Katie Prejean McGrady

American speaker and writer Katie Prejean McGrady expressed that the best part of traveling nearly 25,000 kilometres a year worldwide to preach the Gospel of Christ, are the authentic human encounters she gains, and being able to get young people excited to love Jesus.

“It’s the conversations that are exchanged. “A young person comes up to me and says thank you, or when I get to ask them what stuck out to them in the talks, or when we are able to share stories with each other,” she added. The proud mother to two-year-old daughter Rose, and wife to Tommy, sat down with The Record during her time at the Australian Catholic Youth Festival (ACYF) to give a recap on her talks, and challenged the youth of today to use their faith in Jesus to be world-changers. “I gave a talk called ‘You Gotta Have Faith.’ It was all about our encounter with Jesus Christ that leads to passionate faith. How do we then articulate that and share it with the world?” she explained. “I do a lot of research with Gen Z, and data shows that this particular generation want to be world changers, they truly believe that they can change the world. “My hope is that this talk will encourage and inspire them to be the type of people to go and articulate their encounters with Jesus,” she added. In her second talk ‘Mary, Queen of Heaven’, Katie spoke of Our Lady as the perfect model of faith. “Mother Mary was a teenager, of course she is without sin, which sometimes may seem difficult for us to relate to, but in reality she is a woman that said ‘Yes’. And that one ‘Yes’, changed the world.” Her plenary keynote, leading into Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament on the second night of ACYF, was about opening up to the Holy Spirit and the Father’s love leading us to and encounter with the Holy Spirit.

KATIE PREJEAN MCGRADY BELIEVES AUSTRALIAN YOUTH ARE WORLDCHANGERS IN FAITH

WORDS Amanda Murthy

You are truly made for not only something great... but ultimately you are made to have a seat in the heavenly kingdom.”

During the session, Katie told the 5500 young people gathered that the youth of Australia in 2019 are uniquely suited to be a witness, a voice to the goodness of God and the joy of the Gospel. “You are truly made for not only something great, you’re not only made to make an impact in this world, but ultimately you are made to have a seat in the heavenly kingdom, you are made to worship God for eternity,” she said. “You are the ones – I’m convinced of this deeply – you are the ones that can change the world.” Encouraging the youth of ACYF to take the time to listen to the voice of God, when discerning their vocation in life – be it in their careers, married life, religious life or single life – Katie said the key is to always be ‘opened to the surprises God has in store.’ “The moment we are baptised, we all have a vocation, its’ there and we don’t have to go around digging for it,” she stated. “Don’t be afraid to ask questions to the right people about the faith – visit religious communities, speak with them and so take the time not just to listen, but then pursue, should religious life be your calling. “In our everyday moments whether in our career choices, friends we choose to keep, the stuff that we choose to post on social media. “We have to always ask ourselves the question ‘How is this decision, how is this moment leading me closer to Christ?” she concluded.

ABOVE Katie also sat down with Archbishop of Melbourne, Peter Comensoli and TavTalk’s Kieran Chew for a Young Adults Q&A session at the Market Grounds. Photo: Josh Low ∞ TOP Katie delivering the evening plenary session on Day 2 of ACYF. Photo: Iceberg Media

GEN BRYANT C O N N E C T I N G

S C H O O L S A N D P A R I S H E S

T H R O U G H M U S I C M I N I S T R Y

WORDS Theresia Titus

Speaking at the Australian Catholic Youth Conference in Perth last year, was Genevieve Bryant. The Melbourne singer, songwriter and music ministry enthusiast-talked and gave a brief a workshop on the importance of music in liturgy and appreciation for the music of the Catholic Church.

At the end of the session, Gen Bryant reminded the pilgrims to start the conversation and build connections between their schools, parishes and wider diocese with their unique gifts and talents. Photo: Iceberg Media

“M usic is such a powerful tool; as musicians, but also like people who are part of the experience, sometimes we often walk away and quickly think that the music we heard is not good,” Ms Bryant said. “I found that good music can be found in a variety of forms and genres. However, not all good music is suitable for the liturgy of Mass.” Ms Bryant reminded the pilgrims that the Catholic Church music “comes from a beautiful place and tradition”. She also explained how they can best appreciate any Catholic music, both traditional and contemporary to best decide whether a particular piece of music is suitable to be performed during the Mass when they are given the responsibility to. “I just briefly want to touch on the three factors that are so important to [think about,” Ms Bryant said. “Number one: ‘is the music liturgical? Does the style of the music reflect the nature of that part of Mass?’ and number two: we have to think of the people: will this piece of music allow the congregation to participate fully, actively and consciously? “Number three: is this musically and technically good? Can we pull it off? We need to make sure that we’re choosing music that we can do and it’s at the right level for us,” she explained. Ms Bryant told the pilgrims that her “real love” for the traditional music of the Catholic Church grew when she was studying at Australian Catholic University and singing for the St Patrick’s Cathedral Choir every Sunday. “I would walk out in my robes, with my stack of hymnals, one was the Gregorian chants. We would be in practice before Mass…singing Gregorian chants,” she said. “To experience it [by] not just by listening but [also] being a part of it, I just develop a real love for [the traditional music of the Church]. “It’s hard not being moved when you’re singing and hearing the beautiful music and harmonies,” she continued. Ms Bryant said she was also a part of a worship band, where she had the chance to sing on Saturday nights, no Gregorian chants and hymns but contemporary Catholic music. “We could see that there’s a huge variety happening and I am proud of that. It’s something unique in the Catholic Church,” she said. Addressing her concerns on the lack of connection between the schools and parishes, she challenged the pilgrims to start communicating with their teachers and really think about how they can share their gifts and talents with the school community in music ministry, as well as connecting with the parishes. “This is where we have a problem: there are things happening in school and there are things happening in parishes but we’re not doing things together,” Ms Bryant said. “I want to challenge those who are involved in the parish to start the conversation: how can we connect with our local schools-can we get the talented staff involved at Masses? “Start [working on] those little connections, it may make one big connection that is something incredible,” she continued. Ms Bryant also emphasised that the lack of connections also exist in “our wider dioceses”, hence there is a need to reach out, let people know” on the things happening from one parish to another, and get involved. “It’s only by reaching out that I got to the place where I am today, by networking and communicating with people and say, ‘Hey I don’t know what it is yet but I know I want to do something, I want to help and I want to be a part of it’, and that’s honestly how I got here today,” she said. “Start putting yourself out there even if you feel like you’re not good enough, start working on yourself and start making those connections. That’s my challenge to you guys.” “ This is where we have a problem: there are things happening in school and there are things happening in parishes, but we’re not doing things together. ”