Students representing All Saints Parish pose for a photo during one of their local missions. Courtesy of Catholic Diocese
Traditionally, the teens of All Saints Parish in Brunswick hit the road in the summertime to cities around the country for a residential experience of living as a disciple of Jesus through prayer and service to the poor.
This year, the pandemic prevented such a journey from occurring, but it didn’t prevent the teens from adjusting their mission.
Recently, the Youth Ministry program at All Saints Parish held a local teen mission with 19 participants, including adult leaders, taking part in a weeklong experience.
“We usually go out of state for our summer teen mission but we were unable to do that the last two years because of COVID-19,” said Debbie Poulton, the youth ministry coordinator at St. Charles Borromeo Church in Brunswick. “We chose to focus on what we could do rather than what we couldn’t. It provided us with the opportunity to give back to our local community.”
Students volunteered at Midcoast Youth Center in Bath and Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program in Brunswick, and helped elderly parishioners with their yard work during the afternoons.
“I enjoy seeing the students bond with the elderly each year,” said Jill Palmer, one of the adult leaders for the mission who led a group of teens to an elderly parishioner’s home to do some gardening. “These bonds last throughout the year with personal cards and check in messages. These personal relationships are just as important as the mulching, painting, and other ‘odds and ends’ chores that the students do from day to day.”
Sheila Murphy, the spiritual director and retreat leader, presented the message for the week during morning and evening sessions.
“Each day I introduced the students to a new holy person who had a message for them,” said Murphy. “What struck me was how moved they were by ‘meeting’ Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection. Brother Lawrence was a Carmelite monk in the 1600’s who offered the simple teaching: Be in constant conversation with God and renounce anything that leads away from God. Brother Lawrence was truly dedicated to God and truly himself, with all his colorful quirks. The theme of the week was ‘True You: Called to be a Saint.’ Students were challenged to see the difference between ‘Be true you’ and the popular allurement, ‘You do you!’”
All of the service and educational opportunities were designed to ultimately deepen the teens’ relationship with God.
“Students were encouraged to look for God during their day and to share what they found to the group at night,” said Poulton. “Students may sense the presence of God anywhere: in their morning journaling, yardwork, conversations, prayer time group sharing, or sharing meals. At the end of the week, parents were invited to a gathering that featured each student witnessing to where they found God in the week. It was a special week.”
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