Over six days, 35 rising high school juniors and seniors formed a close-knit faith community as they sweat while cleaning a local cemetery, heard the stories of suffering people they served in a homeless shelter and dining room and listened to and discussed deep theological presentations.
During The Franciscan Experience Summer Institute, July 10-15, youth encountered Christ through the heart of St. Francis of Assisi.
Sponsored by FranU, the youth were immersed in activities and experiences which they described as lifechanging. The first day attendees split up into “saints groups” named after a Franciscan saint. During the week these groups huddled together and discussed presentations and experiences of the day. The attendees also mentored and witnessed to each other, participated in daily Mass, prayed the Liturgy of the Hours and hung out.
FranU professors gave presentations tying in the theological aspects of each day’s events.
Dr. Brian Pedraza, FranU Associate Professor of Theology, noted youths were instructed on the life of St. Francis and the Franciscan vision of creation, poverty, humility and the moral life. In honor of the Eucharistic revival, Friday featured a presentation by Dr. David Moser, “The Eucharist as Denouement.”
“(St.) Francis loved the Eucharist and had an immense Eucharistic devotion, and since our bishops are asking us to undertake a Eucharistic Revival, what better way is there to end TFE than with a Eucharistic crescendo?” asked Dr. Pedraza.
The service opportunities themselves were a valuable teaching tool of living the faith in action.
Family memories rekindled for James Thompson, 18, as he served.
While Thompson helped clean Sweet Olive Cemetery, the oldest African American cemetery in Baton Rouge, he remembered times he and his dad cleaned a cemetery in Austin, Texas where deceased relatives are buried.
“A lot of gravestones were covered in dirt and grass, you couldn’t even see them,” said Thompson, a former Franciscan High School student who will attend Helix Mentorship Academy at the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport this fall. “I had a flashback, like, ‘Oh, I’ve seen this before.’”
When listening to the theology instructors, Thompson remembered his grandmother’s advice to him: “When they start speaking, open your heart to the word, because you will learn a lot about the gospel, about Jesus, about God.”
Thompson said the Franciscan Experience will benefit him as he plans to attend Seoul National University in South Korea and study biochemistry.
“My grandpa was stationed in Osan, South Korea, and then went to visit Seoul twice,” said Thompson. “So I want to see what he has seen though his eyes, and I want to see through my eyes what he’s seen.”
As he explores the world, Thompson said he will never stop trying to help people, something TFE reinforced.
“Whenever I’m visiting America if they’re doing this camp I might pop in and say ‘hey,’ ” Thompson said.
Rachel Dardis, 17, a rising senior at St. Michael the Archangel High School in Baton Rouge, said her brother, Charlie, and sister, Mary Joe, and her friends attended TFE last year and discussed how much they loved their experiences, how it changed them and the lasting friendships they made.
“They all met here and regularly get together and hang out and have a good time. I thought that was inspiring that they all stayed close friends and it was because of TFE,” said Dardis.
She found the time and content they were given to pray with helped her delve deeply into her faith. And the encounters she had with people in need she served through the St. Vincent de Paul Society changed the way she thinks about people in need.
“They were really friendly and ready to talk, and I could see Jesus in them,” said Dardis.
She was inspired by one woman’s story of overcoming a violent past.
“It made me realize how much smaller my problems are and how much I can learn from her about bouncing back whenever things get hard,” said Dardis.
Andrew Dreher said his eyes were opened spiritually at last year’s institute. He thought, “hey I want more of that” and returned this year.
“The graces that God allowed me to receive removed the scales from my eyes,” said Dreher, a rising senior at Loranger High School in Lorganger. “Just like St. Paul I didn’t even know I could surrender to him and allow me to see him in others.”
He said this year he realized other people are called to serve just as he is.
“Last year it was more of a personal thing like Jesus wants more of me. This year, he wants me to go out and serve others to the best of my ability and not myself.”
TFE attendees watched the movie, “Outcasts” which documented the Franciscan friars’ mission work in New York, Ireland and England.
“They were so selfless and giving of themselves to people and surrendering their work to God,” Dreher said. “It was incredible to see them giving of themselves that much for the poor.
“Applying the movie to my service at the (SVDP) shelter – I wanted to tap into that, and it’s been really awesome,” said Dreher.
Pedraza said the caliber of the students this year was “fantastic.” The students’ questions are not “light weight,” delving into the finer theological elements of the Apostles’ Creed, foundation of Scriptures, how the life of the Trinity applies to human beings, etc.
“They really keep you on your toes as a professor,” smiled Pedraza.
He said the youth showed they are hungry for Christian maturity and looking for peers who want to grow in faith together.
“If you give them college-level theory and the deeper riches of the church, they respond in kind,” said Pedraza.