Father Reuben Chen visits with Eric Stark, Regina Revis and Jason Tsakonas before Father Chen spoke at Theology On Tap, on Oct. 4 in Addison.
By Julie Billmeier
Special to The Texas Catholic
As the Year of Faith begins, the Diocesan Young Adult Council already is well into its work with young adults to enrich and engage their faith lives during this important year.
Our first Year of Faith discussion with Dr. Timothy Mullner was a great experience. He laid a strong foundation for the who, what, why and how of the Second Vatican Council. It was an exciting discussion that primed the pump for our annual Theology on Tap series.
This year, we are gathering at Humperdinks in Addison celebrating the four constitutions of Vatican II with a concise overview of each one presented by a core of priests. Each presentation is followed by questions, answers from our priests and discussion. This series runs throughout October on Thursday evenings beginning at 7 p.m.
In addition, our Young Adult Council is collaborating with parish ministries on several exciting prayer and service events throughout this year. Our Year of Faith–Holy Night in January is designed to encourage young adults to engage in an evening of reflective prayer. We are collaborating on monthly sacramental celebrations in different parishes, giving young adults the chance to experience Mass at different parishes throughout the diocese.
To conclude our year, we will launch a May series–studying the Constitutions of Vatican II in depth with time for discussion and reflection, hosted by various parishes around the diocese. The series will kick off in May with a “study day,” offering young adults time to think through and understand the deeper meanings within the documents of Vatican II.
In addition to our Year of Faith series, the council is planning service events for the young adults throughout our diocese. We will continue our annual Party with a Purpose benefiting underprivileged families in December, Our Lord’s Day of practical service in June and a young adult mission trip to Honduras later in 2013.
We will continue to reach out to young adults on Ash Wednesday with our annual Dusty Catholics campaign (www.dustycatholics. com). We also are working with Bishop Kevin J. Farrell through out this year to support his diocesan pilgrimage to World Youth Day in Brazil. Finally, don’t miss our Spring Theology on Tap series as we enjoy a series of conversations around the Easter Season.
This year, the council will offer a new training process for parishes that wish to begin or re-launch a young adult ministry within their community. Our Parish Outreach & Networking team is working to identify all “Young Adult Friendly Points of Contact” who would be willing to welcome and engage young adults into the life of their parish. We are looking forward to this partnership.
As you can see, we have a busy year planned. Our all-volunteer Young Adult Council is excited and energized to work with the young adults in the Diocese of Dallas. For more information about everything we have going on, please visit our website at www. catholicyoungadultsofdallas.org.
Julie Billmeier is the Coordinator of Young Adult Ministry for the Diocese of Dallas and can be reached at jbillmeier@cathdal.org.
