Catholic teenagers were on fire with the Holy Spirit at the second Steubenville NYC conference, held on the campus of St. John’s University, Jamaica. The June 24-26 retreat was a transformative experience for many of the 1,600 teens who were inspired to live their faith more openly.

Alexis Ponte, from Most Precious Blood in Bath Beach, came to Steubenville NYC with the Bensonhurst Youth Cluster.

“This is my first time and I’ve loved it. I feel like I’m closer to God,” she said.

Steubenville NYC was organized by Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio, and Life Teen, a Catholic youth ministry organization for high school teens based in 31 countries. Local planning was undertaken by the Diocese of Brooklyn, Archdiocese of New York and the Rockville Centre Diocese.

The three-day retreat attracted an estimated 1,600 youths. Teens from parish youth groups, from the East Coast, as well as places as far away as Canada and San Antonio, Texas, traveled to join in this weekend of prayer and fellowship.

The weekend was filled with engaging liturgies, inspirational music and workshops that inspired and challenged the teens. Everything centered on this year’s theme: “Thirst.”

“There are so many different things in the world for telling us what we desire whether it would be fame or money or pretty clothes or popularity but our most basic need is a thirst for union with God,” said Jill Patten, conference director for Steubenville NYC.

Sherquan Sumra, 19, from St. Matthew Church in Crown Heights, said speaker Emily Wilson’s kickoff talk on “Thirst” resonated with him.

“On a daily basis we are sinners and we take the wrong water. Most of us we go about it feeling nothing. Not looking for change because the world tells us that it is OK to sin,” he said. “If we drink water that is bad for us it turns to sand. The water that is good comes from Jesus.”

Brooklyn Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio celebrated the Mass on Saturday morning. His homily highlighted the unconditional love parents give to their children, which is but a fraction of God’s love for each person.

“Parents will do anything to save the life of their children,” he said. “It is difficult to recognize that we are loved. We are loved by others but ultimately we are loved by God without any exception or qualification.”

He also spoke of the infinite mercy of God and encouraged the teens to overcome feelings of unworthiness that might keep them away from the Eucharist, the healing of the sacrament of reconciliation or from pursuing the vocation God is calling them to pursue.

“We are accepted in Christ who gave his life to us,” he said. “The Eucharist we celebrate today is the place where the community today will receive the proof of God’s unqualified love for us.”

Stephanie Sanchez Cruz, 17, said she found the peace she was seeking while spending time with the Eucharist during the Holy Hour.

“I went there with fear and He just gave me that peace,” she said. “During the weekend we were told to trust God. Look for Him because He is always waiting for you.”

Sanchez Cruz was one of 17 teens coming from St. Mary’s, and St. Sebastian parishes, both in Woodside. Parishes across the Diocese of Brooklyn brought hundreds of youth to the retreat.

During the Mass preparations, speaker Ennie Hickman highlighted the importance of the Eucharist, saying that “Adoration flows from the Mass. There is no adoration without the Mass.”

Patten added that the different Steubenville conferences, which has been taking place for 40 years, offer teens the opportunity to have an encounter with Christ. Last year marked the first of many Steubenville conferences in the Diocese of Brooklyn, she added.

“The plan is to come here every year,” she said. “It seem like there was a need and a real desire (for the conference). New York is really ‘of the world’ and we wanted to bring the Lord to them.”

“I hope Jesus quenches my thirst. By the end of this weekend, I think our eyes will be open,” said Soraya Moreau, 16, from St. Thomas Aquinas parish, Flatlands.

She said she appreciated how the women’s session addressed the thirst for love, chastity, and the need to pray for others as a community.

In her talk, Wilson said that like the woman at the well in Scripture, sometimes we try to fill the “jar of our hearts” with other things of the world but that God can quench the desire “to be loved and to be affirmed and to be accepted.”

“The transformation that happens in a three-day period is absolutely only the power of the Holy Spirit,” said Filippini Sister Shirlee Tremont, who was part of a team tasked to pray for the youth.

She added that since the opening talk one could see hearts being touched as the confession line kept growing, with priests administering the sacrament of reconciliation well past 11:30 p.m. Opportunities for confessions continued throughout out the weekend.

St. Matthews’s Edgard Rochec said the weekend deepened his relationship with Jesus, reigniting his commitment to pray often and to strive for greatness.

“We all have needs but God can fulfill those needs,” said Kayah Philip, 17, from St. Matthew. Taking time for to praise God as a community washes away distractions and “sets your mind back to the right place.”