• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Catholic Review

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Menu
  • Home
  • News
        • Local News
        • World News
        • Vatican News
        • Obituaries
        • Featured Video
        • En Español
        • Sports News
        • Official Clergy Assignments
        • Schools News
  • Commentary
        • Contributors
          • Question Corner
          • George Weigel
          • Effie Caldarola
          • John Garvey
          • Father Ed Dougherty, M.M.
          • Guest Commentary
        • CR Columnists
          • Archbishop William E. Lori
          • Rita Buettner
          • Christopher Gunty
          • George Matysek Jr.
          • Father Joseph Breighner
          • Father Collin Poston
          • Robyn Barberry
          • Hanael Bianchi
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • CR Media platforms
        • Electronic Edition
  • Advertising
  • Shop
        • Purchase Photos
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • Magazine Subscriptions
        • Archdiocesan Directory
  • CR Radio
  • News Tips
  • Subscribe

NCYC continues to inspire young Abingdon parishioner

December 5, 2019
By Paul McMullen
Filed Under: #IamCatholic, Feature, Local News, NCYC, News

Isabel Sans, right, pauses at the National Catholic Youth Conference in Indianapolis with her sister, Isabel, left, and their mother, Ashley. (Courtesy Diane Lewis/St. Francis de Sales Parish)

Two weeks after returning from the National Catholic Youth Conference, Isabel Sans remains moved by the spirit she encountered in Indianapolis, and not just from 20,000 like-minded pilgrims.

The Archdiocese of Baltimore sent 137 young people and chaperones to the biennial gathering. Sans was part of an unusually strong contingent from St. Francis de Sales in Abingdon, which sent 16 young people and eight chaperones, including Diane Lewis, its director of youth ministry.

It was the second NCYC experience for Sans, a junior in the IB program at Edgewood High School who just turned 17. She noted how NCYC grew her even closer to St. Joan of Arc, her confirmation saint, whose image she carries on a necklace.

“It’s an anchor, a reminder that I’m not alone,” Sans told the Review in an email exchange. “Especially after the conference, I have more faith that there’s a spirit behind it. I learned at the conference that St. Francis de Sales (patron of her parish) is the patron saint of Catholic writers. Which is really funny, because as much as I’m hesitant to admit it, I love writing.”

That was apparent on the bus ride home from NCYC, which had a concluding Mass Nov. 23 at Lucas Oil Stadium. She wrote a lengthy reflection that noted “how many times groups of kids started singing a song only to have 100 others jump in,” and the instantaneous reverence at the start of eucharistic adoration, when the house band’s rendition of “Lord, I Need You,” moved her to tears.

Her reflection concluded:

“I can’t describe NCYC. There are some things language just isn’t built for…. The conference is something musical, a heavy baseline pumping through your chest and a melody high and clear over your head. It’s a cheer that won’t die, the radiant positivity that builds up in your chest until you shine like the sun. It’s loving hard and fast, accidentally catching someone’s eye and becoming fast friends. It’s all the colors of the rainbow at once; it’s Spanish and English and a hundred other ways to give praise. It leaves the taste of sugar on your tongue and the echo of something great in your ear. … It’s a challenge to us as young people, to demonstrate our faith beyond the doors of our churches …”

The musical aspect resonates with Sans, part of the youth choir at St. Francis de Sales run by Danny Cajigas.

NCYC was a bit of a family affair for Sans, as the St. Francis de Sales crew included her sister, Isabel, and their mother, Ashley. Sans is well acquainted with the universal church, as her father immigrated to the U.S. from Spain. She was born and baptized in Dallas, and a young child when her family relocated to Harford County.

Click here for more stories on the NCYC.

 

Email Paul McMullen at pmcmullen@CatholicReview.org

Print Print

Primary Sidebar

Paul McMullen

Paul McMullen, a resident of Austin, Texas, served as the managing editor of the Catholic Review from 2008 until his retirement in September 2021.

The author of two books, Paul has been involved in local media since age 12, when he began delivering The News American to 80 homes in his neighborhood. He began his journalism career with the Capital-Gazette Newspapers in Anne Arundel County, and spent more than 25 years as a sports writer for The Sun in Baltimore. His favorite writing assignments have included the Summer Olympics in Australia and Greece, the Archdiocese of Baltimore's response to the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, and “Feet for Francis,” a 2015 walking pilgrimage from the Baltimore Basilica to Philadelphia to see Pope Francis.

View all posts from this author

For the latest news delivered twice a week via email or text message, sign up to receive our free enewsletter.

| MOST POPULAR |

  • Sisters Poor of Jesus Christ bring love to troubled streets
  • Leadership changes on way at two Jesuit schools in Baltimore
  • Oblate Sisters celebrate 10th anniversary of transfer of Mother Lange’s remains
  • The day a tractor-trailer hit my van
  • Cathedral of Mary Our Queen will host Corpus Christi celebration

| Latest Local News |

Deadline approaching to apply for BOOST scholarships

Sisters Poor of Jesus Christ bring love to troubled streets

Leadership changes on way at two Jesuit schools in Baltimore

| Latest World News |

Experts: Catholic media is essential to informing world about the church and the church about world

Pro-life activists mark Dobbs’ first anniversary, advocate for more pregnancy support

Missouri-based network connects abortion survivors worldwide

| Catholic Review Radio |

CatholicReview · Catholic Review Radio

Footer

Our Vision

Real Life. Real Faith. 

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Contact

Catholic Review
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
443-524-3150
mail@CatholicReview.org

 

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent

  • Experts: Catholic media is essential to informing world about the church and the church about world
  • Pro-life activists mark Dobbs’ first anniversary, advocate for more pregnancy support
  • Missouri-based network connects abortion survivors worldwide
  • Pope on liquid diet, calls mother of baby he baptized in March
  • Survey: permanent deacon numbers in U.S. expected ‘to remain stable’ but continue slow decline
  • Trip to Uvalde, Texas, leaves Capitol Hill pastor ‘still processing’ how deep community’s trauma remains
  • Pope doing well after abdominal surgery, asks for continued prayers
  • Videogame Review: ‘Death or Treat’
  • Deadline approaching to apply for BOOST scholarships

Search

Membership

Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2023 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED