2024 Catholic Schools Week Supplement
A choice to embrace the Eucharist: Students live the essence of the Catholic faith
The gift of the Eucharist was celebrated during the first eucharistic procession that Roncalli High School in Indianapolis held on Nov. 3. (Submitted photo)
By John Shaughnessy
If you want to know the impact that a Catholic school experience can have on a child’s appreciation of their faith and the Eucharist, have a conversation with 12-year-old Oliver Kaczorowski about the choice he has made.
Oliver admits that in his younger years, he became bored during the school Masses for him and his fellow students at St. Joan of Arc School in Indianapolis, but he still had this longing for a close relationship with God.
So, in November of 2022, Oliver chose to sign up to be an altar server at school Masses. And ever since then, the now-seventh-grade student has also become increasingly involved in serving at Masses for the parish—plus being a part of the school’s first eucharistic procession at the start of this school year.
“I wanted to do something to get closer to God,” Oliver says. “It’s been better than I expected.”
At 11, Josephine Maksimovich has also seen her faith impacted by her first year at St. Joan of Arc—an influence that has also been enhanced by her relationship with her grandmother, Sue Bradford.
“Me and my grandma have a really close relationship. She wants to teach me about God and the Eucharist. I want to take the Eucharist so I can be closer to God,” says Josephine, a sixth-grade student who will make her first Communion this year.
The experiences of Oliver and Josephine are just what St. Joan of Arc’s theology teacher Kyle Murphy wants for students in this year of the National Eucharistic Congress, which will be held in Indianapolis on July 17-21.
“This year, we have a large number of older students who are choosing to receive the Eucharist for the first time,” Murphy says, explaining that some of the children were already baptized while others needed additional formation to prepare to receive the sacrament. “And there’s been a real uptick in the people wanting to be servers.
“It really gives me a great feeling seeing the students are desiring a closeness to the Eucharist and a deeper relationship with Christ through that. Our school is truly focused on Jesus—to serve Christ and his people.”
Beyond the effort to start the school year last August with the eucharistic procession, St. Joan of Arc’s school leaders have continued the focus on the Eucharist through Benediction at the beginning of each month and through having students participate in the parish’s First Friday adoration.
Eighth-grade student Clare Murphy has tried to make the most of these opportunities—and the sacrament of reconciliation.
“It’s about trying to get a deeper relationship with Christ at this point,” says Clare, the daughter of Kyle Murphy. “It’s good for me to grow as much as I can now and continue on for the rest of my life.”
That emphasis was also at the heart of the first eucharistic procession that Roncalli High School in Indianapolis held on Nov. 3.
“Honestly, I was amazed that we pulled it off with so many people,” says Katie Hibner, Roncalli’s director of campus ministry. “We had never done it before. The students were prepped really well, but really what was so amazing—and I got teary-eyed quite often during it—was just the extreme reverence that our students and our staff showed. It was unbelievable.”
Hibner was also thrilled by the impact it had on the students.
“A lot of students said they’d never done it before, and they enjoyed it. In fact, it was a half day of school when we did it. Students told me, ‘Man, I really thought about not coming to school because it was a half day, but I really wanted to see what this is all about.’ So, they came, and they were pleasantly surprised. It was a really cool experience.”
Being part of the procession also was powerful for Hibner, who watched it unfold from a defining perspective.
“I was very fortunate enough to stand in the back of the line,” she says. “As the students were weaving into the procession, I followed the back of the line. As I looked in front of me, I thought, ‘O my gosh, I am so lucky to be part of it!’ It was such a humbling, very cool feeling for me, that I got be involved in the planning of it.
“It’s just a reminder that the Church is so big, and our faith is so much bigger than us.”
Similar to St. Joan of Arc School, Roncalli has strived to keep the momentum of the eucharistic procession going forward.
“We have adoration twice a week before school,” Hibner says. “On Wednesday mornings, we have students who lead music during it. On Fridays, it’s a silent adoration. Both are really well-attended. Once they go the first few times, it’s like, ‘O my gosh, I really do need this!’
“I’ve had several students stop me in the hallway and say, ‘I’m so glad I go to chapel in the morning. It’s so nice. I really need that.’ It’s a reminder of that need for that kind of prayer and for setting aside time for that.”
Ava Maled is a Roncalli junior who has embraced every part of the school’s efforts to celebrate the importance of the Eucharist in a person’s life, including the eucharistic procession.
“It was awesome how we all came together as a school to process,” Ava says. “It was really cool because the Eucharistic Congress is happening this summer, and people are processing to it from all four corners of the country. And I thought it was cool to have a mini-experience of what will be happening in our country. It was an amazing opportunity to worship and see all of your classmates gathering to worship the same God as you.”
Ava’s first experience with eucharistic adoration at Roncalli came during finals’ week of her freshman year.
“I decided I would go because I heard it was really calming, and that is definitely a stressful time. And it was just amazing,” she says. “I loved being able to look at God and have God look back at me because he’s truly present in the Eucharist. So, I’ve continued that devotion. It’s just amazing there are opportunities to grow closer in my relationship to God and my relationship with Christ in the Eucharist.”
It all leads to her goal of how she wants to live, how she wants to bring the love of Christ to others.
“I’m always striving to love like Jesus did because he’s the ultimate example of love,” says Ava, a member of
St. Jude Parish in Indianapolis.
“I strive to show that love to others. I desire to have a full relationship with God and to have him be the center of my life and not just a little part of my life that I just access in certain times. I really want him to transform my life. I try to make sure that all of my actions are because of him—and to always live like him.” †
