‘Holy Spirit University’ is theme of Archdiocesan Youth Rally

By John Shaughnessy

With a crazed look in his eyes, Brad Farmer keeps juggling the balls faster and faster, leaving the audience of young people rolling with laughter.

Yet just when Farmer has the crowd grinning at the outrageous skits and the “death-defying juggling” he performs with his friend, Gene Monterastelli, he subtly shifts his focus.

Farmer shares a poignant story about his younger sister who was born with cerebral palsy. He tells the youths how his sister touched him by the way she lived her life despite the disorder that affected her muscles and her movements.

He then recalls how he prayed the rosary for her at the time of her death.

“Brittany died two days before her 11th birthday,” Farmer recalled. “I was a senior in high school at the time, in 1992. [She showed me] the deeper reality we need to find in everyone we encounter. No matter who you are, what struggles you face, what circumstances you find yourself in, you are a unique, unrepeatable reality and a loved child of God.”

From laughs to tears, from comedy to faith, Farmer and Monterastelli take their audience on a journey of the spirit—a journey they will share when they perform at the Archdiocesan Youth Rally on March 5 at Cathedral High School in Indianapolis.

“They’re very, very entertaining,” said Father Jonathan Meyer, the archdiocese’s director of youth and young adult ministry. “We’ve seen them in quite a few different locations, and we just decided that it would be a great way to celebrate and rejoice in our Catholic faith.”

The rally will begin on March 4 with a dance and talent show at Father Thomas Scecina Memorial High School in Indianapolis.

The theme of this year’s rally is “Holy Spirit University,’ a tribute to the Holy Spirit’s power to strengthen the faith of young people, said Father Meyer, who is also the associate pastor of Our Lady of the Greenwood Parish in Greenwood.

“The break-out sessions’ topics this year are new, bold and a little controversial, yet they are very relevant,” Father Meyer said.

He noted that the Archdiocesan Youth Council selected the topics, which include discussions of human sexuality, death and dying, the impact of divorce and women’s role in the Church.

Farmer and Monterastelli take a lighter approach to matters of faith. Still, their goal is the same concerning APeX Youth Ministries, a national touring program they started 10 years ago to make a difference in the lives of young people.

“We hope to challenge them to consider their life in light of spiritual realities, and re-examine the way they consider themselves and other people,” Farmer said. “We also plan to laugh a lot.”

The name “APeX” comes from a juggling term, but it also applies to a larger connection with Jesus Christ, according to the group’s Web site.

“When learning the basics of juggling, there is a particular area that you should direct your focus, that being the ‘apex’ of each throw,” the Web site notes. “If you only watch one of the objects, you miss the other two, and if you watch your hands, you miss everything that’s happening with each throw. When you watch the apex of each throw, you are more able to keep the whole pattern in focus and in more control.

“In our lives, we juggle all sorts of different things: school, sports, work, family, spirituality. If you only focus on one of these, the others will fall to the ground. If you only focus on yourself, you miss the real pattern and it all falls apart. You must focus on the apex. We believe in our lives that ‘apex’ is the life of Jesus Christ. Keep your eyes on him and everything else becomes more manageable and in the appropriate balance.”

While Farmer and Monterastelli try to touch the lives of youths, it’s also clear their efforts have deepened their own faith.

“We are around young people who love their faith, and adults who love young people,” Farmer said. “It is very inspiring. I think anyone who continually strives to grow deeper in relationship to God will begin to see those sorts of things all around them. But in the sort of work we do weekly, it’s very plain and in your face, as well as in the details.”

(Registration for the Archdiocesan Youth Rally on March 4-5 continues until the days of the rally. The cost is $30 a person through Feb. 23. After that date, the cost is $40 a person. For more information, call the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry at 317-236-1477 or 800-382-9836, ext. 1477.) †