EAST CHICAGO – You won’t see any flames, but if you pass by St. Mary on a given Friday night, be assured a fire is burning among the young adults with their “hearts aflame” for Jesus Christ.
From age 18 to 39 and spanning the width of the Diocese of Gary as well as nearby Chicagoland, the Hearts Aflame Catholic Young Adults display a “fervor and passion” for their faith that brings them together every other Friday evening to share a discussion about scripture, prayer and fellowship.
Established just over a year ago, Hearts Aflame already has 84 members in its group chat, and while they don’t all attend meetings, they keep in touch. “My goal is to evangelize, and people from any parish are welcome,” said group coordinator Daisy Mora, a communications major at Ivy Tech Community College who put her skills to good use by sending out flyers to other local parishes and using her social media expertise to keep members well-informed.
“We hosted one of Young Adult Summer Speaker Series talks this summer and about 70 attended, and shared tonight’s meeting details with Vicky Hathaway, Diocese of Gary youth and young adults coordinator, and she shared it with her email list,” added Mora. “We had a lot of first-timers here tonight, which I think came from that publicity.”
The group meets biweekly on Fridays at 7 p.m. (next date July 31), usually at the chapel building at St. Mary, but sometimes switches it up. “We’ve met at a park, the beach and at Purdue University Northwest in Hammond,” said Mora. “The format varies, too; we may start with an icebreaker game, adoration or the Rosary, but we always have small group discussions and end with a prayer circle.”
The July 17 meeting began in the adoration chapel, where the young people recited the Rosary, listened to singer/guitarist Nelson Garay, a St. Mary parishioner, perform three hymns in Spanish and reflected silently on one of three Bible passages from the Book of Matthew. Reconvening in a downstairs meeting room, the attendees split into three discussion groups depending on the passage they studied to share their reflections.
Commenting on the passage “The Praise for the Father,” Javier Carrillo, of Nativity of Our Savior in Portage, spoke about returning to the Catholic Church after years away, admitting that he “said to God, use me for what you want; I can’t live without you anymore.”
Garay said he experienced a kind of freedom when he went to college, but soon found himself “doing things I was not proud of, and starting to experience anger issues.” He said he found his way back to God after attending a retreat where he “prayed and prayed and prayed.”
In another group, which reflected on a passage that began with, “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest,” (Mt. 11:28-30), Julian Cerda suggested that people “spend the day struggling about things that don’t matter. God is the most important thing in our lives, and we should be focused more on Christ than our own burden. Our burdens are nothing compared to Jesus’ burden.” He also commented that people in Mexico who have little in the way of material goods seem happier and more aligned with God than people in the U.S. who worry about worldly things.
Discussing “The Explanation of the Parable of the Sower” (Mt. 13:18-23), a third group talked about more evangelizing being needed in the Church. “We need to spread the Gospel more and learn how to better understand scripture,” said Jesus Melgoza. “We should build a better understanding of philosophy; that’s the way to spirituality.”
Karina Alvarez, a parishioner at St. Michael the Archangel in Schererville and a nursing student at Purdue Northwest, has been attending Hearts Aflame sessions with her sister for about a year. To her, the group represents “a community, and having comfort and other people who see life as you do. I see that I’m not the only one struggling with some things; sometimes someone else will say, ‘I’m going through something, too,’ and you feel better. This is a safe space to be vulnerable.”
Attending his first Hearts Aflame meeting at the invitation of his brother, Luke Reid, of St. Mary in Griffith, said he came “to learn a different point of view, meet new people in a group setting and share prayers,” and he was glad no one took out their phones during the meeting.
“Our discussion passage was about Jesus carrying the cross and falling three times. It was wearing him down, but looking ahead to her Resurrection, he felt like there was a light at the end of the tunnel. Because he was going to rise up (after the crucifixion), he became the light of the world,” said Reid. “We carry our burdens, but have our sins forgiven through confession. No matter where you come from, this group can be helpful, and I hope to come back.”
Roberto Martinez, at age 32 a bit older than most Hearts Aflame members, said he joined after hearing an announcement at Mass at St. Mary, his parish. “Talking about Jesus out in the world – there’s very little opportunity to do that,” he said, “and recognizing that you are not alone in your faith is important.”
Surprised that group numbers come from so many parishes, Martinez welcomes everyone. “I can promise you that if you come, you will get something out of it. God is there for you,” he said.
Father Julio Bedoya, A.I.C., pastor, stopped by the meeting to greet the young adults and invite them to Festival Kermes on Saturday, Aug. 15, on the St. Mary campus. Admission is free and there will be food, music, games and dancing from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mora said she is hoping Hearts Aflame will start to volunteer at events like the festival, getting more involved in the parish.
To learn more about Hearts Aflame or join the group chat, contact Daisy Mora at daisy.more16@gmail.com or Albert Cornejo, St. Mary young adult director, at 398-2409.
Caption: Roberto Martinez (left) of St. Mary in East Chicago offers comments on a scripture passage from the Book of Matthew, “I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike,” during a small group discussion with Javier Carrillo, of Nativity of Our Savior in Portage, and others at the July 17 meeting of the Hearts Aflame Yong Adults group at St. Mary. Just over a year old, Hearts Aflame boasts 84 members from age 18 to 39 in its group chat. (Marlene A. Zloza photo)
