Forty-eight middle school students and chaperones from the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland were among nearly 2,000 people who attended Holy Fire, a national Catholic one-day faith experience for students in grades 6-8.
Diocesan parishes represented at Holy Fire were St. Andrew Kim, St. Agnes-Our Lady of Fatima, Our Lady Help of Christians, St. Dominic, St. John Bosco, St. Bridget of Kildare and St. Raphael.
Mark Delsander of the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry for the diocese said the powerful and life-changing faith experience provided opportunities for spiritual growth, learning and prayer. It offered speakers and musicians, including Toledo Bishop Daniel Thomas, Katie Prejean McGrady, Joe Melendrez, Brian Greenfield, Dom Quaglia, and the Sarah Kroger Band. There also was eucharistic adoration. Bishop Earl Boyea from Lansing, Michigan, celebrated the concluding Mass.
The event took place on Oct. 13 at Bowling Green State University. It was produced and sponsored by the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry and was hosted in collaboration with the Diocese of Toledo and nearby regions.
According to Delsander, Pope Francis said that preparing to follow Christ involves “growing in a relationship with the Father, in awareness of being part of a family and a people, and in openness to being filled with the Holy Spirit and led to carry out the mission God gives them, their personal vocation. None of this should be overlooked in pastoral work with young people … we need projects that can strengthen them, accompany them and impel them to encounter others, to engage in generous service, in mission.”
Holy Fire is one such project, Delsander said, since it seeks to provide youth, and those who accompany them, opportunities of encounter and to strengthen them on their mission of discipleship.