Getting into a good college and choosing the right career path are often seen as the primary purposes of high school study. Students are under a lot of pressure and often struggle to determine the path that they should take for the next stage of their lives. What if instead of asking, “What do I want?” a student instead asked, "What is God's plan for me?"
That is the question that the DuBois Central Catholic School Inspire Series hopes to help students discern. Inspire is a series of four talks per year given to students in grades 6-12. Each talk begins with a scene from the Chosen television series depicting a scene from one of the Gospels. A guest speaker then goes on to explain how that particular episode relates to their lives and the choices they have made. During the talks, local community leaders discuss their own faith journeys, including their struggles in learning to listen to God’s plan for their lives.
This year’s first speaker, Dr. Jan Satterlee, focused her talk on Jesus’ healing powers. Through her experience as a psychologist and counselor, she recognizes how difficult it is to be teenagers in today's society. Her message to students is that they are strong and courageous, and if they look to God, He will give them all they need to succeed when they put their trust in Him. She wants students to understand that, “We can do nothing without God allowing it, and we can do all things that are good in Christ.”
Father Malthaner approached the topic from the angle of motivation. He used the example of Coach Vince Lombardi to show how the best was brought out in his players through faith. Lombardi said, “Each day we chase perfection, knowing that we will not catch it, because nothing on Earth is perfect. But in the process, we will catch excellence.” Father Malthaner wants students to realize that by believing in themselves, surrounding themselves with good people, and challenging themselves to do better every day with the unique gifts God has given each of them, they can be excellent and spread that excellence to others.
The third talk this year was given by Dr. Amy Way, who talked about taking faith for granted. Working for a Jamaican mission renewed in her a deep appreciation for her faith. “I am in awe of how open the Jamaican people are in talking about their faith.” She wants the students to understand that we all falter, fall short and fail sometimes. “We are not perfect – we are human. What’s important is that we keep trying. We fall, we get back up. We fail, we try again. On my fridge at home, I have a quote that I found ‘To live is to change and to be perfect is to change often.’ I challenge you to change often.”
All the Inspire speakers demonstrate a deep commitment to their faith, and a deep love for the students. They have been impressed with how attentive and respectful students have been during the talks. “I hope they walked away with at least one thing that they could remember or reflect upon,” said Dr. Way. Father Malthaner concluded with this thought, “Faith has helped me to see beyond myself and recognize there are many people (young and older) who need the message of Jesus in their life. Faith has helped me to move beyond my own insecurities and doubts to continue to bring Christ’s message to others. Faith has helped me to believe that it is Jesus who called me to serve Him as priest and it is Jesus who will continue to give me what I need to answer that call.” It is our hope that these talks inspire our students to go out into the world ready to do the work that they are called to do by God.
The Inspire series is funded by a grant from the Catholic Foundation of Northwest Pennsylvania.