Amid The Pandemic, Our Youth Ministry Brings Christ Light Into Parish And Beyond Our Walls

During a World Youth Day 2013 address, Pope Francis spoke the following words to millions of young Catholics who had gathered in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: “You too, dear young people, can be joyful witnesses of His love, courageous witnesses of His Gospel, carrying to this world a ray of His light.” Here at Our Lady Star of the Sea, our Youth Ministry is proving just how true these words can be.

Service to the Jacksonville community and beyond has always been a key component of our Youth Ministry program. A typical summer would see many of our young parishioners serving others through week-long diocesan summer camps. While COVID-19 prevented these usual gatherings from taking place, nothing could get in the way of our youth’s desire to serve!

“Of course, the summer camps were canceled this year, so we decided to find things to do here,” says Youth Ministry Director Catherine Savilla. “We found four one-day service events in June and July. The best way to gather was outdoors, so one consistent thing we could do was building and cleaning projects.”

With this in mind, members of our youth ministry helped with the BEAM (Beach Emergency Assistance Ministry) garden and cleaned the playground and indoor facilities at Sanctuary on 8 th Street. In July, they attended a Faith + Action day that drew over 60 youth and adult chaperones from around the diocese to perform service projects that had been approved for the Urban Plunge camp.

This summer, our Youth Ministry helped clean the playground and facilities at Sanctuary on 8th Street in downtown Jacksonville.

“All these jobs get lined up months in advance,” Catherine says. “So, when Plunge was canceled, it meant that these people had already been waiting. It’s heartbreaking to know that we were lined up to go and serve and do this work, and then we couldn’t do it. Some of these houses are just incredibly run down. So the diocese figured out a way to do one-day events called Faith + Action. We were able to rebuild decks and porches, extend a woman’s handicap-accessible ramps, clean gutters and replace the diverters on her rainspouts.”

Youth Ministry service opportunities continue this fall. In October, our middle and high schoolers participated in a beach cleanup, and this month they will again tend the BEAM garden, in addition to preparing and serving a Veterans Day dinner at the Mission House.

Mary Kate Flynn, a senior at Ponte Vedra High School, tries to take advantage of every service opportunity that our Youth Ministry provides.

“It is always so worth it,” Mary Kate says. “If I could go back and do them all again, I would. I really enjoy getting to know all the people we’re serving. It builds a lot of character and shows me how thankful I should be for everything I have, and that God just puts us where we need to be.”

Youth Ministry at Our Lady Star of the Sea

For Rebecca Cooper, a senior at Nease High School, participating in Youth Ministry service days and retreats has been a great way to make lifelong friendships while gaining a new perspective.

“I’ve been raised to help around the house, but really getting down to it and tearing down fences and building things and getting out of my comfort zone to help someone in need — it humbles you, it really does, just being able to see that there are people who need help right outside your front door,” Rebecca says. “It doesn’t matter who they are — if they need help, God calls you to help them. I believe service is important for teens and youth because seeing people who don’t have necessities really changes your perspective.”

Will Sammet, a senior at Bishop Kenny High School, has also found that his participation in the Youth Ministry helped make him the person he is today.

“It’s really important to ground your faith because your faith gets you through everything,” he says. “We’re teenagers, we’re in high school, we’re going through the COVID-19 pandemic, and we’ll go through other stuff. When you have your faith and you have God, that will get you through — even in college and beyond.”

Letting that faith shine for others is what service is all about.

“You really do get joy out of helping people,” Will says. “If I can put a smile on someone’s face, then that’s a good day for me.”

By answering the Gospel call to serve, our parish youth show all of us what it means to bring Christ’s love to the world.

“It’s community building, and it’s all steeped in Christianity and Scripture,” Catherine says. “We do everything we can to shine the light of Christ.”

Youth ministry participants helped extend a handicap accessible ramp at the home of an elderly woman in Interlachen.