PARMA, Ohio — The annual Boys and Girls Camps of the Eparchy of Parma were combined this year and held at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, June 19-22, so that the campers could participate actively in the 50th-anniversary celebrations of the eparchy. The camp drew 33 young people, some from as far away as Iowa.
The nuns of Christ the Bridegroom Monastery led the camps, with the support of many volunteers. The camps are usually held at the Shrine of Our Lady of Mariapoch and at Christ the Bridegroom Monastery in Burton, Ohio. However, the change in venue allowed teens to be front and center for this important milestone in the eparchy’s history.
Campers and chaperones stayed at the cathedral complex, where they slept, shared meals, and prayed, played and learned together.
Thursday night, youth spent two hours praying in the cathedral and going to one of eight confessors for confession. Many campers identified this quiet time as their favorite part of the camp.
“When I was getting ready to go to confession, I felt him (God) there,” said Lauren Kattler, 13.
Campers participated in several events that were unique to the program this year. On Friday, they were joined by families, some with young moms pushing strollers, for a nearly 3-mile walking pilgrimage from the cathedral to Holy Spirit Parish in Parma. As the 50 pilgrims walked under a warm sun, they sang and prayed, attracting inquiries from observers along the way.
Bishop Milan Lach, SJ, of Parma and the clergy of the eparchy joined the campers and other pilgrims at Holy Spirit Cemetery to pray a Panachida for the deceased clergy of the eparchy. The clergy were already at Holy Spirit Parish, participating in a clergy convocation. The campers and families then walked back to the cathedral.
Campers also had the rare opportunity to meet and speak with a cardinal from the Vatican. Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, prefect of the Congregation for Eastern Churches, was in Parma for the golden jubilee celebrations. He held a Q&A with the campers at the cathedral Friday afternoon.
After supper that night, campers joined in the Parastas service that was led by Father Marek Visnovsky in the cathedral and attended by members of the entire community. Some campers then chose to keep vigil until midnight.
Throughout their days together, campers listened to several speakers draw out the camp theme, “Who do you say that I am?” (Mt 16:15), the same theme as the eparchy’s jubilee celebrations.
The speakers explored the reality that authentic personal identity only springs from Christ’s identity as the Son of God. They reflected on the talks together in small groups.
Mother Iliana Lonchyna, one of the nuns, spoke about prayer.
“God wants to meet us where we are, without masks,” she said. “God wants to waste time with us. And it’s there (in prayer) you’ll find out who you are.”
Gregg Stovicek, a single layman and a theology teacher at Lake Catholic High School in Mentor, Ohio, told the campers that when Jesus asks, “Who do you say that I am?” Jesus is also inviting his disciples to put that same question back to him. Discernment, he said, is the process of asking God this question and listening for the answer, in order to come to an understanding of one’s true identity.
Father Nathan Adams, who was ordained for the Eparchy of Parma this past spring, served as camp chaplain and shared his conversion story with the youth.
“I focused all my energies on knowing about God and not knowing God,
” he said. “Don’t be fooled: this is no different than showing up at (liturgical) services and thinking that being there is the same as knowing God.
”
Father Michael Lee, administrator of St. Luke Byzantine Catholic Church in Sugar Creek, Missouri, spoke of the mystery of Christians’ filial adoption as sons of the Father through baptism.
“If ever you hear that the Father is angry with you, that’s a lie. If ever you hear that you aren’t beloved, that’s a lie,
” he said. “Become who you are! That’s the quest of the spiritual life: not to become someone else, but to become who you are.”
Caption:
Mother Cecilia Hritz of Christ the Bridegroom Monastery leads the Boys and Girls Camps walking pilgrimage from the grounds of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist to Holy Spirit Parish, about 3 miles away, June 21. (Photo: Sarah Fetsko)
As published in Horizons, July 14, 2019. Sign up for Horizons’ digital newsletter.