We made it home, safe and sound, after an 18 hour bus trip from Kansas City to Buffalo (stopping at Westfield, NY to drop off our Southern Tier pilgrims).  So "NCYC - the event" is officially over.  Hopefully, "NCYC - the faith experience" is still ongoing for those who attended.  Coming "down from the mountaintop" is always difficult after experiences like these.  Words so often fail us when people ask "How was it?"  How do you describe the sights and sounds of the weekend?  How do you explain what it meant, and what has transformed in your heart and soul?

Lots of people wouldn't believe what I've seen over the past 36 hours.  Thousands of teenagers today praying a simple Latin chant - and really liking it.  Teens learning about injustice in the world and seriously discerning the question of what they are going to do about it.  Young people who are excited to learn about the Blessed Mother, the afterlife, and chastity.  A crowd of 18,000 people reverently join in Eucharistic Adoration and then process calmly in a crowd through city streets.  But if seeing is believing, then I have no choice but to believe in the faith and power of the young Catholic church. 

NCYC has begun, and the young Catholic Church of the United States is alive and well and taking over Kansas City! 

The Buffalo group was in the Sprint Center tonight . . . and there are no words to adequately describe the power and energy and faith that was palpable in that arena.  From hearing them singing at the top of their lungs while clapping or doing hand motions, to accompanying them in prayerful silence asking Christ to reign in our hearts - I was privileged tonight to witness the tremendous power and faith of these 21,000 signs of hope for the Catholic Church. 

I say "N.C." . . . you say "Y.C." . . . NC - YC . . . NC - YC.  That's a refrain that I expect to hear often over the next five days while I'm at the National Catholic Youth Conference (NCYC) in Kansas City, MO.  Held every two years, the NCYC gathers thousands of high school teenagers for a weekend celebration to learn, pray and celebrate their faith together.  This year's event will gather over 22,000 youth and adult chaperones to celebrate the theme, "Christ Reigns."  I am sure it will be an amazing, exhausting, exhilarating and inspiring experience of the young, faithful Catholic Church!  And the Diocese of Buffalo will be there!