Bay Wide Young Adult group

By Christine Schreck

 In 2021, while visiting his brother at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, Mason Friedberg connected with the local young adult community. He drove for about an hour one Thursday night to attend a candlelight Mass in Cincinnati followed by a social gathering. He met others who had traveled similar—and in some cases, longer—distances just to be there. 

“I went in just a few minutes late, I was in the back of the church, and I saw the candlelit church and it was all young adults, over 100 young adults, young adult choir, and I thought this is so amazing,” he said. Inspired, he wanted to bring a similar experience to the Bay Area.

The result is the Bay Wide Young Adult Mass, celebrated quarterly at a parish within the San Francisco Archdiocese and the dioceses of San Jose and Oakland. Friedberg connected with the young adult communities at Newman Hall-Holy Spirit in Berkeley, his home parish Star of the Sea and St. Dominic in San Francisco, and parishes in the south bay to get started.

Conventual Franciscan Brother Chris Garcia, one of the core team of planners, describes it as “a grassroots movement of young adults who want to celebrate reverent candlelit worship followed by fellowship.” The planners look for parishes that meet specific criteria to host Mass: central location, an organ, a large fellowship hall and an active young adult ministry group. The team recruits additional priests to concelebrate the Masses and be available to hear confessions.

The first Bay Wide Young Adult Mass took place at the Cathedral of Christ the Light after Friedberg connected with the CTL young adult group (YAG).

The most recent Mass, the first of 2025, was held at St. Joseph Basilica in Alameda on March 22. Some worshippers traveled from as far away as Napa and Sacramento to be present. Aside from the illuminated choir loft in the back and a few book lights to facilitate reading, the Basilica was bathed only in the gentle glow of candles on and behind the altar and lining the pews.  

The Diocese of Oakland has been supportive of the Bay Wide Young Adult Mass. Bishop Michael C. Barber, SJ, celebrated the liturgy. Jeffrey Parola, director of music for the Cathedral of Christ the Light, directed a choir composed of young adults from around the Bay Area, and John Renke played the organ.

For the first Mass, Friedberg created a flyer and emails were sent out to mailing lists of the young adult groups. He connected with the Grapevine, a bimonthly newsletter for young Catholics in the Bay Area. It was relatively new at the time but has since grown to more than 1,000 subscribers. Word of mouth is also effective, with a few first time attendees sharing that they had heard about the Mass from fellow young adults.

The majority of attendees stayed for food and fellowship following Mass. The lively atmosphere and raucous conversations in Notre Dame Hall were in sharp contrast to the reverent worship. There is no structured program during fellowship time. Attendees collect plates of food before sitting at a table and striking up a conversation with others seated there. No one was in a hurry to end the night. The gathering in Alameda was still going strong over two hours after Mass ended.

The next two Bay Wide Young Adult Mass will be on Saturday, June 7 at Five Wounds in San Jose and Saturday, Aug. 23 at St. Patrick’s Seminary in Menlo Park. Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone of San Francisco is scheduled to celebrate the August Mass.