INDIANAPOLIS — Nearly 300 youth, adult chaperones and six priests from the Diocese of Greensburg were among the 23,000 people who attended the National Catholic Youth Conference (NCYC) Nov. 17-18.

Three young people from parishes in the diocese agreed to serve as youth correspondents. They focused on different aspects of the weekend: the opening session; a prayer and general session with Mike Patin; and the closing liturgy. They share their thoughts here.

"You don’t have to feel like a waste of space; you’re original, cannot be replaced; if you only knew what the future holds; after a hurricane comes a rainbow."

These are some of the lyrics from Katy Perry’s hit song "Firework." It was playing when I first walked into Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

The opening session was the kickoff of NCYC. It introduced the emcee, ValLimar Jansen — a renowned singer, cantor, recording artist and inspirational speaker — and Bob McCarty, a keynote speaker and executive director of the National Federation of Catholic Youth Ministry.

McCarty spoke about what "Called to Glory," the theme of NCYC, means. He gave the definitions: "To recognize the glory in a person is to see pleasure and splendor" and "To glory is to rejoice proudly."

He said that each of the 23,000 of us "carry the beauty and splendor of God." I understood that young people everywhere, not only those who attended NCYC, are chosen to rejoice in the Lord and share the joy with everyone else.

Did I mention there were 23,000 young people at NCYC? They were dancing, singing and laughing. Their enthusiasm was contagious. When the announcer said, "Thirty minutes until NCYC 2011," it reminded me of the New York City countdown to the New Year. Truthfully, it was extremely lively, modern and uplifting.

Members of my youth group from St. Mary Parish, Kittanning, and I walked down on the floor of the stadium and traded the feather necklaces we had made — representing the Native Americans who once lived in our town — for pins, bracelets and other tokens with kids from all over the United States. I received a lanyard from Iowa, and a fellow youth group member got a pin from North Dakota. Our chaperones traded, too. I spoke with some of my youth group members and asked them what they thought of the event. They all agreed that this was something they had never experienced before.

"Words cannot describe this!" and "I’m so happy to be here!" were some of their responses.

I was happy to be there, too. I can’t think of anywhere else I would have rather been.

A quick question: How many of your friends have iPods? Now out of those people, how many of them know how to use them — besides the basic function of music? This was the topic of one of the general sessions at NCYC 2011.

First, I believe it is appropriate to paint an image of what we saw as a part of NCYC: Think of a stadium full of 23,000 teenagers, staff, chaperones, and volunteers. And combine that with a rock concert feel mixed with a resounding passion for God, our faith and what they mean to us. This went on for approximately four days straight and was an experience that I am sure no one will ever forget. Having gone twice, I can say that everyone wants to go back for the next conference in two years.

For his talk, Mike Patin, a well-known speaker in the church, chose the iPod as an analogy for people. Every human is put on the earth by God in order to do something. We all have a specific purpose that we are meant to fulfill. In this sense, we are much like the iPod. It is made to play music and do all sorts of things, from playing games to doing math homework and everything in between.

In Mike’s case, he preferred to use his iPod as a doorstop. He used this as the main analogy; the iPod was not used to its full potential — mainly because he was not willing to learn about it. This compares to our life. If we choose not to work to our full potential, then there is no point. We are made for something special, and in order to do that we must try our hardest in life. God’s calling is what really matters, and he has some divine meaning for everything, including our own existence. So while the talk was only 20 minutes long, I believe that it had a truly lasting impression on all of those who listened; it became one of the highlights for the entire conference.

The NCYC pilgrimage of Catholic youth was concluded with a Mass celebrated Saturday night in the Lucas Oil Stadium. It was a very lively experience to see nearly 23,000 people gathered around the altar to celebrate the gift of Eucharist.

During NCYC, every session began with a Catholic band. The band performing that night made it very clear that they were opening for a "very special guest" — Jesus himself. I was very excited to be with my friends from Mount Saint Peter Parish and other teens to celebrate our faith in a most holy way.

An incredibly long procession, including over 400 religious, began our celebration. Bishop Christopher J. Coyne, apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis and the Mass celebrant, spoke in his sermon about how we as Catholic teenagers can live out our "call to glory." His homily taught us that by living out the Gospel lesson, "what you have done for the least of my children, you have done for me. We can answer our call to glory."

As Bishop Coyne concluded the Mass that Saturday evening, he had us do something I never would have expected. We were all asked to take out our cell phones, go on Facebook and Twitter — as well as send text messages — and tell everyone, "give a call to glory!" By sending those messages, the gathering of 23,000 people touched millions of lives.

As Communion was distributed in the stadium, everyone could feel the excitement of 23,000 people gathering to receive Christ in the Eucharist. It was such a great feeling for us, knowing that even though this liturgy would conclude NCYC, we would continue to celebrate our relationship with God.

NCYC was meant to show people like me how to receive God’s "call to glory," and as we gathered on Nov. 19, we all felt an urge to answer God’s call. Now the Catholic youth of America will go out and care for others in response to what we learned at this Mass.