The 2023 National Catholic Youth Conference was held Nov. 16-18 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. The stadium is home of the Indianapolis Colts. It’s also the venue for the National Eucharistic Congress July 17-21, 2024. (Photo: Courtesy of Father Henry Torres)

FORT GREENE — Five young people from Brooklyn gained 12,000 new friends Nov. 16-18 in Indianapolis for a crash course on how to embrace their identities in the “mystical body” also known as the Catholic Church. 

The 2023 National Catholic Youth Conference (NCYC) was held at Lucas Oil Stadium. Brooklyn’s delegation included five members of the youth group at Mary of Nazareth Parish in Fort Greene. 

Their pastor, Father Henry Torres likes to call them “pilgrims.” They came away, they said, with a deeper appreciation for the power of prayer, holiness, and love for family, community, and even strangers. 

They also marveled at the majesty of God’s creation and their places within it.

The theme, “Fully Alive,” was taken from Genesis 1:23-27 in which God brought everything into life, including Adam and Eve. 

Heilyn Ferrand Madera commented on the recurring logo at NCYC — Michelangelo’s “The Creation of Adam,” which is part of the famous fresco painting on the ceiling of the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel. 

She said the image shows God’s hand reaching out to Adam, but Adam’s hand is “lifeless as he was not giving God the time to speak to him. We learned that God gives us his hand to follow, we just have to follow it.”

The first NCYC, held in 1983, had sessions on the East and West Coasts. Since then, it has continued to lead young Catholics into renewed reliance on their faith as they encounter all of life’s challenges. 

In 1991, NCYC merged the regional sessions into a national conference, usually held in Indianapolis. Last year, however, it returned to the West Coast with about 2,600 people gathering at Long Beach, California. 

Father Torres said no one from his parish attended the World Youth Day last summer in Lisbon, Portugal. He explained that fundraising for that event began two years earlier while he was getting settled as the parish’s new pastor. 

“But because my parish didn’t go to World Youth Day, I didn’t want them to miss out on a youth encounter,” Father Torres said. “So, we settled on Indianapolis. And I was like, ‘Man, this is definitely an amazing witness.’ ” 

Lucas Oil Stadium, the home field of the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts, is also the venue for the National Eucharistic Congress July 17-21, 2024.

The five Brooklynites not only represented their parish at NCYC, but also the entire diocese. Father Torres explained that other parishes, having attended World Youth Day, could not afford to do both. 

“I wanted Brooklyn to be represented in this national conference,” he said, “because I want us to be part of the national conversation with regards to the young Church. 

The group networked with people from all over the country, including as far away as Hawaii, Father Torres said. 

“It grounded them in the reality that the Church isn’t just something that mom and dad do, that grandparents do,” he said. “No, ‘you’ are the Church. 

“You are part of his mystical body,” the pastor added. “And, therefore, in the same way the universal Church is called to holiness, you who are young are called to hold up to that universal calling of holiness.” 

Jamie Rodriguez said this was her second NCYC, having attended last year’s event in California. She said the larger Indianapolis crowd’s energy was noticeable. 

She especially appreciated the session called “Dear God Help, My Family is Weird. Please Send Help,” led by musician and speaker Chris Padgett. She was impressed with Padgett’s point that a family is intended for God’s purposes. 

Still, Rodriguez said, “people feel alone in life even when there are millions of people in the world.” 

But, she added, “Your family can help you navigate the word of God and help you spread it.”

Jocelyn Navarro Rijo said she admired another speaker, Sister Mercedes Torres, vocations director for the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, who is from Brooklyn.

She spoke about prayer, faithfulness, and patience. Navarro said the discussion impressed on her the importance of daily prayer.  

“If I would tell anyone about this experience, I would explain how the Lord may not seem like he’s there, but he is there,” Navarro said.  

Ferrand said NCYC filled her with courage to stand for the faith. She said one must “embrace God’s goodness and express all the gratitude you have for God without being ashamed of what others think. 

“This is my faith,” she added, “and if I don’t embrace it, no one else will.”