Before I was installed as the Bishop of Arlington last December,
many people told me about WorkCamp, an annual week of faith and service
organized by our Office of Youth Ministry. They said that I had to experience
the size and scale of the logistics involved in transforming a school into the
backdrop for an intentional Christian community, and organizing more than 1,000
youth and adult volunteers into 160 crews that will make the homes of their
residents warmer, safer and drier. More importantly, everyone promised I would
be amazed at the charity, joy and hard work of those involved when I came to
experience it firsthand.
I finally attended my first Arlington WorkCamp during the last
week of June, and believe me, it lived up to the anticipation! I witnessed high
school students and adult volunteers practicing joyful service, praying daily
and experiencing the mercy of God. As Christian witnesses, they offer each of
us these three fundamental attributes of the life of a disciple.
First, on a grand scale, WorkCamp provides an example of the joy
that flows from Christian service. This year, over 800 of our diocesan youth,
almost 200 adult volunteer leaders and over 175 volunteer contractors gave up a
week of their summer vacation to paint walls, repair roofs, build wheelchair
ramps and perform many other home improvement projects for families in need.
Not only that, but these campers sacrificed to be a part of WorkCamp, raising
money beforehand to participate and, while at camp, waking up early each day
and working hard to get the job done in the hot June sun.
From the world’s point of view, this does not make sense. Why not
go to the beach and relax instead of working so hard for strangers? But after
only a short time spent with the campers and adult volunteers, I was able to
see the joy that emanated from their charitable acts. It is so profound that
many of the campers and adults return each year because the joy of helping
others is something they cannot find in a vacation or a trip to an amusement
park. They came to know what we all should know as disciples of Christ, that
when we offer our lives to others in charity, we find genuine peace and lasting
joy. It may seem paradoxical, but it is not: the more you give of yourself in
Christ, the more you receive from Him in return.
The second lesson we learn from the WorkCampers is the importance
of prayer and the Eucharist in our daily lives. Each morning at 7 a.m., the
entire camp gathered for daily Mass before heading out to the sites. At lunch,
they would pray and share their faith with each other, inviting their residents
to join them. When they returned in the evening, they would gather together to
praise the Lord in song before heading out once more in small groups for more
prayer and faith sharing.
In addition to daily Mass, the Eucharist was a central part of
their prayer. There was a chapel where the tabernacle was available for campers
to be with Jesus. During my visit, I was honored to preside for Eucharistic
adoration, including bringing our Lord on a procession through the crowd
gathered in that packed gymnasium. I was inspired by the silent reverence of
over one thousand people as I brought Jesus into their midst, and their desire
to draw nearer to Him was visible in their faces. As the presence of our Lord
in the Eucharist and the practice of prayer throughout the day strengthened
each of the participants at WorkCamp, we know it will do the same for us as we
seek to fulfill the will of God in our lives.
Finally, WorkCamp revolves around God’s mercy. By their service
to those in need, each participant helps others to encounter God’s boundless
love. In order to show the mercy of God, they also needed to receive that mercy
from others and from God.
Mercy was demonstrated in the kindness shown to fellow campers
and the teamwork that each crew showed as they labored together and looked out
for each other. However, the most powerful display of God’s mercy came during
the Penance service, when I joined 57 of my brother priests to hear the
confessions of the campers and adult volunteers. For over an hour, the long
lines to receive God’s mercy in the Sacrament of Reconciliation gave compelling
testimony that in order to give the mercy of God, we must know the experience
of that mercy ourselves. May we celebrate regularly this precious gift in the
Sacrament of Reconciliation.
Through their service, prayer and mercy, the teens at WorkCamp
have given us both a gift and a challenge. Their beautiful hearts, tremendous
enthusiasm and great zeal call all of us to bring Jesus to our streets,
communities and our world that needs Him and our faithful witness now more than
ever.