First-time chaperone reflects on NCYC

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By Vickie Underwood
For The Catholic Messenger

(Editor’s note: Vickie Underwood is a member of St. Alphonsus Parish in Davenport. She works as a cook for the St. Vincent Center in Davenport and Lourdes Catholic School in Bettendorf.)

When I came to NCYC (National Catholic Youth Conference), I felt like my life was falling into a routine. Work, home for break; work other job, go home, sleep, go to church once a week, repeat. I was restless, I wanted to find something more to enrich my life.

Contributed
Vickie Underwood, right, poses for a picture with youths from St. Mary Parish in Davenport in Lucas Oil Stadium during the National Catholic Youth Conference in Indianapolis last weekend.

At NCYC, I felt two very distinct callings. The first happened during adoration on Friday night. I had brought my rosary with me, and about halfway through the second decade I received what I perceived as a vision. In my mind, I saw a video featuring clips of unborn babies growing in the womb while background music played and the rosary was being prayed. I have had similar visions in church of videos, and I had always gotten the feeling that God wanted me to use my filming hobby to make videos, but I didn’t know what to film. This was the moment of clarity I needed: I firmly believe God is calling me to make videos about the rosary, with a different theme for each video and a different intention for each decade. It is my belief that this will help personalize the rosary for those who find it boring, help those who don’t know how to pray it, and will be a new way to spread the faith to others. My intention is to record a sample video and present it to my parish council at one of our upcoming meetings.

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My second calling was a little more subtle. I found a booth in the exhibit hall for St. Meinrad University and Seminary that offered classes on theology. For some reason, that booth stood out to me. I had been wanting to broaden my horizons since graduating from college. Theology, while not the most prevalent subject on my mind, has always been a subject that interested me. (I have my wonderfully knowledgeable and devout dad to thank for that!) After talking with the religious sister at the booth, I felt that while I didn’t want to go back to school formally, perhaps God was calling me to take a few classes to enrich my knowledge of theology as a way to benefit the parish council and committee I’m a part of, as well as provide insight for my rosary videos. My intention for this calling is to look into St. Meinrad and other Catholic colleges/universities to find affordable classes. I don’t know exactly what God wants me to study at this point, but I believe he will let me know when I’ve found it.


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