“Cast Your Nets” & the first “Andrew Dinner”
Apr 20th, 2009 by Dan
The Archdiocese of Cincinnati has had a really great new program within the past year called Cast Your Nets. It is a coordinated effort by the Vocations office, Office of Youth & Young Adult Ministry, and some active and dedicated youth ministers. Fr. Schnippel has blogged on it previously.
I was able to accompany a group of our students from St. Albert the Great parish here in Kettering to the fall event at St. Luke parish in Beavercreek. There was lively music, a fantastic Mass with a dynamic homily from Fr. Schippel, and some really good camaraderie amongst the folks who went.
This past weekend, the latest edition of Cast Your Nets was hosted by Holy Redeemer parish up in New Bremen. Of course, this is close to my hometown of Coldwater and I was happy to be there. It was a great event. We had a nice group of high school students from all over the area, and the hard work of Wayne Topp, Paul Fullenkamp (the emcee), John Paul Herbert rocking the tunes, and many others really showed. Plus, the kids from Coldwater did a really nice job with their skit. One of my sisters played Lucifer, while another played a member of N’Sync. Yes, there is an obvious connection between the two… but they did well.
I had been asked to be the speaker at the end of the evening, which was both exciting and humbling. The theme “Be Bold” framed the discussion and I tried to emphasize how even now, in high school, daily decisions make the difference between mediocrity and “just getting along” versus really living life to the fullest. My own vocation story was part of it too (to the chagrin of the good students of Sidney Lehman HS who have heard the story well enough to tell it themselves). It went fine; I’m a perfectionist and it was not as smooth a talk as I would have liked, but everyone was very kind with their feedback. I’m glad I had the opportunity.
*****
There is a further, exciting event happening this week. On Wednesday evening we are having our first “Andrew Dinner” in the Archdiocese. Similar events have been held in other dioceses, and the idea is to invite guys to come learn more about the priesthood in a comfortable, personable setting.
The name is rooted in this passage from John’s gospel (1:40-42): “Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the two who heard John and followed Jesus. He first found his own brother Simon and told him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (which is translated Anointed). Then he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, ‘You are Simon the son of John; you will be called Cephas’ (which is translated Peter).” Just as Andrew brought his brother to Christ, we are encouraged to bring brothers in the faith to the foot of Christ and–as He leads us–to serve him as priests.
Holy Angels parish in Sidney is hosting this event and the word on the street is that there are already over twenty guys that are going to be there. Regardless of how the numbers actually play out… this is a great idea.
Archbishop Schnurr is going to be there and I’m excited for these young men to learn about the priesthood directly from our shepherd-to-be. Fr. Schnippel has been working hard on this I know and I’m looking forward to tagging along to provide the “Why enter the seminary?” perspective.
If you or someone you know should be there, contact the Vocations Office and we’ll work to make it happen. Not in a dragging-in-a-headlock way if you are volunteering someone else… but this is going to be a great way to informally but thoroughly discover more about serving as a Priest of Jesus Christ.