Diocesan youth get a feel for religious life
by Father Kevin Cook

Awareness of and responding to God’s will is essential to every follower of Christ. In seeking his will, the discernment of one’s vocation and the response to the call to holiness must be imbued throughout the formation of every individual. Knowing that to be one of their missions in education, Bishop Stang High School, North Dartmouth, with the Vocations Office of Fall River, organized trips for seniors to St. John’s Seminary in Brighton and the convent of the Daughters of St. Paul in Jamaica Plain. The purpose of the trips was to help the students have a greater understanding of the vocations to the priesthood and religious life. Though they have been learning about the vocations, many never have had the opportunity to see those discerning God’s call, nor to see how they live it. For many of them, their understanding of religious life and priesthood are often formed by what is seen in movies or television (which is more than often inaccurate). Since there is that misunderstanding, there tends to be less openness to saying yes to whatever God may ask of them. There is often the perception that the life of a religious or priest is boring and lonely, with their spending all their time sitting in a chapel. Many think they are not ordinary people. It was to open the students’ minds and hearts to the truths of these wonderful callings that these trips were formed.

The senior class was divided over two consecutive weeks, with the boys going to St. John’s Seminary, and the girls attended convent of the Daughters of St. Paul. Like the trips planned last year with the seventh-grade boys and girls in the New Bedford Catholic schools, many of the students went with joyful expectation (more because they were getting out of classes for the day, I presume) but also with some apprehension (perhaps a little fearful that we were going to tell them they all had to become priests and religious Sisters).

The boys arrived and were greeted by our Fall River seminarians Greg Bettencourt and Jason Brilhante. Each trip, Greg began by giving the students a very enjoyable tour of the very impressive seminary. After the tour, Bettencourt spoke to the students about the seminary and his, and the other seminarians’ ongoing formation and discernment of God’s will for them. After his presentation, the students had time for questions and answers regarding the lives of the seminarians. Before leaving for a delicious lunch, they spent time praying for their vocations and all vocations.

Though the students were amazed at beauty of the chapel, the woodwork of the refectory, the history and traditions present in the building, what was most striking was not the structure, but those who reside there seeking to do God’s will. It was the ordinariness of the seminarians whom they met which struck them most, along with their joy, zeal, hope, faith, and trust in God. Though the building and its amenities may have attracted the boys superficially, it was the witness of those seeking to respond to his call that made them more open to his will for them.

The girls had a similar dynamic occur. They arrived at the convent a little late the first day due to road construction in Dedham. Once they arrived the girls were brought to a gathering hall where they were welcomed by the Sisters. For almost all the girls, this was the first time they had ever entered a convent. Unlike the boys who had met priests before, this was the first time for many of the girls to meet religious Sisters. The Sisters gave a small introduction about religious life and their particular apostolate and way of life. The Daughters of St. Paul were founded at the turn of the 20th century with the charism to proclaim Christ to the world through modern media. As the Sisters explained through a video presentation, they believed they are called by Christ to testify to his love. They seek to testify to his love by the spreading the Gospel through books, music, video, photography, pamphlets, and radio.

After the Sisters had made their presentations, the girls were given a tour of the convent. The girls were shown by different Sisters their radio station, their photography studio, their recording studio, their office where publications are sent forth, and other aspects of the convent. It was here they were able to learn and see how the Sisters radiated Christ. The girls were fascinated how Sister Maria Ruth from Columbia spoke with great passion of spreading the faith through radio. They were intrigued by how the humble and joyful Sister Mary Emanuel is constantly seeking God in the beauty of his creation, and trying to capture it in photo, so others when looking upon one of her snap shots may be moved to prayer. After their tours, the girls spent some time in the chapel praying about their vocations and the needs of each other. They finished with lunch, and a chance to engage the Sisters in questions and answers. For some of the girls, this was one of the most fascinating parts of the trip, where they were able to get a sense of the lives of the sisters and witness how much they truly love Christ and his call.

As one of the girls noted, it was a great lesson to see how the Sisters use little things to seek to plant God’s seeds in the hearts of people. But as could be seen simply in the Sisters’ faces, their testimony is most effective by their lives. The girls noted after the trip how they (like the boys in seminary) were struck by the genuine joyfulness and love in the Sisters. Though some still left there thinking that the Sisters’ lives would be too hard for them, they were struck how "real" the Sisters were. The trip helped the girls not only to get rid of some stereotypes which many came in with, but to understand and appreciate the call which the Sisters have responded to.

Those who had gone on both trips said they learned much from them and said every Catholic in Catholic schools should go on these trips. It opened up their eyes to the lives of those whom God has called to the priesthood and religious life. Several noted they were much more open now to praying about what God is asking of them then they were before the trip that day. These trips were a great success, not only because of the learning about a very important part of Christ’s Church, but because it opened some hearts a little more want to want to follow Christ and to discern what he is calling them to, like so many saints before us. That is the greatest result one can hope for from any Catholic education; everything else in education is secondary.

This article appeared in the January 12, 2007 edition of The Anchor.