‘XLT’ at St. Rita allows teens to ‘exalt’ in their faith

    On Dec. 1, St. Rita of Cascia in Harahan hosted a Holy Spirit retreat called “XLT.” Youth from the south shore were able to worship Jesus through praise and worship music, eucharistic adoration, confession and talks. “XLT” is derived from the word “exalt,” but without the vowels.
    This year’s XLT theme was “Awake: Awakening Ourselves to the Coming of Jesus.”
    Seminarian Austin Ashcraft led a band with local singers Kara Klein and Ryan Nicolini.  Father Kyle Sanders, parochial vicar at St. Rita Parish, led eucharistic adoration.  Adelyn Gonzalez Muñoz, a missionary in Houma, was the speaker.
    The entire night was an inspiration in helping me keep Christ at the center of my life.  With all the stresses of life, it is a gift to be able to have an event like this to relax and remind ourselves that God is always with us.
    “It was an awesome experience,” said Joelle Lorenzo, a junior at St. Mary’s Dominican High School. “We had an amazing speaker (Adelyn) who showed us in Scripture how to prepare for Advent.”
 Ryan Schwing, a freshman at LSU and a recent Archbishop Rummel graduate, assisted Father Sanders, Emmanuel Priva and me set up for the event and gained much from attending.
    “XLT was a truly amazing experience,” Schwing said. “The Lord was truly present in the depths of our hearts and in the monstrance. XLT was a time set aside to praise and exalt our Lord during the season of Advent and to prepare our hearts for his inevitable return.”
    Jacob Tonglet is a senior at Jesuit High School and a member of St. Rita’s CYO in Harahan.