NCYC 2025
Activities at NCYC help youths ‘think about the different sacraments’
Libby Berg of St. Pius X Parish in Indianapolis, top, enjoys an activity in an area of the interactive exhibit hall in the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis on Nov. 22 during the National Catholic Youth Conference. (Photo by Natalie Hoefer)
By Natalie Hoefer
In an exhibit hall of the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis, a teen knots strips at the bottom of an old T-shirt to make a reusable bag.
Another makes a rosary. A group of teens test their knowledge of the faith in a trivia game.
These activities and more are part of an effort to help youths understand different aspects of this year’s National Catholic Youth Conference (NCYC) theme—“I Am/Yo Soy” in English and Spanish.
“Every year at NCYC we have about six to eight kind of ‘spirit stations’ where we do interactive activities with young people,” says Aaron Frazita, director of interactive exhibit.
“This year, what we did was to take the I AM statements that are associated with different sacraments and came up with activities, crafts and experiences for the young people to kind of think about and work through the different sacraments.”
So, the sacrament of baptism becomes “I am chosen.”
“They did a lot with water, and how that element of water not only happens through baptism, but then we see water, and it’s a reminder of that baptismal call each and every day,” Frazita explains.
Each NCYC includes a service component. This year that area of the interactive event hall represented the sacrament of the Eucharist, with the message “I am transformed.” (See related article on page 12B.)
“The entrance to that area is actually set up like a chapel,” Frazita says. “The idea is that … it’s not enough for us just to sit in church, but to be transformed by the Eucharist and then to go into the world and serve.”
For part of this year’s service area, participants were asked to bring old T-shirts to create bags to send medical supplies to Guatemala.
“It’s really doesn’t take much to give a small amount of your time to help such a big cause and trying to help those that are less fortunate than us,” says Justin Momanchola-Molo of the Diocese of Knoxville, Tenn., as he ties knots out of strips cut into the bottom of a T-shirt. “And helping others just really feels good, you know?”
The sacrament of confirmation inspired the “I am anointed” area.
“They took the gifts of the Holy Spirit and really break those apart a little bit,” Frazita says. “For each one of those [gifts], there is an activity or a game that goes along with it”—like making rosaries as an action for “piety,” playing a faith-based trivia game for “wisdom” and doing push-ups or sit-ups for “fortitude.”
In the “I am called” section, the sacraments of marriage and holy orders—as well as the call to religious or single life—are explored. Vestments, habits and wedding clothes are on display so youths “can visually sort of ‘try on’ those vocations,” says Frazita.
The sacraments of reconciliation and anointing of the sick are combined in the “I am healed” area.
“With anointing of the sick,” he says, “the message is it’s not just about death but that we all need that anointing right within our lives.”
Sheets with an examination of conscience were available. Volunteers encourage youths visiting the area to receive the sacrament of reconciliation offered during NCYC and invite them to lift with their s shoulders a thick, hanging beam like Christ bore when he died on the cross for the forgiveness of sins.
Libby Berg of St. Pius X Parish in Indianapolis gave the activity a try.
“It was really heavy,” she says. “It kind of made me realize how much Jesus really did for us. And it’s not necessarily the physical weight, but it’s also the weight of all of our sins that he took up, which was really cool for me to realize.”
One of the most popular areas in the NCYC exhibit hall each year is the games section. This year, even that component has a spiritual element.
“We called it, ‘I am joyful,’ ” Frazita explains. “The idea with the games area this year, they really wanted [adults] to be able to interact with young people and be able to have conversations with them.
“So, you’re not just playing Gaga [ball] … but then you’re also just kind of talking about where they are in their faith lives and how they can journey with hopefully their youth leader or their pastor a little better.”
But just having fun with the games is OK, too, says Benedictine Sister Teresa Gunter of Monastery Immaculate Conception in Ferdinand, Ind., in the Evansville Diocese. She served on the interactive event hall team.
“Sometimes we think that our faith always has to be so serious,” she says. “But really, we are called to be joyful Christians who love God.” †
See more stories from the National Catholic Youth Conference here
