“Signed, Sealed, and Delivered” was the theme for the National Catholic Youth Ministry Conference that gathered 22,000 young people and adults in Indianapolis, Indiana last weekend. At the opening session, the symbols of a fount and a cross expressed the dynamics of our faith: signed, we belong to Christ and we are delivered from evil in Jesus’ saving act on the cross; and sealed with the Holy Spirit, we witness our faith.
In his key note address, Ansel Augustine from New Orleans led an invigorating choreography session with his “in-step” group and then told the story about a how his life was upended in the face of hurricane Katrina. He and his friends had evacuated to Florida intending to make it a week-long vacation. Then he got a phone call that the levee had broken and decimated New Orleans. Ansel traveled back to New Orleans and roughed it in the Super Dome for four days until some of the members of his church brought him home. Then his girlfriend drove him to the morgue where nineteen deceased members of his family and friends had perished. This great loss and no longer having a job devastated him. Ansel realized over time that God was there with them through this trial, what they needed was trust. He and the members of his church rebuilt their church. By trusting in God, the mess of Katrina was turned into a miracle. Ansel urged participants to trust God in the messes of life, and see how God can transform those messes into new life.
