By Michael Gresham
The Texas Catholic

As Auxiliary Bishop Greg Kelly looked over a crowd of hundreds of middle school youth Oct. 19 at John Paul II High School in Plano, he had a simple question for them: Did they see themselves going to Mass every Sunday for the rest of their lives?

He was greeted with a resounding, “Yes!”

It was that kind of spirit that encapsulated the 2024 Holy Fire Dallas, a one-day conference for middle school youth designed to help the young Church engage with its faith. The event is an initiative prompted by Bishop Edward J. Burns’ desire to accompany middle school youth to embrace their faith.

“That’s why we are doing this. It’s to see those immediate transformations start to take place,” said Joshua Salinas, director of the Diocese of Dallas Office of Youth, Young Adult, and Campus Ministries, which co-hosted the event along with the Office of Evangelization, Catechesis, and Family Life. “It was truly amazing to see our youth energized and active.”

According to Salinas, middle school youth from 24 parishes across the diocese attended Holy Fire, which was sponsored by the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry in partnership with EQ Saints. During the event, youth from the ages of 12 to 15 spent the day in fellowship, singing, dancing, praying, and participating in discussions with peers as well as hearing from speakers who urged them to turn their lives over to Christ.

Salinas said the purpose of Holy Fire Dallas is to allow those middle school youth an opportunity to engage in their faith in a new way. He likened the initiative to the Dallas Catholic Youth Conference, an annual weekend conference for high school students.

“Much like DCYC, this allows the middle school youth to encounter Christ and dive deeper into their faith through prayer, discussion, and fellowship,” he said.

Salinas said the initiative aims to address what he believes is an underserved demographic in diocesan youth ministry—middle schoolers. He added that communicating the faith with that age group is critical, as studies show a lot of adolescents between the ages of 11 and 13 will decide whether they want to remain Catholic or not.

“It’s one of the most pivotal points of adolescent formation. As a diocese, we recognized that need and wanted to address it,” Salinas said, noting in its second year as a diocesan effort that Holy Fire organizers saw attendance of youth and chaperones swell from 350 participants in 2023 to 860 in 2024. “To see that kind of growth tells us that our youth are hungry for the faith.”

Powerful moments

Lindee Greer, who serves as the director of youth and young adult ministry at Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Duncanville, accompanied 108 middle school students — the second largest parish contingent — to Holy Fire. She said she hoped the youth who attended would witness a “family of Catholic peers” and be encouraged in their faith.

“And that they would experience a closer encounter with Jesus and know His great love for them,” Greer said. “I was pleasantly surprised by how many of our students took the opportunity to go to confession and their positive feedback from that experience.”

Greer, who also serves as the parish’s faith formation and confirmation coordinator, said many of the students who attended are in the process of preparing to receive the sacrament of confirmation this year. She hoped their experience at Holy Fire would fuel their faith journey moving forward.

“My hope is that through this positive experience, they understand that faith formation is a lifelong endeavor,” she said, “and they will be inspired to continue with youth ministry, even moving into peer leadership, as they move into high school.”

A volunteer who helps coordinate faith formation classes at St. Elizabeth Catholic Church in Bonham, Jill O’Bryan, accompanied a pair of middle school youth from her parish to Holy Fire.

“We hope to share with our faith formation classmates about how wonderful the conference was and hope to convince a larger group to join us next time,” O’Bryan said, adding that the young St. Elizabeth parishioners found inspiration in the images of God’s love shared in testimonies by speakers Maggie Craig and Oscar Rivera. “Eucharistic adoration also was powerful as neither had ever spent much time in front of Jesus in adoration before.”

O’Bryan called Holy Fire an opportunity for the youth to grow closer to Christ.

“I pray that each start to develop an intimate and personal relationship with our God,” she said, adding that she hoped the youth left the event understanding “that they have been chosen by God as a beloved child who has many wonderful gifts to share with our Catholic community, not only in the future, but now.”

Evelyn Mora of St. Cecilia Catholic Church in Oak Cliff said she believes events such as Holy Fire can help bolster youth ministries at the parish level.

“Our parish currently has a youth ministry, ‘G-Force,’ and we are working diligently to make sure our youth stay connected to the faith,” said Mora, who serves as the parish’s director of religious education, OCIA (Order of Christian Initiation of Adults), and youth ministry. “By having the experience of attending more events such as Holy Fire, it helps us to incorporate more fun and new ideas to keep our youth engaged.”

Mora traveled to Holy Fire with 90 middle school youth from her parish. She said she felt the combination of testimonials and music weaved together an impactful experience for the youth.

“I feel like music is an important outlet for our youth and to see someone who is hype and fits the role of evangelization through his talents, such as Joe Melendrez, that is a sight to see. When this musician, in particular, got on stage and performed, all the youth were engaged.”

Mora added that she hopes her parish youth who attended look back upon the Holy Fire event and understand how it can help fuel their faith.

“I hope that each student was impacted spiritually during adoration,” she said, “and that they know they can always come to Christ whether they are with friends or by themselves.”

Lizzie Beauchamp, director of the middle school youth ministry at Our Lady of Angels Catholic Church in Plano, accompanied 20 youth to the event. She said she believes the talks and activities “empowered the children to see that they are the Church of today” and that they have a voice and purpose.

Like others, Beauchamp also felt offering the youth an opportunity for adoration was a “powerful” experience.

“All of our kids went up to place the light at the feet of Jesus,” she said. “I could tell that the love of Jesus fell upon them, and they encountered Him in a new way.”

Beauchamp saw Holy Fire Dallas as an inspiring opportunity for the youth and hoped it would fuel even more efforts to reach them.

“I just hope that this opens the door for more opportunities to arise in middle school ministry,” Beauchamp said. “There is such a need for middle schoolers to receive dynamic evangelization. I think in my own ministry, this opened the door to introduce new ways of prayer and worship for the children.”

Cutline for featured image: Middle school youth dance on stage with musician Joe Melendrez during Holy Fire Dallas on Oct. 19 at John Paul II High School in Plano. Holy Fire Dallas, a one-day conference designed to help youth from the ages of 12 to 15 engage with their faith, was co-hosted by the Diocese of Dallas Office of Youth, Young Adult, and Campus Ministries and the Office of Evangelization, Catechesis, and Family Life. (ESTABAN GONZALEZ/Special Contributor)