Barbara Mota remembers when she was the baby of the youth group at Immaculate Conception Parish on 88th Street.

Her older brother was an active participant when she was 11 years old, one of the group’s founding members, so she would tag along and enjoy hanging out with the teenagers.

Now 22, Barbara Mota appreciates the example that those older teens set for her, and she is doing her best to set a similar example for younger members.

That, and the need to help her mother, Sandra Mota, who leads the group, led Barbara Mota to spend the day July 20 at the parish for “World Youth Day South Chicago Style.”

The event drew about 45 young people from seventh grade to 18 or 19 years old, according to Sandra Mota, with a slate of activities that started with Mass and ended with eucharistic adoration, but also included dancing and games in addition to talks and small group discussions.

The teens came from Immaculate Conception-St. Michael Parish as well as other South Side and Northwest Indiana parishes, some that don’t have their own youth groups.

“I initially wanted to help out my mom,” said Barbara Mota, who studies nursing at Malcom X College. “But I got more out of it than I thought I would. It genuinely did open my eyes and make me realize that even though at times I feel alone, God is there to help me and I’m not actually alone. I can talk to him and pray to him.”

That was exactly what Sandra Mota hoped participants would get from the day.

“I wanted them to know that God loves them, the community loves them, that they have a place in the Catholic Church, that they have a place in our community of faith,” Sandra Mota said. “I wanted them to go home happy, full of God’s spirit. They were saying they want to do this next year.”

Father Pius Kokose, the pastor, celebrated Mass for the group and led eucharistic adoration, is looking forward to that.

“Our plan is to be having that every year, to have youth from other parishes come and participate together. It was very fruitful,” Kokose said.

He said that he encouraged the youth group, which had fallen off during the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown, to become reenergized. The group now organizes neighborhood cleanups and ministers at Mass the third Sunday of every month.

Kokose said the parish tries to make Mass more engaging for young people, who often say they find Mass “boring.”

Sandra Mota said that older people in the congregation can help by welcoming teens instead of finding fault with them.

“Sometimes they don’t feel welcome because the older people, they keep their eyes on them,” she said. “‘This kid was looking around at Mass,’ or ‘This kid was chewing gum.’ I know that’s not right to do, but they have to come to learn how to act in church. … They criticize a lot, some of the people. They want them to act like grownups already.”

A better way, Mota said, is for adults to set a good example, including being kind when they must correct a teenager’s behavior.

That’s more likely to make teens want to come to church and to be part of the youth group, participants said.

Good food and games with prizes help too.

Natalia Patiño, 14, said her favorite part of the day was playing “lotería,” a form of bingo using Spanish words and pictures.

“We did a lot of activities,” said Patiño, who will be a high school freshman in the fall. “There was food. Really good food. We had this little volleyball game. There was a lot of joy. It was a really good time, and a lot of people ended up leaving with a lot of prizes. I really hope that many other kids would be interested in joining the youth group that we had.”