Office of Youth Ministry
We have been busy the last few months in our Office of Youth Ministry for the Diocese of Biloxi. On January 21st through the 22nd, eighty-seven adults and teens loaded the buses and made the pilgrimage to Baton Rouge for their March for Life. Friday night, once the buses made it to Baton Rouge, we all met at Holy Family Parish for Adoration, discussion, and praise and worship. Saturday morning, we met the Louisiana Right to Life representatives in front of the Capital. We all walked to St. Joseph Cathedral for Mass with Bishop Michael Gerard Duca. After the Mass, we went back to the Capital and began Marching for Life. We ended the March at the Galvez Plaza where we prayed, worshiped, and listened to Shelley Guillory give a powerful testimony. Shelley is a former abortion clinic worker at the Delta Clinic in Baton Rouge. She worked in the abortion clinic for 3 years and found “And Then There Were None” ministries to help her leave and never to return. We ended our trip with a group prayer and challenged the teens to take what they learned and experienced back to their schools, parishes, and families.
On January 15th we had a one-day Search Retreat and on February 4th through the 6th we had a weekend Search Retreat. Our January retreat had to be a one-day experience due to the spike of COVID at the time, but in February we were able to return to our weekend experience. Search is a peer given retreat by a Diocesan youth and adult team. During the Search weekend, we have shared testimonies by the community members, songs, prayer, small group discussions, Adoration, Eucharist, Reconciliation, quiet time and a great fellowship between you and your “new” friends. The Search Retreat is for all senior and junior students in high school. The Holy Spirit was present, moving, and working in the lives of all the teens who attended these retreats. Thank you for all your prayers and support for our young people and ministries within our Diocese.
