sponsored by the Archdiocese of New Orleans, a three-day weekend filled with prayer, reflections, discussions and activities centered on paschal mystery spirituality.
    Keeping the paschal mystery at its core, 90 registrants from dioceses across the nation, representing 18 TEC communities, met at Loyola University New Orleans for the yearly TEC Congress July 15-17 under the theme “Rise, Renew, Rejoice.”
    “The Congress provides opportunities for community, prayer and formation,” said Ronald Reiter, executive director of TEC. “It allows us to learn new ideas, meet new friends, reconnect with old friends and share and collaborate in TEC ministry.”
    TEC Congress allows registrants to “share ideas and best practices with other TEC communities in other states,” said Father John Arnone, whose first TEC retreat was in 1989. Father Arnone believes TEC retreats are “a wonderful avenue for people to deepen their faith in an unthreatening way.”
    Like Father Arnone, Rebecca Connick, a recent graduate from Loyola University who went on her first TEC retreat in her junior year at Cabrini High School in 2006, shares the same enthusiasm for her own TEC experience.
    “I wasn’t on fire with my faith until I went on this retreat,” she said. “I keep coming back because I want to share the same experience with others.”
    The weekend began with keynote addresses by Father Dave Timmerman, spiritual director for the Kairos TEC community and pastor of two parishes in Wisconsin, and Cathy Robertson, TEC co-representative for the state of Wisconsin.
 

Culture of death
    Father Timmerman opened his address asking participants to recall Jesus’ last supper in the upper room.
    “Imagine what the disciples were feeling,” Father Timmerman said. “Imagine all that hope, all that joy taken away. Imagine their confusion and fear – where do we go? What do we do? … We live in a world today that is very similar to what the disciples experienced.”
    Drawing from Blessed Pope John Paul II’s encyclical “Evangelium Vitae,” Father Timmerman reiterated the culture of death in today’s world. “It’s there wherever we turn,” he said.
    Painting the landscape of the culture of death, Father Timmerman presented signs detailing natural disasters, including Hurricane Katrina, the Japan tsunami and the Joplin twister, the greed encircling Enron and Bernie Madoff, life choices of abortion and the death penalty, war and violence.
    “Our news, our world, is killing people,” Father Timmerman said. “But the beauty of it is that we don’t have to live like this because we have a relationship with Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.”
    Embracing the Congress’ theme, Father Timmerman emphasized paschal mystery spirituality through the remembrance that Jesus overcame death.
    “If we know Christ, believe in him, trust in him, he will save you from the death surrounding us,” he said.
 

Little Easters
    Following Father Timmerman’s address, Robertson recalled that resurrection and rejoicing makes the dying process much easier. Sharing her experiences as a mother of three children, Robertson showed through her own example “how we can see and find blessings of circumstances in our lives.”
    She recounted Bible passages that have enabled her to bear countless hardships – including the death of her husband and the near death of her 22-month-old daughter due to an arterial septic defect. Robertson attributed her belief in paschal mystery spirituality and what she calls “little Easters” to helping her cherish the blessings that arise out of her trouble.
    “God takes the little things that have died within us and brings them back to life,” she said.
    Recalling Jesus’ miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead, Robertson believes that the miracle is a “profound example of what resurrection and rejoicing should look like.”
    “Jesus had to have people roll back the stone so he could perform the miracle,” Robertson said. “He wanted them to be his partner in performing the miracle. … You do what you can do, and God will do what you can’t.”
    In addition to the keynote addresses, the Congress held workshops on social media, developing young adult leaders and the revised Roman Missal, as well as dialogue sessions for participants to share ideas and collaborate on their own community’s TEC experiences.
    TEC Congress has been a yearly event since 2006. The 2012 TEC Congress will be held in the Diocese of New Ulm, Minn.
    Heather Bozant can be reached at [email protected].