By Paul DeValle
CYM – St. Luke’s Parish, Stockton

St. Luke’s high school age Youth Ministries has once again been called to battle!  Dragonslayer 2020 stretches out over four months serving as an instrument for evangelization and outreach to area youth and calls back those who we haven’t seen in a while.  Each of our four teams:  The Lords, Counts, Barons and Knights are under the watchful eyes of 2 teen captains.  Each evening points are awarded under three categories: Spirit Points, for creativity, team unity, enthusiasm, posters, and sportsmanship, Tournament Points for winning the wild and crazy (and often messy) team games, and Outreach Points, 100 points for each young person who comes and joins a team.

As the judges tally the scores there is a presentation that fits this year’s theme:  The League of Extraordinary Dragonslayers: Saints.  We are focusing in on a number of saints who faced great challenges (dragons), whether they were personal temptations or societal problems.  Our first night centered on the societal challenges encountered by St. John Bosco.  Our three 2019 SYLC participants, Ashonti Macabales, Gabby Villalpando, and Samantha Castillo, did an outstanding job of talking about the work of Don Bosco and our call to follow his example in reaching out to other youth.  We ended with the beautifully put together video sent out by Gina on the Strenna (Thank You Gina!)  Our next Dragonslayer saint?  St. Gianna Molla!