The first Claretian Youth Encounter USA-Canada brought young people from six cities to Chicago—and sent them home as faith leaders. Building on the theme, “Prophets of Justice” more than 60 young adults explored what a prophet looks like today, what it costs, and how a young person in a parish in New Jersey or Quebec might become one.
From July 24 to 26, they gathered at Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Chicago. Convoked by Fr. Reegan Soosai, CMF, Prefect of Apostolate, first Claretian Youth Encounter USA-Canada was co-led and coordinated by the young adults of Chicago, accompanied by Fr. Byron Macias CMF.
The young people came from Perth Amboy and Jersey City in New Jersey, Los Angeles, Chicago, and from Montreal and Sherbrooke, Canada. Others joined virtually from the St. Paul Newman Center in Fresno, California.
“In a world with so much separation, polarization and division, coming together from different countries is a sign of unity.”
For a group drawn from two countries and six cities, the gathering carried a meaning beyond the weekend itself. “In a world with so much separation, polarization and division,” Fr. Reegan shared, “coming together from different parts of our countries is a sign of unity.”
The weekend was built around prayer. The guest speaker was Leah Perrault, with a Claretian Family panel consisting of: Sr. Maria Socorro Lozoya, MCM (Texas), Mr. Borja Luján, Seglar Claretiano (Spain), Sr. Arul Arasi, RMI (Florida), and Fr. Agustin Carrillo, CMF (Illinois).
Friday night was adoration. Saturday morning brought a rosary for migrants, prayed alongside a Colombian woman who shared what it had cost her to leave home. And on Sunday, before Mass, the group read the account of Jesus washing his disciples’ feet—and then did it. Each young person knelt to wash the feet of another. “That was very humbling,” Fr. Reegan said.
He knelt before a young man named Michael whom he had known since Rome. “I’ve watched him become a leader in his own community,” he said. “That moment was very powerful. It gives me hope and joy to see young people growing their leadership skills.”
Five parish groups from our Lady of Guadalupe, among them the migrant ministry and the lectors, each took responsibility for one meal. Close to 40 parishioners cooked, most of it at home and carried in: comida casera, guisados, more than anyone could finish. Fr. Byron’s CMF, own parents pitched in.
“They prepared it at home and they served it with a lot of love, and it was abundant,” Fr. Reegan noted. Counted all together, roughly 100 people had a hand in the weekend.
At the closing Mass, the group handed on a missionary cross, in the same way the World Youth Day passes it from one country to the next. In 2029, the cross travels to Fresno.
This first edition was kept small on purpose. Invitations went only to Claretian parishes, and organizers set out to host 50. “It’s better to have fewer people and do it well and then learn from that experience and take it to the next level,” Fr. Reegan observed.
The next level, he hopes, is an open door: an encounter in 2029 that welcomes any young person who wants to come.
