Archbishop Gilbert has praised the hosting of an event for young Catholic males, and issued a challenge to participants to minister to their counterparts.

"Many young men - young women too - have no idea where they are going in life. They're not sure where to look, or have a companion to help them," he said while preaching the homily at the concelebrated closing Mass of "A Catholic Conference for Young (Adult) Men". Concelebrants were Fr Morrison La Porte from Curaçao, and Fr Ashton Pierre, CSSp.

He told those gathered at the Bon Air High School in Arouca that their role was crucial - to reach out to their peers.

"A lot of young people have become turned off from the source of life because they think the Church is dead." He said, however, that young people involved in Church need to come forward and "convince your peers that the Church is not dead but alive".

The archbishop commended the organising committee saying the event needs to be sustained as this was "a celebration of you as men. as men in the Church".

Basing much of his sermon on the weekend's Mass readings, he urged the young men to surrender their lives to God. Using his own life as an example, he said, "we must never get too comfortable in life that we can't move when God calls us to do so".

Fr Ashton Pierre proclaims the Gospel at the closing Mass. Others in picture are Archbishop Gilbert and Fr Morrison La Porte of Curaçao.

He challenged the young men to be ready to move, and if they decided to step out into peer-to-peer ministry they must be prepared for a tough journey. He promised his full support should they accept the challenge.

The conference, organised by GANG - God's Anointed New Generation - had as its theme Be Strong! We Are More Than Conquerors .

Some 100 participants attended the February 18-19 event, with an 11-member contingent journeying to Trinidad from Curaçao with Fr La Porte. There was also a participant each from Antigua and Tobago . A group from St Anthony's College also attended.

The event began Friday evening with Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, praise and worship, and prayer. Cheldon Knights gave a testimonial.

Kyle Dardaine, a member of GANG and the organising committee, gave the opening address, "In Christ, We Are More Than Conquerors". The Blessed Sacrament was exposed for an all night vigil.

Saturday morning began with praise and worship led by the young men of the People of Praise Music Ministry. There was a testimonial, and a short talk by Fr Dwight Merrick, a leader of the archdiocese's Catholic Men's Movement.

Morning emcee Kirk Jean Baptiste then introduced US musician Daniel diSilva, to deliver the feature address. diSilva, representing Catholic Answers USA, spoke on "Chastity - a call to be strong".

Using street lingo throughout, the Texan told an interesting story of two eagle chicks raised as chickens until one day, an adult eagle forced one of the young eagles to fly. The young eagle realised he was no chicken. diSilva said you have to know what you are and what you are not. "We are like eagles, but we move like chickens". He said young men need to know that they were "men of God and can be chaste".

diSilva, a multi-talented vocalist, arranger, composer and percussionist, said he has been chaste for the past 11 years. In his hour-long talk he also touched on love and marriage and its connection with the Trinity. He said men are heads of households, but they can't be heads without sacrifice.

Before lunch, "Terribly Talented out of Rillo Saints" - singers Kyle Alexander and Kiegan Bharat, guitarist Dirk Hem Lee and identical twin Dion on drums - paid tribute to former Gasparillo parish priest, Fr O'Connor, with O'Connor's Message , a rapso dealing with the lust for money and the resulting negatives.

Workshops were conducted after the lunch break; these dealt with the myriad issues young men face in daily life. Most had interesting titles: Pipsin and Dealin dealt with courting and relationship; Daddy's Boy focused on healing the father wound; Befriending Anger - anger management; Real Men Doh Cry on handling emotions; Brought Up Not Dragged Up - attitudes and values; High Tide, Low Tide - masculinity and self esteem; Men and God - male spirituality; Married Life ; Single Life ; Priesthood and Religious Life ; Men and Addiction .

The sign of peace

After reassembling in the auditorium, afternoon emcee Nicholas Roberts introduced Rillo Saints from Gasparillo parish. The youth group - male and female members - did a unique non-verbal skit titled Eve's Perspective.

The group used suitably-chosen music, body language and gestures. They captured the attention of all in their well-received, humourous performance that dealt with fornication, rejection, male bonding, and courtship.

Before Mass, there was a session titled "Fathering this Generation - Men Touring Men". Young men broke up into groups with adult men as group leaders for a time of sharing.

Dardaine and Mikkel Trestrail, speaking on behalf of the organising committee, thanked all for their support, noting that the event took eight months to plan.

Main sponsor was the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs. Other sponsors included FINCOR, Scotia Bank, Angostura, Toyota ( Trinidad ) and Trinidad Cement Limited.

Dardaine told Catholic News the response to the event has been "only positive" and GANG hopes to host the event annually once sponsorship is available. A female member of Rillo Saints wished a similar event could be organised for young Catholic females.

- RS