Where Are They Now?

St. Louis's last Archbishop, the current Archbishop of Philadelphia, Justin Cardinal Rigali, has taken his ministry to new realms with his recent foray into YouTube, the popular online video hosting site.  He has posted two videos so far, both with the intent of providing focus for Lent.

Living Lent: The First Sunday "How do you Live Lent faithfully? Cardinal Justin Rigali, the Archbishop of Philadelphia, gives a brief reflection on the Temptation of Jesus."

Living Lent: The Second Sunday "How do you Live Lent faithfully? Cardinal Justin Rigali, the Archbishop of Philadelphia, gives a brief reflection on the Transfiguration of Jesus."

As part of my training to take vows as a member of the Society of Jesus, a.k.a. the Jesuits, I was missioned to Belize, Central America last December 3rd, the feast of St. Francis Xavier, and arrived in the country on January 2nd. I was sent here to learn about and live in a new culture. My superiors wanted me to work with the poor and gain some perspective of the circumstances of a third world country.
Within a week I found work to do at a primary school. St. Martin de Porres School in Belize City has 700 children and nearly 50% of the students are failing reading. I was given the daunting task of taking the five classes that struggle the most and do my best to catch them up with government standards. I am now three months into the job and am happy to say that I have seen improvement in nearly every student and have graduated four to resume English studies with their normal class. Now, four kids might not sound like a lot but I am not only teaching reading and comprehension to these students, I’m teaching them about life. There is a direct correlation with most of my kids between their struggles in school and the struggles they face at home everyday. Visit www.catholicchurch.bz Read more »

Hi, my name is Mary Roach and I was the receptionist and "all around" person at the Office of Youth Ministry for five years.

I have since moved on and now I am working for Catholic Services for Children and Youth in the Expectant Parent Unit. Our office is in the Cardinal Rigali Center in Shrewsbury. Our unit works with expectant women and their families during their pregnancy and through a year after the baby is born.

I very much miss working at the OYM and being around all the teens at all the events, but now I get to see all the babies and that is a good thing too.

As an eighth grader, I didn't believe in God. At least, I didn't believe he had anything to do with my life... until the REAP Team came. I went on a REAP retreat, and the testimony and witness of one of the team members struck me as being real and awesome. I invited God into my life and everything changed. I had a new best friend who would listen to me all the time, who was always there, who lived in my heart.

I joined the REAP Team the following year and found it completely nerve-wracking, but exciting and fun to give retreats and talk about my faith to my peers. I gave up weekends and days off school to help out whenever my parents would let me. I had given my life to God because of one person's testimony--I hoped that God would use me to do the same for someone else. After jumping around at colleges and doing a semester internship with the REAP Team, I ended up at Franciscan University of Steubenville, where I completed a bachelor's degree in theology and history. Now I'm back in St. Louis, working as a religion teacher at St. Dominic High School in O'Fallon, Missouri. I recently took nineteen students on Life Matters with the OYM, something I couldn't have done on my own! It's my first year, and it's tough! I have a lot to learn, but I want to learn to be excellent, because the person I'm teaching about, God!, is the most important thing they will ever hear.

I'm glad to be a witness to the power of God working through the OYM. Through their ministry, God touched me in eighth grade, then I was able to assist in ministry in high school and college, and now, as a high school religion teacher, I can take part in their ministry again.