Progress, the Catholic Ministry Appeal invites you to continue supporting the Youth and Young Adult Ministry in the Diocese of El Paso. The Progress Annual Appeal, above all else, is based on the concept of Christian Stewardship. Stewardship is centered on the daily recognition that we are not the absolute owners of ourselves, our time, our talents or material goods. Rather, we have received every gift of nature and grace from God.
Fr. Fabian Marquez, Pastor of El Buen Pastor and the Bishop’s Liaison to Youth and Young Adult Ministry in the Diocese of El Paso, leads with energy and commitment and considers empowering young people to live as dynamic disciples of Jesus Christ one of the greatest goals of the youth and young adult ministry, one of 15 ministries supported by Progress. He has led numerous trips to World Youth Day, including Panama in 2019, where he interviewed his former professor at Mundelein Seminary, Bishop Robert Barron, several Church greats, and the President of Portugal. Portugal will host World Youth Day in 2022. Watch Fr. Fabian’s interviews here!
The mission of the Youth and Young Adult Ministry is to recruit, train, and form faithful Christians, as well as support El Paso’s Catholic youth and young adults in order to help them find their purpose, affirm their gifts and talents to foster opportunities, and help them develop into adulthood. For young men and women ages 18-40, the ministry provides the support and resources needed for ongoing spiritual growth and greater participation in the work of the Church, personal identity, relationships, the meaning of work, and spiritual life.
One activity coordinated by the Youth and Young Adult Ministry is the Taizé Prayer Service, which helps to develop a strong devotion to peace and justice through prayer and meditation. Taizé involves the singing of distinctive and repeated prayer chants during a candlelit prayer service. Pope Francis says this about the quieting and mystical experience of Taizé prayer, “It is precisely the young who today implore us to make progress towards full communion. I think for example of the many Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant youth who come together at meetings organized by the Taizé community. They do not do this because they are not aware of the differences which still separate us, but because they are able to see beyond them; they are able to embrace what is really important and what already unites us.” Fr. Fabian hopes the many ministry activities and World Youth Day trips will help remind our young people that we are united by faith, our commonalities, and our humanity.
To learn more about the Youth & Young Adult Ministry, to participate, and to support a World Youth Day trip, contact Fr. Fabian Marquez at 915-872-8438 or fameelpaso@yahoo.com. Give to Progress to provide continual support to the Youth and Young Adult Ministry in the Diocese of El Paso. ** **