By Sallie Bachar
Superior Catholic Herald
Merrill eighth graders 'Discover the Way'
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MERRILL -- "Tonight was a night I will remember," said Ashley Rahlf, an eighth grader from St. Francis Xavier Parish in Merrill. Rahlf was one of 20 students her age who attended a five-hour retreat on vocations. The retreat was sponsored by the Vocations Committee of St. Francis in an effort to encourage the young people to begin thinking about their calling in life.
Sr. Sue Torgersen, CSJ, director of Marywood Franciscan Spirituality Center in Arbor Vitae, whose background is in youth ministry, led the retreat. She was instrumental in developing the "Discover the Way" retreat to meet the needs of the youths in the New Ulm Diocese of Minnesota, where she ministered from 1994 until 2004. The program is just getting established in the Superior Diocese, she said. She presented the retreat in Mellen a year ago, and two more will be offered this spring in Three Lakes and Phillips.
"Our desire as a center (Marywood) is to have a strong relationship with the Superior Diocese," she said. The need for vocations is critical, and as a spirituality center, vocations are part of what we are about, she added. Marywood is happy to do what it can to foster vocations.
The young people's retreat, however, does not focus only on vocations to the religious life. A panel of married couples, singles, religious sisters and two senior high school students interacted with the eighth graders throughout the presentation. "Our attention is focusing on the vocation to be the kids they are. When we talk vocation, we talk about a special way of giving ourselves in love and service," Torgersen said.
The point was well taken by the students. "This helped me understand and realize the vocation of my life," said Jess Deering, one of the attendees. "I got to learn more about the vocation of my life," added Marissa Bartz.
The panel of adults spoke to the youth about what Torgersen terms the "best and worst" of their particular vocations. The adults were encouraged to share the greatest joy of their vocations as married couples, single lay people. religious and high school students. In addition, they revealed some of the hardships and challenges of living out their callings, while still remaining faithful and responding with love. The discussion was honest and open and prompted the students to ask some very sincere and pointed questions of the panel. In all the many years Torgersen has been conducting these retreats she has never found a young person to put an adult "on the spot." "They ask (questions) from a sincere place," she noted.
After the panel finished sharing, the youths broke into small groups and were told to develop an ad or commercial to persuade "everyone on the planet" to become like eighth graders. They were to include all the good things about their life--church, community, school, friends, etc. "List all of the perks, the wonderful things to persuade us to be one of you," added Torgersen.
The second half of the project was to point out the worst part of being an eighth grader. "Give us a heads-up about the bumps in the road," said Torgersen. "What might be difficult and what should we be warned about?" In conclusion, the students were to show the benefits of their presence to the community.
Torgersen then pulled together the results of the small groups' reports and pointed out to the students, "This is your vocation in the things that you enjoy, finding God's presence and call here, where you are today." Addressing the adult participants and the importance of supporting the youths, she told them, "Cultivate a sense of care for the young people, for their gifts to us." Kylie Beyer experienced that sense of caring in the retreat. "This showed me that people care about what we think, and we mean a lot to people that barely know us."
Rahlf summed it up best when she said, "Everyone helped me realize what's really going on in life. I would love to do this again sometime. I have experienced a lot tonight."
© Superior Catholic Herald, 2008