by David de Paz
Pictures from @maristyouth Instagram.
Every Tuesday night, Columbus students and students from other high schools, both male and female, get together for a Marist Youth meeting to strengthen their faith and bond as a group.
At a typical meeting, they start with a fun group activity to bond the group, especially the new people who show up. Then, they pray together to connect with God, followed by a guest speaker and a student who shares their personal journey of faith with everyone. After that, they split into small groups for discussion relating to their own faith journeys or to relate to the guest speaker.
These meetings seem to have a profound effect on the students who participate, not just in their spiritual lives, but in their personal lives as well.
In fact, in a survey taken at the end of the year on an agreement scale from 1-5, on average, students responded about how Marist Youth impacted their general lives.
“It helps people because when you live by those beliefs, you aren’t just being a better person to the people around you, but also happier yourself,” said junior Lucas Perez-Soto.
Not only does it impact the students, but it impacts the moderators as well.
“It’s what I see happening in the lives of these men and women; I’m so inspired by that. That's what keeps me doing it,” says Brother Tom Long.
Although Marist Youth might seem daunting to attend for someone who’s never gone before, it is a very welcoming place where people can freely express themselves and share their faith journeys with other people.
“People who go there, no matter what school they go to, gender or whatever, I think they’re always super nice to you,” says junior Christopher Beceiro.
Overall, it’s a great experience available to both Columbus students and students from other schools, and students are always encouraged and welcome to join.
As Brother Tom said:
“Take a risk, just check it out. If you don’t like it, fine, you don’t have to come back. So what, that was one hour and a half of your life that might’ve not been the best spent. But who knows? It just might be something that you're going to like and you're going to enjoy.”
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