Young adults gather at retreat for presentations, discussion, Mass

NEW BRUNSWICK — Thirty-five young adults from the diocese gathered to deepen their faith at a retreat held by the diocesan Office of Young Adult Ministry at the Catholic Center at Rutgers Aug. 17.
The day included three separate talks given by the director of the office, John Glynn, which focused on the overall question — “Is it worth it to be Catholic?”
The first talk — “Who am I?” — focused on trying to earn the love of God.
“In today’s society, people are told they can be whoever they want to be,” Glynn said. “While this is true and encourages dedication and discipline, the reality is that we should be whoever God has made us to be. By diving into this, we learn that we cannot earn God’s love and he made us perfectly out of love.”
The second talk — “What am I worth?” — focused on Christ’s love for us.
“We did not earn this love, but we also cannot prevent the Lord from loving us,” Glynn said. “Christ showed us what we were worth when he died on the cross for our sins. He showed that even in the midst of our sin he still loves us. This does not give us the opportunity to sin without consequences, but it rather calls us to rise above our sin just as Christ resurrected from the grave. We cannot do this without his grace!”
The last talk — “Is it worth it?” — focused on the story of the rich man in the Gospel of Mark (Chapter 10: 17:31). In the Gospel, the man asks Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus tells him to “know the Commandments.” When the rich man tells Jesus “all of these I have observed from my youth, Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him, ‘You are lacking in one thing. Go, sell what you have, and give to [the] poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.”
At that statement the rich man’s “face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.”
“As we worked through this story,” Glynn said, “we notice that at the end Jesus states that ‘for man this is impossible, but for God all things are possible.’”
One of the young adults said, “[This] reminded me that He is the one who works in my life. I just need to be open and give Him permission.” We cannot do this without grace, but we also need to ask the Lord for the graces.
Between each talk, there were small group discussions, which was most of the participants’ favorite part of the day.
They also had 15 to 20 minutes to pray and sit with the Lord between each talk.
The retreat also included adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, the sacrament of reconciliation and Mass celebrated by Msgr. Joseph G. Celano, pastor, St. Peter the Apostle University and Community Parish, New Brunswick.
“We rejoiced at the end of the day with a patio cookout,” Glynn said. “This day gave young adults an opportunity to encounter the living God through the Gospel, community, and the sacraments.
“Many young adults connected with others and joined our numerous young adult ministries throughout our diocese.”
For more information on young adult communities in the diocese, visit diometuchen.org/young-adult-groups-2