Story and Photos by Peter Willott
More than 200 teenagers from across the Diocese of St. Augustine gathered at the rustic altar of the National Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche at Mission Nombre de Dios on April 26 for the Jubilee of Hope for Teenagers, an evening of worship, community and encounter with Christ.
The event began with an outdoor Mass celebrated by Father Mac Hill, parochial vicar at the Cathedral Basilica. He welcomed participants to the site of the first Mass celebrated in 1565 inwhat is now the continental United States.
Standing at the Shrine’s rustic altar, Father Hill offered a deeply personal homily on one essential theme: God’s mercy. He reminded the faithful of the sacred history underfoot, where martyrs—including two young altar servers—once gave their lives to protect the Eucharist.
“You can imagine landing the ships and coming on land here—it’s really the first Thanksgiving. That’s what Eucharist means: to give thanks,” he said.
Father Hill urged the teens to tune out distractions—the sound of cannons, peacocks or passing Tiki boats—and focus on the Lord. “The incarnation is God coming to dwell with us in the midst of everything. It’s part of His mercy.”
At the core of his homily was the message that mercy binds every part of the Christian life. “Mercy is when love meets need,” he said, whether through feeding the hungry or forgiving others.
Drawing from the Gospel of Doubting Thomas, Father Hill emphasized how Jesus greeted his disciples with peace and showed his wounds. “Peace, wounds, peace, it’s the sandwich of mercy,” he said. “Where does God prove his mercy more than anywhere else? In his wounds.”
He stressed that each person must encounter God’s mercy personally. “Your faith becomes your own only in the encounter with the mercy of God. There’s no other way around it,” Father Hill said.
Confession, he said, offers one of the most profound experiences of mercy. “It’s so joyful as a priest to see the transformation happen when someone experiences the mercy of God,” he said.
He encouraged the teens to live mercy by serving others, reminding them that helping those in need is also a remedy for personal anxieties. Christians, he said, should become “living billboards” for God’s mercy.
“Acknowledge yourself as a redeemed sinner,” he said. “In case anyone missed it, let your life proclaim: God is merciful, God is loving and God wants you to be fully alive.”
Following Mass, the youth processed with the Blessed Sacrament led by Father Hill along a path lined with displays of Eucharistic miracles, honoring Blessed Carlo Acutis, who is set to be canonized later this year.
Born in 1991, Carlo Acutis was an Italian teenager known for his devotion to the Eucharist and his passion for technology. He created a website cataloging Eucharistic miracles around the world, believing “the Eucharist is the highway to heaven.” He died of leukemia in 2006 at age 15 and was beatified in 2020.
The procession culminated beneath the 208-foot Great Cross, one of St. Augustine’s most iconic landmarks.
The evening continued with XLT (Exalt), a time of Eucharistic adoration, praise and worship, and a keynote talk from Catholic speaker Maggie Craig. Standing beneath the towering cross, Craig encouraged teens to recognize the Eucharist as the “source and summit” of Catholic life.
“Our Catholic faith is rich and challenging, but when we reach the summit—Jesus Christ in the Eucharist—it is so worth it,” Craig said. “The Eucharist isn’t just a symbol. It is Jesus: body, blood, soul and divinity.”
Blending humor, theology and personal stories, Craig recalled hiking Avalanche Peak in New Zealand—a nine-hour climb full of danger, exhaustion and beauty—to illustrate the endurance needed to seek Christ. Despite the struggle, the summit’s beauty brought her to tears.
She compared the climb to the journey of faith. “It’s heavy, confusing and exhausting at times,” Craig said, “but reaching the summit—Christ—is always worth it.”
Robin Shipley, diocesan director of Youth and Young Adult Ministry and an event organizer, said the celebration mirrored the Jubilee of Hope for teenagers held in Rome.
“We started with Mass, then had the Eucharistic procession and adoration, with Maggie sharing a powerful message of hope,” Shipley said. “It was beautiful to see so many teenagers fully engaged in prayer and worship.”
Participants echoed that sentiment.
“It was such a blessing,” said Henry Baranek, 15, a parishioner at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Atlantic Beach. “We rolled up and immediately got to receive the Eucharist, then seamlessly moved into adoration. The speaker was funny, engaging and on fire for the faith. The worship music was also incredibly powerful.”
Madeline Tracy Russell, 13, who attends Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Church in St. Augustine, said the event deepened her faith. “It was very eye-opening getting to see the cross and adore the Eucharist,” she said.
Parents also praised the event’s spiritual impact.
“I thought this was a wonderful event for the teens of our diocese,” said Laura Russell, Madeline’s mother. “Being able to adore Jesus with our minds, hearts and voices was a beautiful opportunity.”
As the sun set, musician Matthew Crews and his band led worship, and the night closed with Benediction, sending the teens forth renewed and challenged to be “walking billboards of God’s mercy” in their homes, schools and communities.
As Father Hill reminded participants, “The mission of the Church is simple: to receive the mercy of God and extend it to the world.”
