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By Priscilla Greear, Staff Writer
COLLEGE PARK—Scraping the plan for small group discussions
because of a volunteer shortage for an unexpectedly large group of about 300
adolescents, coordinators of the middle school track began re-thinking their
game plan.
That’s when Father Michael Kingery paid a visit to the middle
school area and asked Kathy Wolf, archdiocesan director of religious education
and faith formation, if the coordinators needed any help. She took him up on
that offer. The priest ordained two years ago went to fetch a priest of two
weeks, Father Joe Shaute. After hearing 30 minutes of middle school
confessions, they whipped up an impromptu ask-a-priest presentation.
Meeting students where they’re at, Father Shaute recalled his
junior high experience at a new school as a pre-growth spurt seventh-grader
with glasses, who was picked on by bullies. The situation led him to transfer
to a Catholic school. There, he recalled, a priest and a nun showed him
unconditional love.
“Seventh grade was a difficult year for me. I thought that
would get their attention,” he reflected later on his whirlwind witness
talk. “I was the one being picked on by bullies (but) there were people
who reached out to me and inspired me.”
To Wolf, the priests’ spontaneous visit and talk to the
middle schoolers was compelling evidence that “the Holy Spirit
works,” she said. In the “question and answers with the priests, they
really asked questions and stayed focused with Father Michael and Father Joe.
That was a really positive experience.”
The track for sixth- through eighth-graders — plus around 20
fifth-graders who squeezed in — was one component of the daylong
eucharistic conference.
Barbara Garvin, archdiocesan director of youth ministry, who also
coordinated that track, gave a midday talk while Wolf spoke in the afternoon.
Deeann Boydston and Julie Brown did a skit on confession after which Boydston
talked about receiving that sacrament.
The music group “Glory” was led by Brown, an experienced
teen music minister, and pianist
Jeanne Ross, and included Ed Summers on drums, Marty Wild on bass
and vocalists Lisa Trammell and Jaime Hermann.
Wolf said the room was set up for 200 and about 70 had to sit on
the floor. Planners only had about
two weeks’ notice to plan the track, which the evangelization
committee added at the last minute to meet this age group’s specific
needs.
But “the kids were wonderful” despite natural
restlessness, Wolf said. She feels the day was successful in that it was able
to address confession, the Eucharist, the Holy Spirit and the priesthood.
“A lot of people don’t think middle schoolers have a lot
of depth and spirituality, but they really do if given the opportunity to share
. . . If we (would) allow them to speak and listen to them then we would learn
a lot about our own faith,” she said.
With 23 years of youth ministry experience between them, she and
Garvin tried to quickly produce something “we thought would be meaningful
and fun and we did have fun.”
Wolf told the middle schoolers that after earning a degree in
journalism she began producing commercials and industrial films. Although
financially successful, Wolf said she was “very, very depressed” and
felt empty, with a closed heart.
“On the outside everyone though I was doing well because I
had all that money and power, this great career, yet in my heart I had 60 of
the worst days of my life. I couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t happy.
I was going to church, but I wasn’t opening my heart to the Holy
Spirit.”
Wolf, then 23, called her mother in despair, who advised her to
read a book on the Holy Spirit. One night alone in her room she asked God to
give her that Holy Spirit.
“I felt very alone, lonely and helpless, and cried out to
God. I felt unconditional love flow over me. I felt God’s presence in my
room. It’s hard to explain because when you come before the Lord
(there’s) wonder and awe.”
This turning point led her to pay attention at Mass, read
Scripture, and begin to realize the gifts she’d been given by the Holy
Spirit and give them back to God for his use, Wolf said. As she gave her life
to Christ, she discovered her vocation in lay ministry working with youth. She
encouraged the youth to keep their hearts open to God and to discern his will.
In her talk, Garvin zoned in on the Eucharist and spoke about the
need to be fed in order to continue on the journey.
“My lifelong goal is to get to heaven,” she said.
“The best way to get to heaven is to receive the Eucharist each
week.”
“If you were not fed lunch today, how many of you would be
hungry?” she asked. “If you were hungry, could you think of other
things? That is why God gave us the Eucharist. God tells us over and over that
we are never alone. He knows we are weak and we need to be strengthened. That
is why he gives us the Eucharist.”
Telling them that the Eucharist is a sacrament of initiation, she
also spoke to them about the sacrament of confirmation and making a choice for
Christ. Parents bring their children to church when they are young, she said,
but as children get older, growing in their faith means making a choice for
themselves. The sacrament of confirmation asks youth to make a choice for the
church and for the Eucharist. She encouraged them to begin thinking about why
they go to church and to consider making the decision their own.
“How many of you are going to church because you realize you
are going to be making a choice?” she asked.
When invited, a line of middle schoolers came readily to the
microphone to talk about how they are already sharing their faith in Christ
with others.
One boy said his family always invites neighbors from other
denominations and faiths to come to their first Communion and confirmation
celebrations. A girl related an experience she had while riding her bike when
she came upon another girl “destroying property.” “I told her
that wasn’t right,” she said, “that God told us what to do and
what not to do.”
Although there’s “a lot of fighting” at his school,
another boy said, “God tells us to love one another.” Another boy
said he has to endure being called “a sissy for not playing with
weapons” like his friend does who lives across the street. “My
parents don’t let me play with weapons.”
When another boy talked about how he thinks the definition of
truth is changing in the dictionary from an absolute to individual opinions,
Garvin pointed out, “We need to build our life on the truth of Jesus
Christ. It is really important to know what the church teaches.”
“My best friend is a Catholic, but she hasn’t been in
church in a very long time,” another girl said. “I took her to church
on Ash Wednesday and she came back to the church.”
The middle schoolers talked about being altar servers, Scouts,
singing in children’s choirs, helping their parents in their volunteer
service projects, being involved in Bible study, and sponsoring children in
other countries.
“We need to put our hearts and our actions behind what we
say,” Garvin said, “even at 10, 11, 12 years old.”
Then she reassured them, “The Catholic Church loves its
youth.”
Brown’s favorite part of the day was hearing the students
share the struggles in setting good examples and serving the Lord. “Their
wisdom was refreshing,” she said. It was also the highlight for Wolf who
was impressed by the student testimonies, which really got youths’
attention, and of how Garvin encouraged them gently to give it.
“I was really impressed by the depth of spirituality and
their courage to share what they shared of their experiences in the
neighborhoods, families and schools,” Wolf said.
Father Shaute and Father Kingery each spoke on the process of
discovering their vocations. Father Shaute, a parochial vicar at St. Joseph
Church, Marietta, said that both he and Father Kingery, a parochial vicar at
St. Benedict Church, Duluth, tried to stimulate the youth to think about
theirs. They talked about how they took the “scenic route” to discern
God’s call, both being ordained at 37. Father Shaute first worked as a
journalist and wanted to be a famous writer. Father Kingery said he went
straight from high school to the seminary, but then left, teaching for five
years at Christ the King School, Atlanta, before going back, and spoke of
growing up with a brother, Patrick, who is also a priest of the archdiocese.
They encouraged youth not to be afraid of God’s call, as they
came to realize through prayer and reflection that their deepest desire was the
same as God’s for them. “We tried to do it in a way (that) each one
of the kids could get something out of it and see two priests really excited
about serving the Lord.” |
