By Eric Connolly

The house lights dropped in the back building of the Lewis and Clark County Fairgrounds, leaving the large building feeling like a darkened airplane hanger. From the shadows a loud, fast drumbeat began to reverberate as torchlights glowed. The crowd processed into the stage area, bringing the flames to the front, ending with the lighting of an enclosed propane torch that would stay lit throughout the weekend – a weekend filled with growth and excitement for the youth of our Diocese.

Maybe it was the change of scenery, the moving from Carroll College, the usual site of the CYC Convention, to the fairgrounds. Maybe it was the enthusiasm of the CYC Board and all the hours of thoughtful planning and hard work they took on. Or maybe it was something much simpler yet much deeper. Maybe it was the Holy Spirit ensuring that the weekend would be a moving and spiritually fulfilling one for the 420 high school students, young adults and adult chaperones who attended.

This year’s theme, “Hallelujah: That Just Happened,” carried through the weekend in the form of a moving and musically driven keynote by Father Norman Fischer, five youth keynotes by Jane Diepstraten, Sawyer Paine, Molly Callahan-Baumstark, Max Bernt and Dustin Ackeret, breakout sessions, Mass with Bishop George Leo Thomas at St. Helena Cathedral, and a celebration dance.

Personally, this is my eighth straight CYC Convention, either as a participant or photographer, and it always seems that the convention leaves me with one memorable moment. This year, the moment still stays as vivid in my mind as when it happened. It was at the end of the convention as Doug Tooke, coordinator of the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry, spoke the final words of his closing prayer to the youth of the diocese. “The tomb is empty, and this place is only the beginning, and not an end,” Tooke said.

As he finished, David Casey, standing behind a piano, began to softly sing the chorus to the convention’s theme song, “Hallelujah for life. Hallelujah for love. Love has conquered all. Hallelujah.”

As “Hallelujah” echoed through the building and the opening notes of the song began to pick up in tempo, the significance of the weekend sank in. These students are the future of our diocese and a large part of the future of our Church and they are on fire for their faith.

Much like the flame that was lit throughout the weekend, for many who attended, a fire was sparked in them. As Tooke said, this place and this weekend was only the beginning.


More CYC Convention photos will be posted at www.dohyouth.org on May 28, 2009.

Published in The Montana Catholic, Vol. 25, No. 5, May 15, 2009.