Summer Assignment Helps See the Future

During my summer assignment in the Parish of St. Monica in Atlantic City I had the opportunity to go to a Steubenville Conference with the Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal and young adults from the parish youth group. This weekend trip was filled with graces for everyone involved: the youth, the chaperones, and the many priests and religious who were present. Every aspect and event of the conference provided an opportunity for everyone to go deeper into their own relationship with God. Events of the weekend included talks from well-known Catholic speakers (including Jason Evert and Paul J. Kim), small group discussions, times for community building, opportunities for Confession, opportunities for Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, and, at the center of everything, the celebration of daily Mass. The greatest grace for me however did not necessarily come from one of these individual events, but rather came from the experience of being with 2,000 young Catholics who willingly and enthusiastically chose to spend a weekend of their summer with God.

A big aspect of my discernment is looking forward to God-willing one day being a spiritual father, and that reality of spiritual fatherhood struck me deeply during this weekend at the Franciscan University of Steubenville. Sometimes the future of the Church can seem grim when I look out at a congregation and do not see any young people at Sunday Mass, but being in the middle of a crowd of 2,000 young people who make up the future of our Church was anything but grim. This weekend was a reminder to me that God will never let His Church die and that the spiritual fatherhood of Christ’s Priesthood will never be childless. The future of our Church lies with our youth and young adults, and if that weekend trip to Steubenville is any indication, that future is radiant with the light of Christ. After returning to the parish after our trip, I was able to see that reality of our Church’s bright future more clearly as I saw the young people from the trip in the pews or serving in the Sanctuary at Mass with a renewed and authentic zeal. As a seminarian aspiring to the priesthood, I look forward to one day becoming a spiritual father, helping all of God’s children to be filled with that same zeal and fervor of faith in Our Lord, Jesus Christ.