“Offer praise as your sacrifice to God; fulfill your vows to the Most High. Then call on me on the day of distress; I will rescue you, and you shall honor me.” – Psalm 50:14-15
SCHERERVILLE – A new component was added to the Diocese of Gary’s annual training and renewal conference for liturgical ministers this year as the Offices of Worship and Intercultural Ministry hosted a Pre-conference Evening of Praise and Adoration on Nov. 5, the eve of Conference ’26, at St. Michael the Archangel.
“This evening came about because we continue to be geared toward helping people who are liturgical ministers (reach out) to others,” said Father Martin Dobrzynski, diocesan director of the Office of Worship and pastor at St. Michael the Archangel. “They need to evangelize for other liturgical ministers, and sometimes they don’t think about that. We need to encourage young people, so this came about as a kind of prelude to Conference ’26.”
With the theme of Conference ’26 being, “From One Generation to the Next: Faithful to the Call,” the pre-conference was open to all, but focused on offering young adults an evening of Eucharistic Adoration and Praise, including a reflection by Father Ivan Alatorre, the young associate pastor at St. John Bosco in Hammond and co-chaplain at Bishop Noll Institute.
“Father Dobrzynski asked me to speak tonight, and with it being the 40th anniversary of the annual conference, I wanted to tie my reflection to worship, and that led me to talk about praise, which is part of worship. They go together,” explained Father Alatorre, who led the Spanish-language training track for new Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion at the weekend Conference ‘26.
In his reflection, Father Alatorre told the adorers, “We are children of God, testifying to the Son of God, the One God.” He pointed out that in Psalm 50, “the Lord invites us to call to Him in times of stress, (and says) ‘I will rescue you, and you shall honor me.’
“When we praise the Lord, praise sets our hearts right,” he added. “When we praise Him, we open our hearts to God, and guidance from the Holy Spirit leads us. We are waiting for what God wants to give us; we are called to be in love with God, and to do it in a way to give our hearts to God. He just wants you to be here with Him.”
Periods of silent prayer were interspersed with music provided by diocesan musicians and vocalists, who offered contemporary hymns of praise that could also be considered prayers.
“We hope this music speaks to your heart and renews your ministry,” said Tina O’Drobinak, who organized the musical program. “We have nothing left to give to the Lord; he has given us everything.”
Alex Juszczak, of Lowell, a parishioner at Holy Name of Jesus in Cedar Lake who is also a member of the Young Adult Ministry at St. Michael, said the evening of adoration gave him “a chance to relax and center myself after a busy couple of weeks. I thought about different things in the presence of the monstrance, and now I feel at peace.”
Ann Marie Hemmerling, a St. Michael parishioner and Schererville resident who leads the Young Adult Ministry group, said that to her, adoration means “getting to rest with Jesus, and doing my best to be present with Him instead of worrying about other things. I feel peace and comfort afterward, and I am strengthened to tackle what comes next.”
She said new young adults 18 to 35 are always welcome to join the St. Michael the Archangel YA Group, which meets biweekly on Thursday evenings for a variety of activities including Bible study, guest speakers and to pray the Rosary. “We also have Board Game Nights and volunteer at parish events,” Hemmerling added of the 15 active members. Call the parish office at 322-4505 for more information on YA meetings.
Caption: Father Ivan Alatorre elevates the monstrance containing the Holy Eucharist during "Be Still He Is Here," a Young Adult Eucharistic Adoration and Praise evening on Nov. 5 at St. Michael in Schererville. The program was a prelude to the weekend Conference '26 for ministry participants in the Diocese of Gary. (Marlene A. Zloza photo)
