“All of us are trying to see what it means to really be happy,” Chris Padgett said during his DYC keynote address. “It’s simple: everything you are looking for you can find in the person of Jesus Christ. He wants to come with you.”

During a keynote speech prerecorded in his book-strewn office, Padgett admitted much of his young years had been spent trying to imitate his peers. As he entered high school, he found his own identity and realized these differences were his unique strengths. His search for happiness echoed the day’s Reading from the Gospel of Mark.

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“The Scripture we hear today is about searching,” the speaker said. “Jesus knows we have a need; we are seeking for meaning and satisfaction. God wants to satisfy you, needs you and blesses you.

“God has given you different gifts and talents for a reason,” Padgett continued, revealing he is a married father of nine children, each unique in their own, wonderful way. “Jesus comes to all of us wherever we are. God has never abandoned you. He is there in the storm and is waiting for us to lean on him.”

Bring your troubles to the Lord, he urged the teen audience. “Jesus is searching for you because he wants to heal you.”

“That’s what the Cross is all about, to free us from our sins so we could be born again,” he said. “We are all wanting to belong. Jesus is telling us, ‘I am coming to bless you, love you, fill you. Will you let me?’”

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Jesus gives himself to those who partake in the Eucharist, Padgett reminded the audience, to nourish, bless and love them.

“A miracle takes place. At the end of the day, you and I are a miracle because you are unique,” he declared. “Unrepeatable, powerful, a miracle. Bring him all your aches, all you lack, to that Mass. God is real and he is aching with you. I can show you that your broken heart fits perfectly in the Sacred Heart of Jesus.”

Padgett recommended the youth use the isolation of the pandemic to their advantage.

“Spend a little more time inviting him to you, let him in a little more,” he urged. “It’s a game-changer. We are fearfully and wonderfully made. When God thinks of you, it makes him happy.”