By Sahara James

Every once in a while, our spirits need a bit of rejuvenation from the wear and tear of our daily lives.

The Young Adult Ministry’s (YAMS) third annual Youth Revival took place at St. Pascal Baylon Church, St. Albans. Youth from Our Lady of Light parish, along with supporters from St. Clare’s Church, Rosedale, came together for three nights filled with praise and worship led by the wonderful children’s choir and God’s Promise Choir. There were also energetic revivalists, moving testimonials, passionate praise dancing from God’s Loving Angels, meditative altar calls and of course, a fellowship afterward, where participants discussed how incredible the whole experience was.

This event couldn’t have been timed better: right at the end of the school year but before the summer begins so that our youth have the opportunity to rejuvenate our spirits. It wasn’t only the youth who took the opportunity. Many adults who see no age on spiritual revival also joined us.

Each night, I found myself deep in prayer, but I was especially moved on the second night when there seemed to be a powerful presence in the church.

Being surrounded by fellow Catholics calling on the Holy Spirit to come and touch them during the altar call put me in a sort of trance that caused me to feel like I woke up from a deep sleep since I finished my prayer.

The revivalists couldn’t have been chosen better; on the first night, we had Father Dwayne Davis, who gave a well thought out and inspiring talk on our relationships with Christ.

The following night we had seminarian Jose Henriquez, who gave a brutally honest talk on our habits outside of the church. It’s not often that we have someone brave enough to really speak to youth and wake them up. His words most definitely played a role in my spiritual experience that night.

The opportunity for the sacrament of reconciliation was also available that night.

The revival was wrapped up with an even more honest and snappy talk from Father Paul Ideafi. With his points on hypocrisy in Catholic churchgoers, I’m almost sure no one went home from this revival the same person.

I appreciated the desire of the revivalists for us to have the same relationship with God as they do; I feel this is the ultimate form of generosity.

If you weren’t a part of this year’s Youth Revival, you most definitely missed out on a powerful spiritual experience.

The Young Adult Ministry without a doubt put all of its efforts into these three nights for everyone to enjoy. To be a part of this ministry, which puts together events such as the annual revival, is truly a blessing. I’ve grown as a Catholic and as a person being surrounded by people who are fighting to keep our faith in what sometimes seems to be a hopeless world.

We’ve all heard this before, but I’ll repeat it for the hundredth time: The youth aren’t just the future, but we are the present. Our Lady of Light’s Young Adult Ministry is a shining example of that.

 James, 19, is a YAMS member.