New faith initiatives at JDCHS

Friday, Oct. 31, 2014

By Molly Dumas

DRAPER — Gabe Freeman, a self-described “lifer” at the Skaggs Catholic Center who is now Student Body President at Juan Diego Catholic High School, describes his Catholic school faith formation experience as rather formulaic:  “In elementary school it’s about sitting still in church. In 8th grade it was more experiential, with the ‘Living Stations of the Cross’ reenactment during Holy Week. Then upon reaching high school, we revert back to focusing on sitting up in Church again.”

With those experiences, Freeman is excited about some of the school’s new initiatives surrounding faith life. 

“It’s not that I want [Mass] to be more entertaining, because I’m not bored,” he said. “It’s just that our world is so fast paced, with everything coming at you so fast. We just lose sight of the mystery.” 

The new initiatives include a change in venues, varied music, inclusion of students from other high schools, and a little technology thrown in, which Freeman believes results in more interactive, engaged students. 

“Last year’s Skype with the Bishop and the diocesan-wide Rosary Rally were great!” Freeman said. “These strengthened our communal ties with each other, our [sister] schools and the diocese.”

Students tend to gravitate toward prayer to help them cope with loss, said Dr. Galey Colosimo, Juan Diego principal, but “we want them to see it as joyful, too, not just serious or sorrowful. We don’t have to reinvent Mass or prayer, just re-envision how we meet them where they are [spiritually].” 

Like teaching to multiple intelligences, or seeking to inspire teens to be lifelong learners, high schools must differentiate faith formation experiences to find the one that might ignite spiritual curiosity or nurture a vocation, Colosimo believes. He said the school’s mission is to both guide Catholic students and invite non-Catholic students to know Christ. “In theology class, students read Luke and learn that Jesus spoke about caring for the poor. But they connect with Jesus more personally when they actually serve the homeless at the soup kitchen.”

In a similar way, Christine Petrone, vice principal of student affairs, conducts a Seder with her theology classes. “Studying the sacrament as an adult, this mystery of the Eucharist became real for me, and His words suddenly resonated when we held a Seder supper together,” she said. “Jesus knew that the apostles would always celebrate the Passover meal (remembering/reliving their exodus from slavery) and now they would celebrate in remembrance of Him. In the same way we break bread at each Mass, we need to give students experiences that keep Christ on their minds.”

Campus Ministry Director Amee Garcia and new Coordinator of Special Events Dave Brunetti have worked with student leaders to repurpose retreats, take a more creative and participatory approach to prayer services, and try new faith-building activities.  

“On the Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi, we had Mass on the grass to change the routine, and celebrated Mass from the perspective of our patron saint of nature,” Brunetti said. 

Retreats, once conducted en masse with 200 classmates, now vary in approach. 

“A two-hour ropes course is typically better suited for underclassmen, and focuses on team building and overcoming fears,” says Garcia.

This year, they combined forces with Judge Memorial peer ministry leaders on an outdoor “Impact“ ropes course retreat to explore their leadership strengths and discover what motivates them to take that leap of faith. 

Garcia noted that teens are seeking a deeper exploration of their faith, but may be questioning a religion’s ideology. “We give seniors options. One retreat simply takes them on a hike to Lake Mary, asking them to open their minds, feel the light of Christ as they feel the sun, think about their intentions.” Garcia added, “A Kairos retreat is multisensory, an intense contemplative three days with a small group. We have twice as many students who want to go as we can take.” 

That’s a paradigm shift.

Molly Dumas is the JDCHS administrative director of advancement/public information officer.