Add Faith, Prayer To Your List Of School Supplies

By ERIKA ANDERSON, Staff Writer

Published: August 21, 2003

ATLANTA—The music is swelling in a Roswell school gym. Teens’ hands are in the air. And, timidly, a few stand when asked to give their hearts to Christ.

They are kneeling on a warm Florida beach, surrounded by 700 of their closest Catholic friends, priests and youth ministers. As the moonlight shines on the monstrance containing the Blessed Sacrament, many of the teens say a silent yes when asked to put God first in their lives.

It’s a hot summer day in Jamaica. Teens on a mission trip feel a special connection to the poor orphans at Mustard Seed Community. They vow to never forget the trip or its impact on their faith.

It’s Wednesday, Aug. 27. Most teens have only been back to school a few weeks. In each class, more and more homework is piled upon them. The special summer experiences of Christ take a back seat to remembering dates for their history tests, Spanish vocabulary words or the solution to the calculus problems for tomorrow’s quiz.

Teens throughout the Archdiocese of Atlanta are blessed to have a thriving youth ministry office that puts on events such as Steubenville Atlanta, Sonfest Beach Retreat and mission trips. And it is at these events that many teens commit their lives to Christ for the first time. The faith high is unmistakable. But what happens when they return to school?

Paul George, Southern regional coordinator for LIFE TEEN, is writing a book asking that same question. “What Now” addresses the dilemma of teens who say yes to God for the first time.

“The first thing you need to know is that your yes was authentic. You need to believe in your heart that you made a decision, and that decision was real,” he said. “Don’t question it and say that it wasn’t because it was.”

The problem is, however, what to do once that decision has been made.

Jayne LaFave, a senior from Prince of Peace Church in Buford, said that she participates in activities ranging from youth group pool parties to mission trips and Sonfest during the summer. But she admits that attending Collins Hill High School, a public school, doesn’t always make it easy to put God first.

“I always seem to get bogged down with homework, club meetings, swim team, theater and countless other extra-curricular activities,” she said. “It’s too easy to let my faith take a back seat to my busy schedule.”

But Jayne’s approach to her faith is simple. She makes time for God and she encourages other teens who struggle to do the same.

“It doesn’t have to be much. Try setting aside 10 minutes before bed every night to read three chapters of the Bible or pray,” she said. “And always make time to go to Mass on Sunday. Most churches have daily Masses that you can attend. I know that Prince of Peace has Mass at 6 a.m. on certain days of the week, so you can even go before school.”

Staying close to the sacraments, George said, is key.

“The church is alive and we have all these tools available to us—the Eucharist and the sacrament of reconciliation and the Scriptures,” he said. “Teens need to continue to nourish that yes by learning more about Jesus and about their Catholic faith.”

One of the biggest challenges for teens, George said, is telling their friends and family about their new life in Christ.

Christine Gryczan, a sophomore at Roswell High School who attends St. Andrew’s Church, said that she prays the rosary regularly and attends youth group activities throughout the year to sustain her faith.

“Teens should try to continue to pray as often as they can, listen to praise and worship music, pray the rosary, attend church-related events and carry their faith proudly,” she said. “Don’t hide your faith once you get back into school because that is hiding who you truly are as a person.”

George said that teens who have a youth group to fall back on are “able to nourish their (summer faith experiences) in a healthy way.”

“It helps if they come back and get involved in their weekly youth group activities and Bible studies,” he said.

At one public high school in Cobb County, students are taking their faith in a serious way.

Mary Dalton, a French teacher at North Cobb High School in Kennesaw, is the sponsor of the Roman Catholic Student Group, a group that was founded by students in 2000.

Dalton, a parishioner of St. Peter Chanel Church in Roswell, encouraged a student named Justin Alberico to start the group after he expressed his frustration over constantly having to defend his faith at school.

Under the federal Equal Access Act, student-led, special interest, non-curriculum clubs must be allowed to organize in high schools.

Justin recruited students and they began regularly meeting in Dalton’s classroom at 7:30 a.m. each Tuesday.

“So many of the Catholic students were embarrassed by their faith because they were unprepared by the onslaught of anti-Catholicism,” she said. “Through the Roman Catholic Student Group, they’ve gained confidence by coming together. They’ve discovered that it’s cool to be Catholic. It’s an affirmation of who they are and what they believe.”

Last year Father Joseph Peek, a former parochial vicar at St. Catherine of Siena Church, Kennesaw, now on medical leave from the archdiocese, served as the group’s spiritual advisor. The highlight, Dalton said, was when Father Peek celebrated Mass in her classroom.

The group has also met with the Protestant group “First Priority,” including a meeting during which Father Peek fielded questions about Catholicism.

“Our presence has really become a known entity,” she said. “My hope is that students will hear about this and then start groups in every public high school in the country.”

Robyn Keuler said she is lucky to attend Catholic school. A junior at Our Lady of Mercy High School in Fairburn, Robyn admits that she doesn’t always take advantage of all that’s offered to her.

“I have the opportunity to go to Mass every day. During the first 10 minutes of lunch, my school offers a Communion service. It’s open to anyone who wants to attend. Sometimes I don’t go,” she said. “I’m too preoccupied with other things to sacrifice 10 minutes of my life for the Eucharist. It should not be this way.”

But a friend once told Robyn that “time stops for God.” It was a profound statement for her, and one that’s kept her thinking.

“Thinking about these words, I end up feeling guilty about skipping the service and say a quick prayer before I fall asleep that night, which simply isn’t enough. I go to church every weekend, but there must be something more I can do.”

The 16-year-old parishioner said that living one’s faith is not “all about quoting passages we read in the Bible and giving up candy for Lent.”

“Those things are great acts of faith, but the best thing we can do to live our faith and to share it with others is something we learned in kindergarten--be nice. We can lead by example. Lend a helping hand,” she said. “Smile and say hi to a stranger you see in the hallway or on the street. Go out of your way to make life easier for someone else. If people can see the light of Christ through our actions, we have done exactly what the Lord has asked of us.”

Father Nathan Calhoun, a parochial vicar at St. Lawrence Church in Lawrenceville, said that teens shouldn’t expect to have that same “high” that they have after leaving a big event such as Steubenville Atlanta or Sonfest.

“Life has dark times and lonely times,” he said. “We can be zealous and deep in our faith, and committed. That’s what sustains us. Teens need to take that Sonfest experience or whatever it was and go home and get involved in their parish—in service, in parish or liturgical ministry. That’s where they can maintain that even keel.”

George reminds teens that saying yes isn’t the end.

“It’s a commitment, a relationship. It’s only the beginning,” he said. “It’s got to be a yes every day.”

Teens who are interested in starting a Roman Catholic Student Group at their own high schools can call Dalton at (770) 924-9801 or e-mail her at danajoseph@bellsouth.net for more information.