Keynote Speakers
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Paul Masek is coordinator of the REAP Team, a Catholic youth retreat ministry of the Archdiocese of St. Louis. He has been involved in youth ministry for more than 20 years, and in that time has worked with tens of thousands of teenagers, mostly on retreats. Paul recently published a book, Stirring it Up, which includes tips for keeping your faith alive, letters from teens, and an audio CD. He is married to his lovely bride Lisa and they have four children – Jacob, Audrey, Kyle, and Dominic. For fun, Paul likes to hunt, fish, camp, watch movies, eat, sleep, nap, and wear fun t-shirts. His two favorite sports are wiffleball and extreme hackey-sack. He is destined to win the next Jon Lovitz lookalike contest, and thinks he is the funniest person he knows — though his wife says he just doesn’t know enough people. Paul will be speaking on Saturday, March 29.
Heather Gallagher Vento serves the Archdiocese of St. Louis as the Chastity Educator and youth retreat minister of The REAP Team. She has been with The REAP Team for more than 14 years and co-authored a book, A Case for Chastity: The Way to Real Love and True Freedom for Catholic Teens. Her second book, the Teacher’s Guide for A Case for Chastity, should be out in fall of 2008. Heather has helped to present more than 1,000 retreats, working with more than 90,000 young people. In her free time, she continues to talk, especially about sex and relationships, watches football and basketball, is obsessed with Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, professionally plays knock-out and spoons, and loves being with her husband, Michael. (They are newlyweds!) Heather will be one of the speakers on Saturday, March 29. 
Officer Jon Brough receives a kiss from his wife, Wendy. Officer Brough will be the keynote speaker on Sunday, March 30. (Photo courtesy of The Messenger) January 2008
Dear Fellow Youth of the Diocese of Belleville, I hope that all of you are having a wonderful year filled with happiness and joy so far! I don’t know about any of you, but as the Holiday Season winds down and Thanksgiving and Christmas are over, I begin to fix my eyes on the treasure ahead — that treasure being the annual Diocesan Youth Conference (DYC) that takes place this year on March 29-30 in Collinsville, IL. I am excited as ever for this Conference! We have great keynoters this year, Paul Masek and Heather Gallagher! I have worked personally with both of them on the REAP team, and can guarantee that they will give us one heck of a Conference this year, in addition to other wonderful presenters. As I think about the more than 700 people who attended last year, the Pick-a Prize raffle, the “Spare Change” for Lester, the banner competition, the annual dance and karaoke, the keynoters, a conference room packed with hundreds of youth excited about their faith, and all the other activities that take place, I cannot help but feel excitement rush all over my body. So I issue a challenge to the youth of our Diocese: We hit more than 700 people last year; can we have 800 attend this year? Think about the possibility of having more than 800 fellow youth from all around our Diocese gathered together for one weekend in Collinsville. Think of how inspiring that would be to show the Church that the youth of the Church are alive and well, and that we bring “treasures beyond measure” to our faith! Grab a friend and bring them along for the ride. If we band together to reach this one goal we can accomplish bringing in 800 different faith lives, insights, and personalities physically together to form the body of Christ for one weekend! Think about the amazing time you would have, being with your friends, making new friends, building your faith, renewing your prayer life, feeling the spirit truly present in your heart, and most of all having a blast with people your age who share your faith. I have attended the Conference for the past three years, and each time was an amazing experience. I have made friends from all around the Diocese, found new insight into my faith life, have had lots of random fun, won crazy prizes, and felt a true presence of God while interacting with you. If you are looking for something to spark a new flame in your faith life, or to rekindle that fire, then the 2008 DYC is the place to be. Not only are you surrounded by hundreds of fellow Catholics, but you will find God all around you in your fellow brothers and sisters of our Diocese. I look to the Conference to rekindle my faith life each year through praying, being with, and interacting with each of you. So wherever you are in your faith life, this Conference will definitely give you new insight and inspiration! Join us and see how valuable you are to our Church. I find that my deepest inspiration comes from being with each of you, sharing and exploring our faith together through fun and prayer. So, I invite each of you to take that leap of faith and jump aboard your parish’s journey to the DYC where we can find out that all our gifts together create a treasure that is beyond any measure! In Christ’s Love, P.S. Please know that each of you is in my prayers, and I wish the best of luck to each of you for this school year!
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