Youth had opportunity to attend daily Mass during the retreat. Youth group from St. Thomas the Apostle "Salt" led by Vic Benys provided the music.

Joining together in adoration of the Holy Eucharist, prayer and song hundreds of Catholic youth spent the weekend of June 4-6 at a retreat for, of and by young people. ”Having Jesus exposed in the monstrance during the whole retreat is to teach the youth about adoration and through adoration they can begin a personal relationship with Jesus. To show them that Jesus being truly present in the Eucharist also wants and waits for them to come to Him,” said retreat coordinator, Ada Segovia.

The retreat, led by the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal was held at John Paul II High School. It featured daily Mass, group recitation of the Rosary and chaplet of Devine Mercy, talks by Friars on reconciliation and evangelization, testimonials by retreatants, music, meditation, a Eucharist prayer service, and all night adoration. Bishop Emeritus Gracida led a Corpus Christi Eucharistic procession on Sunday the feast of Corpus Christi.

The program, YOUTH 2000 is an international spiritual initiative. Begun in 1990 it is a response to the challenge of Pope John Paul II given to the young people at World Youth Day in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, to ”become shining heralds of the re-evangelization and generous architects of the civilization of love.” Eager to commit to the challenge, young people took seriously this call to a decade of evangelization. They developed the following goals for the retreats:

· To promote devotion to Jesus in the Holy Eucharist through a worldwide network of youth gathered in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament

· To promote a devotion to Mary, the Virgin Mother of God, especially through the rosary

· To promote fidelity to the teachings of the Catholic Church and the Magisterium

Segovia was pleased with participation at the event and said, ”the Holy Spirit calls whom he wants there. Some of the youth that came gave great testimonies.” Segovia also wanted to thank merchants from Coca-Cola, Weinerschnitzel and Little Caesars for their help in providing food for some of the retreat.