Our high school young men and their families arrived at 11:30 Sunday morning and were welcomed by Father Bandura and the seminarians.
Everyone played a lively game of 20 Questions, followed by a challenging activity in which our participants searched through various books to find highlighted words, then put the words in order to form Bible passages.
Then, Mass was celebrated by Father Bandura, who preached that when the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray, what they wanted at the deepest level was to imitate Christ’s relationship with the Father. The participants’ family members departed after receiving a blessing, and then our young men got to know each other a little better through a series of “conversation starters,” and took turns introducing each other to the group based on what they learned.
Next, Seminarian Dave gave a brief presentation on the Liturgy of the Hours, and Evening Prayer and a BBQ chicken dinner followed.
The evening talk was from Deacon Andrew Hamilton, who emphasized that true masculinity involves sacrifice, a laying down of one’s life in imitation of Jesus. The guys discussed this topic further in small groups, then had some recreation time which included football, baseball, ultimate frisbee, corn hole, hot dogs, s’mores, and ice cream sandwiches.
Seminarian Craig spoke briefly on Divine Mercy and we closed the night by praying the Chaplet and Night Prayer around the campfire, singing a devotional song to the Blessed Mother, and receiving a blessing with Holy Water.
~Kevin Richardson
Seminarian, Diocese of Greensburg
