The Compass

Diocesan seminarians will spend Christmas break visiting youth, promoting vocations

GREEN BAY — The first week of January marks a midway point of a month-long Christmas vacation for most college students. Many will use this time to work a part-time job to cover college expenses, while others will relax at home and catch up with friends or just sleep. Six local college seminarians, however, will be using their vacations to promote vocations.

From Jan. 1 to 8, these seminarians will be back on their home turf, the Diocese of Green Bay, on the road and on a mission. They will be discussing God's call at area Catholic high schools. The group will be visiting five high schools in five days, while staying in neighboring rectories, and serving in parishes. They are calling the project the Annual Winter Excursion of Seminarians On a Mission of Evangelization (AWESOME). The project was initiated by local seminarians from St. John Vianney College Seminary in St. Paul, Minn., and they will be joined by an Oshkosh seminarian from Missouri's Conception Abbey.

Seminarians from St. John Vianney Seminary in St. Paul, Minn., include Matt Rappl, left, Eric Brandt, Scott Valentyn, Ryan Starks, and Tom Holschuh. Not pictured is Michael Thiel of Conception Seminary College in Conception, Mo.

Valentyn believes the acronym is fitting, because it is "awesome" for each person to take the time to listen to what God is calling them to do with their life. He felt God calling him to start the project back in September and continued to pray about it. He then got his fellow seminarians onboard, noting that having multiple men talking about God's plan would make an even greater statement of faith.

During one of their weekly meetings, Valentyn gave the other seminarians the task to come up with a catchy name. Eric Brandt, a first-year Green Bay seminarian from Brillion, came up with the acronym AWESOME.

"I originally wanted to call it the Eric Brandt Experience Featuring Scott," joked Brandt. "When the other guys shot that one down, we went with AWESOME."

In preparation for the upcoming weeklong event, the group met often, going over the content of what they will be presenting in the classroom. The SJV-5 decided Christmas vacation would be the ideal time to execute it.

"I think this is a great way for seminarians to reach out to high school students," said Fr. Tom Long, vocations director for the Green Bay Diocese. "For them to know that there are young adults out there who are excited for their faith; seminarians have a real enthusiasm for sharing their faith, and it comes through."

Two of the first three high schools to be visited are in the Fox Valley and each has a seminarian alumnus. First-year seminarians Tom Holschuh and Matt Rappl are 2009 graduates from Xavier High School in Appleton and St. Mary Central High School in Menasha, respectively.

Our Lady of Lourdes and Roncalli High Schools as well as Notre Dame Academy are three additional high schools that will be a part of the AWESOME experience later in the week.

"When the students hear that seminarians are coming to talk to them about vocations, they are going to think it's another ad for the priesthood," said Brandt. "We're going to surprise them with this talk because it's about vocations — everyone has one."

"We are hoping to spread the message of the importance of being open to whatever God is calling you to," Valentine said. "If that's marriage, then that's awesome. We need holy families. If it's religious life, then that's great too. It's just important to be open to whatever it is."

Valentyn believed a retreat was the best way to spiritually prepare to launch the week of evangelization, so the weeklong excursion will begin with a Teens Encounter Christ retreat. Taking place at St. Peter and Paul Church in Green Bay, fourth-year seminarian Ryan Starks will be serving as an adult leader, while Valentyn and Rappl will be making a TEC for the first time. Throughout the weekend experience, the seminarians will interact with high school and college students from around the diocese.

Among other events AWESOME will be a part of that week are the LifeTeen Mass at St. Raphael Parish in Oshkosh, a Project Andrew discernment dinner with Bishop David Ricken and an evening at Xavier House of Discernment in De Pere. Additionally, they plan to help out at St. Francis of Assisi Parish's religious education program in Manitowoc and serve the residents at Fr. Carr's Place 2B, an Oshkosh shelter and food pantry.

Throughout all these events, they hope to meet young people, engage in conversations, and build relationships with those they've encountered to strengthen their faith. According to Valentyn and Brandt, the real evangelization isn't in the classroom presentations, but in the personal one-on-one conversations in the informal settings such as lunch and after school.

Valentine said the tour will end at the Catholic Youth Expeditions Basecamp in Appleton. There they will have the AWESOME send-off party, inviting everyone they've met along the way to celebrate with them. According to Valentyn, there they can get the high school visitors connected with other Catholics and programs in the diocese like CYE and TEC.

Each day the seminarians will attend daily Mass, a holy hour in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, and serve together.

"It's the most important part," said Valentyn. "Praying together, going to Mass together and growing together, builds us and our group dynamic, and that's reflected when we're meeting with the high school students. It's much easier to do when there's a group of guys who are going to hold you accountable for doing it, and will also be there with you."

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