- "They’re going to tell us how to set a high
school on fire for the Lord," said EWTN’s (Eternal Word Television
Network) "Life on the Rock" host Jeff Cavins recently regarding Bishop
O’Connell High School in Arlington.
Cavins was beginning his live television broadcast in Birmingham, Alabama, on May 28, where several O’Connell students and school chaplain Father Daniel Mode appeared as guests. The local "celebrities" were invited south to profile O’Connell’s pro-life projects on the program.
"Our goal is to reach the hearts of young people," Cavins said of the show. Students from other schools had written to tell him of the difficulty of bringing such projects into their institutions.
"I have been hearing that O’Connell is a light to a lot of schools," said Cavins. "What they have done there is extraordinary."
Jacquie Bazin, an O’Connell student who graduated this year, was highlighted on the show. She and Father Mode traveled to EWTN at the station’s expense. The other eight accompanying students, teacher and two religious, who also sat in on the show, paid their own way since they believed in its importance.
"It’s an incredible community atmosphere," said Bazin of O’Connell. All the life-affirming activities have yielded visible results. "People have lighter spirits," she said. "They present their problems to God, and He takes care of it."
How does such a program get started and grow? Father Mode, who has been chaplain for two years at O’Connell, and a priest for six years, outlined the process. As he described each aspect, the studio audience expressed their awe, in phrases such as "how wonderful" and "that’s amazing."
"You get back to basics," Father Mode said. "There two pillars: the Eucharist and Confession. Rather than turning students off, it turns them on," and they want to deepen their faith further, he said. He has also written a booklet on the program.
Twice a week, during all-day Eucharistic adoration, when the Blessed Sacrament is exposed at O’Connell, over 400 students come through the chapel. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is available weekly, and Father Mode hears confessions and confers blessings for several hours.
O’Connell, with an enrollment of 1,500, has an 86 percent Catholic student body. In the institution’s 41 years, there have been 67 vocations. Father Mode said that the root of a successful pro-life program and vocations begins at home in the domestic church. To establish such a program in a school, Father Mode said the initial steps are to present a request to the principal and enlist parental support. It is also crucial to continually pray and work, he said.
O’Connell has an annual pro-life project. Father Mode praised the previous chaplains, staff and students at the school, saying that a great deal of groundwork for the current pro-life program had been done before he arrived.
"I didn’t build it, I inherited it," he said.
Over two years ago, a few weeks after Father Mode learned he was named O’Connell chaplain by Bishop John R. Keating, he said he was able to go on a retreat, led by Bishop Fabian W. Bruskewitz of Lincoln, Neb. Father Mode asked his advice about the new assignment, and was told by the prelate to "challenge students to be apostles for life."
With this encouragement, Father Mode began the current pro-life program. Last year, a rosary rally was held on the football field. The hope was to get 100,000 commitments from family, friends and other Catholics.
"Students sought to evangelize and received 217,000 pledges of prayer," Father Mode said. This year they had an extensive spiritual adoption program, in which they "became pregnant as a school," using a special prayer card which was created by an alumna. Their motto was "Pro-life is pro-love." A bumper sticker contest was also held in honor of the "baby’s" birth. Recently, the pro-life memorial statue of the Holy Family was dedicated (ACH 06/04/98).
On the EWTN show, several participants expressed their sentiments. "Rather than changing the students, they’ve changed me," said O’Connell religion teacher and a pro-life club moderator, Julie Desmond. Local Birmingham teens commented, "I hope you don’t take it for granted; what you all have there. We would love to have that at our school."
Cavins asked Father Mode if this could be implemented at any high school. "I pray so," he replied. He said O’Connell has also asked for the aid of St. Joseph Cupertino, patron of struggling students.
O’Connell student, junior Trish Diewald summed it up, "You have to take the Holy Spirit and run with it."
Father Mode’s 52-page pro-life program book is available for a suggested donation of $10 from the school: Bishop O’Connell High School, 6600 Little Falls Rd., Arlington., Va. 22213.
EWTN can be contacted at 5817 Old Leeds Rd., Birmingham, AL. 35210, phone 205/271-2966, e-mail: viewer@ewtn.com, or web site: http://www/ewtn.com.
Copyright ©1998 Arlington Catholic Herald, Inc. All rights reserved.
This article was published in the Arlington
Catholic Herald,
200 N. Glebe Rd., Suite 607, Arlington, VA 22203; Vol 23, No 23;
dated June 11, 1998, on page 9.
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letters@catholicherald.com
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