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Chaplains are ‘pastoral presence’ at high schools

Gretchen R. Crowe | Catholic Herald

Two new chaplains will be on-hand to welcome high school
students when classes begin Aug. 27. Father Michael J.R.
Kelly, who spent two years as parochial vicar of St. Mary
Church in Alexandria after his 2010 ordination, will replace
Father J.D. Jaffe at Paul VI Catholic High School in Fairfax.
And Father Bjorn C. Lundberg, most recently parochial vicar
of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception Church in
Fredericksburg, will take over for Father Matthew H.
Zuberbueler at Pope John Paul the Great High School in
Dumfries.

For the chaplains, who join Father Edwin E. Perez at Bishop
Ireton High School in Alexandria and Father Phillip M. Cozzi
at Bishop O’Connell High School in Arlington, their main goal
is to be a “pastoral presence” for students, faculty and
staff at their respective schools, said Sister Bernadette
McManigal, diocesan superintendent of Catholic schools. This
means celebrating Mass and listening to confessions, but also
attending football games and plays.

“No one talks to anyone they haven’t seen before,” Sister
Bernadette said. “If you have a concern, you don’t go up to
someone that you don’t really know. It’s the informal times
that a student will talk.”

Father Kelly is particularly suited for high school
chaplaincy from his time volunteering with NET Ministries, a
national youth ministry program, after graduating from
Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio. While he’s
looking forward to providing the sacraments, counseling and
organizing retreats, his ultimate mission, he said, is to
show young people the love of God in their lives.

“If my job is just to dispense sacraments, then I’ve fallen
short of the goal,” he said. “They need to know who Jesus
is.”

This means he will encourage students to attend Mass every
Sunday, to develop a prayer life and to grow in their
understanding of Scripture, especially the Gospels.

“I also want them to know that God is here, God is present,
God is living, and He is in their lives,” Father Kelly said.
“I’m excited to do the will of God. I’m glad to do it.”

As of mid-August, Father Lundberg already had hit the ground
running by going with John Paul the Great students on a
mission trip to the Dominican Republic and attending football
camp in Front Royal.

Those opportunities, paired with attending last year’s World
Youth Day with the students, reinforced Father Lundberg’s
positive opinion of the students and John Paul the Great as a
whole, he said.

Throughout the school year – which encompasses the Year of
Faith, scheduled to begin Oct. 11 – Father Lundberg will help
spread the message of faith to students, faculty and staff.
He also will teach freshmen religion.

“I’ve taught before, but this is taking it to a different
level,” he said.

Being the new face on campus, he realizes he has a lot to
learn. Every time he meets a freshman, he tells them he’s a
freshman too, he said.

Like Father Kelly, Father Lundberg said he just wants to help
the students become closer to Christ and, especially, to
discover God’s will for their lives.

“(The goal is) that they have an encounter with Christ, and
that they discover His love for them and find their
vocation,” he said.

To help facilitate that, Father Lundberg knows he will have
to be around the students a lot – almost like a “spiritual
dad.”

“Hopefully it will be a positive experience for the kids,
that they understand that you love them and want them to fall
in love with Christ,” he said. Ultimately, “that helps them
pursue everything they do with excellence.”

Father Cozzi, who will begin his second year at Bishop
O’Connell this fall, also stressed the importance of spending
time with students. The best thing he learned in his first
year? “Go to everything,” he said.

“The ministry of presence is huge in high school,” he said.
“The kids just want to see that you care about them. You
don’t necessarily have to have the right thing to say all the
time, you don’t necessarily have to be the cool guy, you just
have to be somebody who shows up. They see you care, and they
trust you.”

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