St. Wendelin students find support in discernment groups |
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Written by LAURIE STEVENS BERTKE, Chronicle Writer
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Friday, 02 January 2009 01:00 |
FOSTORIA—Sixteen teenage boys fall silent as Father Eric Schild enters the youth room at Fostoria St. Wendelin carrying the Blessed Sacrament.
Flanked by two students holding candles, the priest processes to a simple altar in the corner where he places the monstrance. Members of the St. Wendelin High School discernment group then kneel together to begin their eucharistic adoration by singing the English and Latin verses of "O Saving Victim."
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Young men from Fostoria St. Wendelin High School participate in
eucharistic adoration with Father Eric Schild during a recent meeting
of their discernment group. (Chronicle photo by Laurie Stevens Bertke)
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During the next half hour of reflection before the Eucharist, the high school students ask Jesus for guidance in their lives and pray for those in need, including one another. A small crucifix is passed from one person to the next; each boy clutches it for a moment as he prays for his own intentions, either silently or aloud.
This time for prayer is at the heart of every gathering for the discernment group, which usually meets two Sunday evenings a month. Afterward the teenagers share pizza and discuss a topic relating to Christian life.
"I do open it up to them as to what topics they need discussed in their lives, and then, of course, add a vocations spin," says Fr. Schild, a religion teacher at the school who coordinates the group. The students love to hear vocation stories about priesthood and married life from guest speakers, he adds.
Fr. Schild, who is also associate pastor of St. Wendelin, says the main purpose of the discernment group is to encourage young men at the parish to "ask the deeper questions of life."
Colin Campbell, a senior, appreciates that members are comfortable talking about their faith, something he often finds to be a "taboo" subject in daily high school life. ìIt’s a faith-based group, and no one feels weird about that,î he explains.
Senior Kevin Eibner says the group forces him to think deeper about his faith. "We’re pushed to explain why we believe what we believe," he says.
Robbie Herrig, also a senior, says he likes the "openness that you can have with everyone here."
"We can share and just talk about what’s going on in our lives," agrees junior Daniel Gonzalez.
Fr. Schild notes the group is not strictly focused on the priesthood, but on helping the young men to discern what they are called to do and to live that out in a holy way.
"Whatever they do, I want them to be holy at it," he says.
Not long after the discernment group for boys began meeting last April, a similar discernment group for St. Wendelin High School girls formed.
"We waited until the girls said, ‘How come we don’t have one of our own?’ " says Notre Dame Sister Teresita Richards, a religion teacher and campus minister at St. Wendelin. "Then we knew they were ready."
The group started informally with several "cooking with the sisters" events at Sr. Richard’s convent in Fostoria, but soon the young women were gathering every Friday morning at 7 a.m. in the high school chapel for eucharistic adoration, which is open to anyone in the school.
Sr. Richards, coordinator for the group, says the girls picked the early time slot so it would not interfere with activities after school. They continue attending adoration on Fridays through the summer and during other school breaks, like the day after Thanksgiving.
Juice and doughnuts initially followed adoration, but Sr. Richards says there is rarely time for that anymore because the group usually wants to remain in prayer until they have to leave for class a little before 8 a.m.
Young women in the group also participate in vocations events and visit with sisters from various communities to learn more about religious life. On New Year’s Eve, the girls are invited to participate in eucharistic adoration with the Sisters of Notre Dame in Whitehouse.
Another upcoming opportunity is a "busy student’s discernment retreat," in which time is set aside time for spiritual direction and contemplative prayer four days in a row.
While the girls’ discernment group is more specifically focused on religious vocations than the boy’s group, Sr. Richards says it also gives its members "tools for discernment in your whole life."
The line at the heart of a prayer they use during eucharistic adoration is, "Lord, what do you want of me?"
"When they say it, they say it from the depth of their hearts," says Sr. Richards.
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Last Updated on Tuesday, 03 March 2009 13:42 |
