The 600 young adults attending Catholic Christian Outreach (CCO)’s 2024 Rise Up conference in Calgary from Dec. 29 to Jan. 1 will be implored to “take courage” and navigate the secularized world as bold disciples of Jesus Christ.

Joseph Murphy, the events manager for CCO, said the theme statement — drawn from Matthew 14:26-27  —  for this year’s summit was conceived not only to instill mettle within these 18- to 35-year-old believers in the short term. The missionary organization is also trying to set the stage for 2033, the 2,000-year Jubilee of Jesus Christ overcoming death at Calvary.  

“The Lord has kind of inspired us to have that gaze of looking towards 2033 and challenging us to raise leaders for that great occasion,” said Murphy. “We're still nine years out from 2033, and there's just a sense that for many young people right now when it comes to stepping out in faith and sharing their faith with others or even choosing to invite Jesus into their hearts. There's a fear when you're asked to invite Jesus into your own life, that you’ll miss out on something and be ostracized — the culture and the world we live in is going to alienate you.

“It takes a great act of courage even to make that choice to embrace the Catholic faithfully.”

Presenters and facilitators steering this four-day event at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, featuring praise and worship, keynote speeches, small-group workshops, Mass and a New Year’s Eve banquet, are being asked to take brave leaps too.

Murphy, who has attended 10 Rise Up conferences, beginning with the 2011 event in Vancouver as a 21-year-old, said the 2024 slate of speakers is prepared to assume this mantle.

“I got to attend a gathering of our keynote speakers a few weeks ago and there was this clear sense that our speakers for this year are going to really be vulnerable and share very personal things from their own lives with our conference attendees,” said Murphy. “I'm excited for them to take courage and to share things with a group of 500, 600 people that they've never met before, all for the sake of empowering and encouraging them.”

The roster of speakers includes Msgr. James Shea, president of the University of Mary in Bismarck, North Dakota, Canadian Catholic commentator Fr. Raymond J. de Souza, and Angele Regnier, who co-founded CCO in 1988 with her husband, André. Younger evangelists are also being tasked with inspiring the members of their age group — Michael Sloan, JK Quibael, Gabrielle Raymond and Caleb Regnier, Angele and André’s son.

Fr. John O’Brien, SJ, will also be on hand to introduce and venerate relics of the Canadian Martyrs. Rise Up 2024 will also feature a panel discussion about the forthcoming Jubilee Year in the Church, a vocations brunch and the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

Murphy anticipates that two-thirds of the attendees will hail from the 17 university campuses across Canada featuring an active CCO ministerial presence. In this year’s host city, there are CCO campus teams at the University of Calgary and Mount Royal University.

There is a concerted effort to move Rise Up to different venues right across the country to ensure young Catholics from across Canada are consistently being stirred and mobilized.