Pastor Phillip Hoppe has written an excellent article titled “What the NYG and Higher Things have in common,” that compares youth gatherings with church and pastor, with home and parents, including catechesis. Here are some excerpts:
What do the NYG and Higher Things have in common? Neither is as important as they seem. Your church and pastor are. Your home and parents are. Find Jesus first and foremost there.
I have nothing against going to these gatherings. But if any of them becomes looked at as way better than what you pastor gives you at church and your parents teach you in your home, there is need for repentance.
These gatherings … are not even close to the most important things in regard to your faith. So what is? Two things. First, connection to and participation in your local church as it gathers around the Word and Sacrament weekly. Second, daily prayer and catechesis in your home. Your pastor and your parents are much more important than the celebrities at either youth gathering.
See the whole article here.