Elina Del Rosario, left, a young adult leader with St. Isaac Jogues Parish sits with her group at the Lucas Oil Stadium patiently waiting for the next speaker at the NCYC in Indianapolis. (COURTESY)
ORLANDO | More than 100 students from the Diocese of Orlando attended the National Catholic Youth Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana, Nov. 20-22. Of those, 70 traveled from St. Isaac Jogues Parish in Orlando. They formed the largest diocesan contingent.
Elina Del Rosario attended as a young adult leader and shared how just two years earlier, NCYC changed her life.
“I went in 2023 and it was transformational,” she said. She was 17 then and going through a very difficult time. “I was starting to find myself. I had started serving at my church and trying to find my way and my place in my community while also dealing with teenage problems — relationships, drama, and people talking. It was a lot of confusion going into the trip.”
Feeling lonely, despite the 2,000 youth around her, she found herself crying her heart out to God during Eucharistic Adoration.
“A friend came up to me, and God spoke to me through her. She walked over to me and comforted me, then her voice changed,” she recalled. “I heard another voice I felt was Jesus saying, ‘I love you and you are mine.’ I heard Jesus through her in that moment.”
From then on, nothing has been the same.
She returned home and for the past two years immersed herself in service to the Lord at St. Isaac Jogues, as a lector, Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion, choir singer, and youth minister. A little overwhelmed, as she headed to NCYC this year she asked the Lord to pick one and help guide her in her studies as well.
Elina Del Rosario, front, a young adult leader from St. Isaac Jogues Parish in Orlando, stands with a small group from her parish in front of the capitol in Indianapolis, Ind. (COURTESY)
“I’m a say ‘yes’ person, so I wanted clarity in that and the friendships around me and how I’m being guided and just to be able to hear His voice more clearly,” she said.
Now a college student at the University of Central Florida on the health sciences track, she hoped He would speak to her once again. She was not disappointed, although the message came in a different way. Instead of speaking to her through a friend, He spoke to her through the youth she was assisting and the people present.
As she watched the youth she guided, she acknowledged her own spiritual growth over the past two years. Booklets on how to evangelize were everywhere and exhibitors, seeing her adult leader badge, assumed she was a youth director. They all spoke to her about youth camps and programs to assist youth leaders in spiritually guiding those they are shepherding.
“I know that my mission is not only to live my faith and be an example, but to also put action into it, to take that extra step to reach out to these kids and make them feel seen. I’m not sure exactly where my mission falls, but I know the direction I’m going in,” she said.
Ironically, the youth minister position at her parish is open, but she feels under prepared right now. Between school and work, she is still seeking the Lord’s voice. However, since returning home, she’s left some other ministries so she can better focus on the youth. A group of approximately 100 are regulars at their youth group gatherings.
To young people discerning whether to attend NCYC in the future Del Rosario said, “I would say just to give it a chance and go with an open heart and mind. You never know what God has in store for you.”
By Glenda Meekins of the Florida Catholic staff, December 11, 2025
