I attended a Salesian grammar school in Limerick City, and we all loved the nuns. They were sweet, loving and kind and taught us a lot about the life of St. John Bosco and how he worked with poor boys to enrich their lives. This interest in helping the poor through education has continued with me throughout my life.
A week last Wednesday, I attended the North Haledon Salesian school complex and again met with the heroes of my youth. The Salesian nuns were hosting a great event called Catholic Heart Work Camp. Before COVID, Nina had scheduled our youth to attend the Catholic Heart Work Camp facility. We were finally able to reschedule our youth to attend, five days filled with Catholic love, sacraments and on the job experience to better the lives of those less fortunate than ourselves. A big thank you to Dan and Mary Furnald for chaperoning our St. Luke youth and to Allison from St. Lawrence for coordinating both parishes for these very special days. Our parishioner, Quinn Furnald, now the youth minister at Fr. Alex’s parish, Notre Dame, Cedar Knolls, coordinated the music for the 5-day event. In my 30 years of priesthood, I have coordinated many workcamp experiences in the West Virginia area but never have had the privilege of doing so with a strong Catholic outreach group. Catholic Heart Work Camp centers everything they do on the sacraments and help to live out the sacraments in caring for others. Each morning, our teams were up at the crack of dawn. The day began with Mass, breakfast and then varied adult chaperones drove the 120 youth to various work sites where they worked on repairing homes for the working poor in Paterson, repairing church properties in Newark, repairing indoor facilities in Parsippany where there are centers for the developmentally challenged. Our youth gained an insight into the lives of the working poor and experienced first-hand the care given by professional to special needs adults and youth. Our youth came from our own parishes of St. Luke and St. Lawrence, St. Elizabeth in Wycoff and many parishes from Maine, Pittsburgh, and Illinois. At the end of each workday, the youth had an opportunity to decompress, make friends, have dinner, and hang out. After dinner, the youth gathered in the auditorium for a period of music, dancing, and fun, followed by a reflection of the work done that day by each group concluding with time for confessions, Holy Hour, prayer, and reflection which were varied each day. It was a pleasure to see so many young people deepening their faith, learning what it means to be a Catholic and making like-minded friends in a supervised and loving environment. I am proud of the work we at St. Luke did to support this year’s Catholic Heart Work Camp and look forward to our youth sharing these experiences. I ask our parents to encourage their teenagers and young adults to make the time next year to prioritize this great work and retreat experience. I know these five days changed the lives of many young people, helping them to understand their privilege and to better understand our beloved Holy Father’s message of reaching out to the many in the name of Christ. Through Catholic service and prayer, we can improve the lives of others and gain insight into the root of our Catholic faith. The insight that will impact and enrich their lives forever. Please take the time to enjoy the photographs in the bulletin this week from Catholic Heart Work Camp.