By Dorothy K. LaMantia, Correspondent, and Jennifer Mauro, Managing Editor
“I don’t think I could’ve been more nervous,” Anthony Gaudino, a 10th-grader from St. Anthony of Padua Parish, Red Bank, said with a smile after playing a self-composed piece on the piano. “When you share music … you’re saying a prayer to God, and it can be very, very powerful.”
The comfortable, early fall weather made it a perfect day for those of all generations who came from across the Diocese and beyond to mingle and converse as they waited in barbecue lines or watched their children shoot hoops or show off their best forward pass at the football bounce house.
Inside the parish center, youth members and their families – including parents, grandparents and siblings – ate pizza, burgers and pulled pork sandwiches, chatted, and waited for the entertainment, which featured young artists from around the Diocese.
The hour-long show featured vocalists Maggie Mitchelli, St. Pius X Parish, Forked River; Nicole Barilla, St. Robert Bellarmine Co-Cathedral, Freehold; Hudson Furnari, St. James, Pennington; Faith Scott, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Whiting; Olivia Marino, St. Joseph Parish, Toms River; an ensemble from St. Rose High School, Belmar, and Chad Nelson, St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral, Trenton.
Also performing were musicians Melaika Gomez, St. Mary of the Lakes, Medford; Kenechukwu Echezona, St. Veronica Parish, Howell; vocalist Victoria Benesch and guitarists Josh Heckler and Jake Maroukis, St. Joseph Parish, Toms River.
In between the acts, the drawings of two students were showcased.
Meredith Waropay of St. Mary of the Lakes displayed a drawing of a lion in the wild in Zentangle, an art form using repetitive forms in drawing. Eugenia Craggan, St. Thomas More Church, Manalapan, submitted two drawings, an oil pastel of the house featured in the Pixar film “Up” and a chalk pastel portrait of a girl looking into a mirror.
“It is fantastic,” teenager Devon Geisler of Holy Eucharist Parish, Tabernacle, said of the day. “I spent most of my time at the talent show listening to pianists and singers. They’re my age and have such skills. … I can’t wait to see where today will lead me and to see where the future will take me in terms of faith life.”
One of those singers, Mitchelli, a student of the Performing Arts Academy, Lakehurst, performed “Reckless Love” by Christian songwriter Cory Asbury. Part of the lyrics read, “Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God … Oh, it chases me down, fights ‘til I’m found.”
Mitchelli said she felt the song was a good choice to perform for the Year of Youth. “I feel like God gave us these gifts – they are not ours to keep. He wouldn’t have given us these talents if he didn’t want us to share them with everyone around us.”
Marino, who sang, “This Is Me” from the movie “The Greatest Showman,” called being a young person today “tough,” and recalled the song’s lyrics, “I am brave, I am bruised … I am who I’m meant to be, this is me.”
“It has such a strong message – to accept yourself and ignore all the haters who say you have to be like everybody else,” Marino said, calling on everyone to embrace their individuality. “I think that’s a good message for the Year of Youth.”
Dan Waddington, diocesan Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministries, event sponsor, said he was moved by all the people from different parishes that came together for the kids. We are not just a Diocese here. We are the universal Church and all connected.”
Dr. Linda Dix, director of Religious Education at Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish, Moorestown, brought a bus full of youth to the day’s festivities.
“It was a beautiful day. The kids didn’t want to leave,” she said. “They had a place and could be part of the Mass, which encompassed and embraced them. One child said, ‘Wow, there are so many teenagers in the Diocese of Trenton.’ They got to see a bigger Church than themselves.”
Meagan Ngetich of St. Pius X said she enjoys being part of the parish’s youth ministry because of the lessons she learns about life and morals – which is why she enjoyed the Year of Youth day as well. “It is really lovely to collaborate into one group.”
“The Year of Youth is really about us and what we can do,” Mitchelli said as she waited in line with fellow St. Pius X youth ministry members for a twirl of cotton candy. “It’s about everybody getting together and thinking about what they can do for the Church.