Today's Marists 2024 Volume 8, Issue 2

NDP Middle School Reconciliation service
at St. John Fisher Parish
Students Embrace the
Openness
In light of what many Catholics - especially
those in the Church hierarchy - think is a
“confession crisis,” how do young people of
faith feel about this part of their still “newish”
spiritual journey? And how do they feel
about its sacramental ritual - whether in a
confessional or face-to-face?
Della Lawrence is the director of campus
ministry at Notre Dame Preparatory School
(NDP). She shared that in her 12+ years
in campus ministry at NDP, she cannot
remember any student requesting a private
setting for confession.
“The students are always receptive to faceto-face,”
she said. “We’ve never had a student
actually ask for something different. I also
am quite confident in saying that even in
most parishes, even when my own kids were
learning to receive the sacrament, it was
always face-to-face.”
Lawrence said especially during the season
of Lent, campus ministry continues to
provide a myriad of reconciliation services
for NDP students in third through 12th
grade.
“We brought our third, fourth and fifth
graders over to the main school campus
and did a prayer service with them, and
inside that prayer service is the Sacrament
of Reconciliation,” she said. “Students are all
encouraged and invited to go to confession -
those who are Catholic, of course.”
She said that those who are not Catholic
are told they can meet with the priest for a
blessing.
“It’s really an invitation, an invitation for
them to really understand and know what
the process is, that it is an internal reflection,”
she said. “Right from the beginning, we’re
talking to the kids at all ages about the
sacrament. And they also talk about it in
religion classes, even the pre-K through
second grade students.”
Spiritual Retreats Provide
Opportunities
At the other end of the age spectrum at
NDP is Chanel Issa, a 12th grader looking
forward to graduation in May. For her,
reconciliation means more than simply
seeking forgiveness.
“For me, the Sacrament of Reconciliation
means still another way of connecting with
those who you have established relationships
with over the years, especially now that I’m
graduating high school,” she said. “I want
to strengthen those relationships with my
family and with my friends, and I feel like the
idea of reconciliation, the process of seeking
forgiveness and forgiving others and making
sure that you’re still keeping in touch with
others is pretty pivotal, especially since it’s
my senior year.”
Issa said that school retreats also provide
an opportunity in a more intimate setting to
“reconcile” with her fellow classmates.
“I loved going on our retreats and I feel
like they really helped with rekindling
friendships that maybe weren’t quite as
strong in the past,” she said. “Opening
yourself up to God and seeking
reconciliation also opens your relationships
with friends as you seek reconciliation with
them.”
Nolan Tompkins, Issa’s 12th-grade
classmate, has a different take on the
Sacrament of Reconciliation, perhaps a bit
more traditional.
“For me, the sacrament means a lot,” he said.
“Because we are human, we tend to mess up
a lot and sometimes move away from God
and reconciliation just reminds me that God
loves me no matter what I do.”
“God will always forgive me, as long as
I bring my sins to the priest and confess
everything and I feel sorry for my sins,”
he said. “I’m still a child of God, and
reconciliation just gives me a chance to
reunite with God.”
A Calming Effect
During this interview, Lawrence was in the
middle of organizing reconciliation services
for NDP’s middle schoolers. Each year,
she sets up a day at nearby St. John Fisher
Chapel University Parish, which serves as
the Catholic campus ministry for Oakland
University a few miles east of Notre Dame
Prep.
“We usually have 8 to 10 priests on hand
for about an hour and a half,” she said.
“Nowadays, it’s a little difficult to get that
many priests to be able to devote the same
hour and a half. But we begin working on it
at the start of the school year.”
She said that other area schools are now
following this same format for reconciliation
services.
Lawrence shared, “We even have an
alumnus from NDP, Fr. Eric Fedewa (Class
of 2000), who is pastor at St. Basil the Great
parish in Eastpointe, Michigan, to help us
out.”
According to Lawrence, they take over the
entire complex at St. John Fisher for the
reconciliation service.
“Every classroom - and they have a lot of
different classrooms - has a priest whether
it’s upstairs or downstairs,” she said. “And we
have seats and chairs and waiting spaces for
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Volume 8 | Issue 2 19