Detroit — A teenager might feel like they’re always on the defensive.

With expectations from school, parents and peers weighing down on them, plus the internal pressure of figuring out who they are, and why, it can be easy to build walls to make it all manageable.

But for one weekend at the Renaissance Center in downtown Detroit, teens from the Archdiocese of Detroit were able to “let their walls down.”

Thousands of teens from youth groups across southeast Michigan met Jan. 27-28 for Rainbow XXXVI, the annual Catholic Youth Organization-sponsored retreat for high schoolers.

This year’s theme, “Go Beyond Your Comfort Zone,” featured Catholic speaker and musician Jesse Manibusan, a guitarist who shared his love for Oreo’s and the need to “let one’s walls down” in order let Christ’s love in.

“Believe me, each one of you by being here and participating and singing in a group are already breaking every rule of being cool,” Manibusan told the group. “So this weekend, take a risk and let your walls down.”

Manibusan shared his life story of growing up one of 10 children, of whom he was the shy one who struggled asking others for help.

“When the walls go up, they stay up, and we begin to shut people off,” Manibusan said. “But by belonging in the Church, the walls come down.”
Manibusan’s keynote got the retreat-goers out of their seats, singing, laughing and letting their guards down.

Nathan Andrew of St. Louise de Marillac Parish in Warren was attending Rainbow for the third time.

“I found Jesse’s speech inspiring because I am the shy one also, so I found it very relatable when he was talking about the walls he still has.”

Fr. Joseph Horn, director of priestly vocations for the Archdiocese of Detroit, advised retreat-goers to ask God not necessarily what He wants them to do, but who God wants them to be as people.



“This weekend, I encourage you all to leave your worries, to let down your walls and come to know Jesus,” Fr. Horn said. “To know Jesus, to pray with Jesus and ask what He calls you to be. If you take the time to build a better relationship with Jesus, Jesus will not only tell you what He wants you to do, He will tell you who He calls you to be.”

After Manibusan’s keynote, the retreatants went to various talks discussing the challenges and opportunities young Catholics face in today’s world.

Erik Coules, northwest regional coordinator for pastoral planning for the archdiocese, led one of the talks about the societal pressures young Catholics face today.

“When I talk to people in your age group, I get nervous,” Coules told the teens. “Because I’m laying down a seed of truth in you to grow and flourish. With you, so much is at stake, because you are the future of the Church.”

Coules discussed his own faith journey, detailing moments in his life when faith pulled him through difficulties and moments when his “non-negotiables” were challenged.

“There are challenges in living a Catholic lifestyle; it means sometimes you don’t get to do ‘fun’ stuff,” Coules said. “People are going to treat you differently from how you dress, how you act, for being a Catholic. It is how people are going to react, and there is nothing you can do to change how people react to you.”



Coules asked retreatants to reflect on moments in their lives when peer pressure challenged their efforts to live a Catholic life. But failing to live up to one’s “non-negotiables” doesn’t mean the end of one’s relationship with Christ, Coules added.

“We are not the sum of our failures; we’re better than the sum of our parts,” Coules said. “Peer pressures, differences between what others value and what you value, those will happen. So if you find yourself in a time when you break one of your ‘non-negotiables,’ you can still have healing; you still have reconciliation.”

The retreat-goers had an opportunity for Eucharistic adoration and confession before celebrating a Mass with Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron on Saturday night.

“I really love coming back to Rainbow, because it’s an experience that draws me so much closer to God,” said Diego Peralta, who attends St. Mary Magdalen Parish in Melvindale. “I’ve learned from the speakers and have loved all the talks I’ve attended. When people told me about this in the first place, I thought, ‘I’m not going on a retreat. That’s not for me.’ But once I tried it, I really loved it and would recommend it to anybody.”

Lauren Harcek, a senior at Cabrini High School in Allen Park, attended Rainbow for the first time after wanting to go for years.

“I wanted to be here because I wanted my faith to be stronger; I wanted to get closer to God,” Harcek said. “In the past couple of years, I’ve come to know God more and I wanted to strengthen that faith by coming here. I heard a lot from students in my school about this retreat. And now that I’m here, seeing everyone come together to strengthen their faith, it’s a great thing to see.

“I feel like I really need to be here, that I belong here.”