What happens when one young Catholic refuses to settle for a lukewarm faith?
On The Tim Glemkowski Show, Dan DeMatte shares how a deep encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist transformed not only his own life but also the lives of thousands of young people.
As a teenager, Dan was struck by the passion he saw in evangelical Christian communities. While he appreciated his Catholic upbringing, he longed for Catholics who spoke openly about Jesus and lived with missionary zeal. Everything changed when he encountered Christ in the Eucharist.
“I want to provide to the young Church what I feel like the Church didn’t provide me as a young person,” Dan recalls.
At just 18 years old, after serving with NET Ministries, he began inviting teens to his mother’s living room. Within weeks, 72 young people were gathering to pray. The crowds grew so quickly that neighbors mistook the meetings for a wild party and called the police. Soon afterward, Dan approached a local priest and asked to become the parish youth minister. Before long, more than 500 young people were participating.
That grassroots ministry eventually became Damascus, a Catholic missionary movement dedicated to helping young people encounter Jesus and become lifelong disciples. What began as one week of summer camp for 63 middle school students has grown into multiple camp locations serving thousands each summer, while training young adults to embrace a missionary lifestyle rooted in the Holy Spirit.
For Dan, the mission has always been about more than camp.
“We consider ourselves a Catholic missionary movement that serves the young Church,” he says.
When one person says “yes” to Christ, the Holy Spirit can accomplish far more than we could ever imagine.
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