You will encounter Christ: How Divine Mercy Encounter brings generations together in faith
By Melanie Sisinni
05/07/2026
“You’re going to see Jesus,” Father Larry Richards tells participants on Divine Mercy Encounter weekends. “But whether you recognize him is going to be up to you.”
For nearly 30 years, the Divine Mercy Encounter Program (DME) has been a staple in the Diocese of Erie, inviting teens, young adults and adults into that very encounter. The threeday experience is designed to move participants beyond practicing faith by instruction alone and into a lived relationship with Jesus Christ. It was not born from strategy meetings or planning sessions. It was born from experience.
Father Richards, pastor of St. Luke Parish in Erie, founder and spiritual director of DME and head of The Reason for Our Hope Foundation, first encountered the model years ago when he was invited to a Together Encounter Christ (also known as Teens Encounter Christ, or TEC) weekend in Cleveland.
“I said, no, I’m not doing another retreat. I don’t need another one,” he recalled. “And I went and I go, OK, this is fantastic.”
With the support of then-Bishop Donald Trautman, he brought TEC to Erie. Originally part of the national organization, the program underwent a decisive shift when the national structure proposed significant changes.
“They were going to get rid of everything we had done forever,” Father Richards said.
Rather than abandon what was bearing fruit, Father Richards rewrote the structure, reframing the weekend and rewriting every talk and activity. As part of that renewal, he changed the name from Together Encounter Christ to Divine Mercy Encounter (DME).
“It’s always been about divine mercy,” he said. “Divine mercy is giving something good to someone who doesn’t deserve it. And that’s all of us.”
For Father Richards, the distinction is essential.
“After you do a DME, you go from knowing about Jesus to knowing Jesus,” he said.
The weekend is intentionally intergenerational. A typical gathering includes 40 to 45 teenagers, college students, young adults, parents and grandparents sharing tables, prayer and vulnerability. In an era when faith formation is often separated by age group, DME brings generations together to witness faith lived at every stage of life. Teenagers see adults practicing an authentic relationship with Christ. Adults encounter young people boldly proclaiming their faith. The result is a powerful exchange of witness, where each generation strengthens and inspires the other.
Participants are given sustained time with the Lord through Adoration, the sacraments and guided small-group conversation. This creates space to slow down, reflect and listen for God’s voice. While personal prayer and weekly Mass remain essential parts of Catholic life, DME offers something many people rarely experience: extended time intentionally set aside to focus solely on their relationship with Christ, surrounded by a supportive community of faith.
“The way you fall in love with anybody is you spend time,” Father Richards said. “Going to Mass for 45 minutes a week is not enough time to fall in love with somebody.”
For Sarah Beaver, who attended DME #67 in 2012 as a sophomore in high school, the impact was immediate.
“It just exploded my life,” she said. “I found my family. I found my biggest passion.”
Today, she serves as co-director of the board, reflecting the program’s intergenerational leadership.
“The biggest promise Father Larry gives is that you will encounter Christ on Saturday,” she said. “You will encounter Christ if you’re open.”
Her own family reflects that ripple effect. After she made DME #67, her mother attended DME #68. Her father followed at DME #69.
“It set their hearts on fire,” she said.
For Jillian Zaczyk, the experience began even earlier, when the program was still called TEC.
She made TEC #46. Her husband, Jason, made TEC #43. The couple met through volunteering during the retreats.
“We were both there to serve God first and foremost,” she said. “We weren’t necessarily looking for each other. We were looking for God, and God kind of became the wingman.”
What began as serving on teams eventually led to marriage. Today, they have two children and a shared history rooted in Divine Mercy Encounter. Their wedding reflected that foundation. Instead of traditional favors, they donated to DME and set up a table with applications at their reception.
But Zaczyk’s story extends beyond marriage. After years of involvement, she served a three-year term as director following COVID, helping rebuild momentum.
Through DME, Zaczyk has seen parents serve alongside teenagers. She has seen families transformed. Her mother now volunteers to serve more DME weekends than she does.
“It’s a really beautiful way to do intergenerational ministry,” Zaczyk said.
Father Michael Scanga, ordained in 2025 and now serving as parochial vicar of Holy Spirit Parish and part-time chaplain at DuBois Central Catholic School in DuBois, made DME #72 in 2014 as a junior at Kennedy Catholic High School in Hermitage.
By then, his faith was already deepening. The weekend did not redirect him, it intensified what was already there.
“I was already walking with Christ, and it really breathed and inflamed even more love for the Lord,” he said.
While he experienced an initial inclination toward priesthood during DME #72, returning to serve over the next decade continually reinforced his decision to become a priest.
“Every one of those experiences strengthened my vocation and really led me closer and closer to priesthood,” he said.
He believes the reason so many return is simple: encounter leads to service.
“When you encounter Jesus … when you have a real experience with him … he calls you to serve, and to love him and to serve other people,” Father Scanga said. “People desire to give back what they themselves have received.”
That cycle becomes self-sustaining. Participants return when siblings attend. Parents serve when children participate. Friends invite friends. A community forms that extends far beyond a single weekend.
“Divine Mercy Encounter is such a great gift in our diocese,” Father Scanga said. “It’s a tool in the toolkit for evangelization.”
In his ministry, he often finds himself identifying parishioners or students who might benefit.
“For many people, something like DME can be a breakthrough,” he said.
The vocational fruit remains unmistakable.
“Within the last several ordinations, pretty much every single one of the ordinands has done a DME,” Beaver said.
After nearly three decades, Father Richards remains deeply involved to ensure the focus never shifts.
“This is only about bringing people to Jesus Christ,” he said.
Through assistance and resources from Father Larry’s The Reason For Our Hope Foundation, he hopes the model can one day expand beyond Erie.
“It’s going to become an international thing that starts in the Diocese of Erie that really will bring people to Jesus,” he said.
With retreat #116 approaching this July 10-12, Divine Mercy Encounter continues to invite anyone age 15 and older to step into that encounter. Sponsorships are available, and organizers emphasize that cost should never be a barrier.
For many, those three days become not a spiritual high point, but the beginning of a lifelong fire.
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