Nearly one hundred youth from seven of our West Coast parishes gathered during President’s Day weekend for our first Western regional SyroMalabar Youth Conference. We had young people from St. Alphonsa SyroMalabar Catholic Church, Los Angeles, Holy Family SyroMalabar Mission, Phoenix, St. Pius X SyroMalabar Knanaya Catholic Church, Los Angeles, St. Thomas Apostle SyroMalabar Church, Santa Ana, St. Thomas SyroMalabar Catholic Church San Francisco, and the Infant Jesus SyroMalabar Mission, Sacramento, CA.

The conference intended for these young people to develop deeper bonds in Christ, lay a foundation in the West for the youth to serve and support one another, become more deeply formed in the faith, and to build up the Church. As a vast region, many of the youth met for the first time. The Diocesan Youth team worked extensively with George Thomas of the St. Thomas San Francisco parish, who was the lead coordinator of this event.

Envisioning a solid balance between the social and the spiritual, the three-day weekend included sessions concerning the uniqueness of our Syro faith, the liturgy, Theology of the Body, the relationship between science and religion, personal testimonies by the speakers, Eucharistic adoration, and daily Qurbana. We were also blessed to have an amazing speaker, Fr. Agustino Torres, CFR, speak to us on “Living a Radical Life in Christ” and stay with us the entire weekend to share his story. In between, we had a dodgeball tournament, icebreakers, Syro Jeopardy, and an impromptu bonfire to end the weekend festivities.

As the first Western conference, this gathering helped to break the ice and enable regional bonding. Watching the youth collaborate, pray together, and interact with one another truly made the event a success and a blessing. The Western youth not only have a greater appreciation for their SyroMalabar liturgical tradition and heritage, but also a stronger awareness of the wider diocese.

Each of these gatherings foster a feeling that we are a national family. As we grow to understand the beauty of our SyroMalabar faith, we also gradually experience a unity that is greater than what we could build on our own. United through the Eucharist and united by the Holy Spirit, we become a beautiful dynamic wholesome group; one that I like to call…family!