By: Marisol Becerra
Youth Ministry Office Assistant

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From Friday, February 18th to Sunday, February 20th, the selected SYLC Spirit Team youth along with the SYLC Spirit Team adults gathered at St. Josephs Salesian Youth Renewal Center in Rosemead, CA for the first SYLC Spirit Team retreat.

We welcomed two teens from Laredo, Texas, Alejandra Alvarez, and Abdiana Marines, along with the CYM chaperone from Laredo, Estela Rendon, Claire Burke, from St. Francis in Watsonville, and Lorenzo Benitez, from Bosco Tech. We also welcomed Alizia De La Cruz, from Salesian College Prep, who joined via Zoom.

We began the first night with an introductory session from the youth ministry delegate, Fr. Fabian Cardenas, on the theme for SYLC 2022, which is the Strenna for this year, “Do all through Love, nothing through constraint,” by St. Francis De Sales. Throughout the retreat, there were moments of prayer, teaching, encounter, and moments of joy and fun. One of the main sessions of this retreat consisted of learning each other’s strengths and how we can use our strengths to work together and plan for SYLC. Saturday night ended with a reflection on the gifts and talents that we each possess and a Colombian-themed Encanto dinner. We focused on the Encanto movie because this movie highlights how everyone can contribute with their specific gifts and talents as part of a big family, in this case, our Salesian Family. 

On Sunday we ended the retreat with a mass and closing session of an overview of SYLC. Overall, this retreat served as a great opportunity for the team to get to know each other, build team skills, and grow as individuals to become prepared for and to lead SYLC 2022.