Denver Catholic

16 MAY 27-JUNE 9, 2017 | DENVER CATHOLIC Around the Archdiocese "We are the leaders who have waited our turn to build a community centered on God. The Holy Spirit will guide us to humbly serve others and to set a firm foundation for future Blessed Sacrament generations. Although we are small through Christ-like leadership our impact will be great!" – Class of 2017 8th Grade Motto Now enrolling Preschool – 8th Grade students for the 2017-2018 school year. Please contact the office for a tour – 303.377.8835. 1958 Elm St • Denver, CO 80220 303-377-8835 • www.bscs-denver.net Dawit Gebremariam Bang Malual Solomon Mejia Elijah Moon Jackson Overton Wilson Rhead Laila Riedell Aku Unvu Asia Velazquez "Proudly educating students in the Park Hill area and beyond since 1922" CONGRATULATIONS TO THE CLASS OF 2017 BLESSED SACRAMENT CATHOLIC SCHOOL ST. CATHERINE OF SIENA SCHOOL 4200 Federal Blvd., Denver, CO 80211 303-477-8035 • www.saintcatherine.us Anthony Arambula Jara Jack Francis Kelly Galindo Ortega Shaiel Gonzalez Villa Isabella Iacovetta Lauren Manzanares Joshua Martinez Reyes Manuel Medina Jr. Isabella Robles Fatima Sandoval Rodriguez April Trujillo Vincent Trujillo Alycia Vigil Nicholas Vigil St. Catherine of Siena School proudly presents our 2017 graduates: Shrine of St. Anne Arvada Bridget Baker Henry Benoit Bennett Blackmore Rose Bowling Ruby Bristol Taylor Byerly Blake Church Sophia DeCet Carly Eldredge Robert Frazier Andrew Garcia Angela Gumieniak Zuzanna Janowska Abigail Johnson Jordan Laine Addison Leif Gabrielle Leif Samuel Leonard Aubrey Masdin Maria Miller Benjamin Myers Jasmine Nguyen Isabella Panozzo Jamin Pasquini Elisa Pelloux Brandon Pierret Kuba Plonski Zoe Prevatte Austin Price Isabella Rears Toni Schafer Aunika Skogen Madeline Tapp Tess Tyndell Cassandra Uhl Bridget Walker Thomas Waters Makena Weimer Brody Welch Michaela Wempe www.stannescatholic.com • 303-422-1800 Congratulations! Class of 2017 Kevin Calderon Amelia Carrillo Dominic Cross Eric Davern Emily Espinoza Christopher Flores-Contreras Wilson Hyatt Jessica Jimenez Ciara Marie Leal Jennifer Maes Alexandra Martinez Elaina Martinez Haley McCurdy Sandra Mendoza Olivia Miller Jimmy Pham Alyssa Roybal 1100 Upham St., Lakewood, CO 80214-4219 303-237-0401 www.stbcs.net Class of 2017 Congratulations Graduates! Commissioning event helps the transition to the workplace and parish T he Fellowship of Catholic Uni- versity Students (FOCUS) has plenty of stories of college stu- dents whose lives have been changed by encountering Christ through the organization's national conferences or through the Bible studies FOCUS missionaries lead on campuses. But during the two years (or more) that the missionaries dedicate to pro- claiming the Gospel to young adults, something else happens: their own lives are transformed, too. But it doesn't end there. Having been trained in the practi- cal skills of evangelization, and more importantly, having developed a deep relationship with Christ, the young men and women who depart staff as former missionaries enter the workforce and into their parishes with the intention of continuing that same work — just in a different place. This is the focus of the organiza- tion's commissioning event, "Go Forth," which is "to thank and recognize transi- tioning and departing staff," said Debo- rah Fowlkes, senior director of alumni relations at FOCUS. "The hope is that they go out and transform the world, get plugged into their parishes and do the same thing in communities and in the workplace as they did on campus," Fowlkes said. Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila, in his homily at the event's commissioning Mass, encouraged attendees to remember who it is that is sending them to do this work. "It is essential for us to bring others to the encounter of truth, and the truth is Jesus Christ," Archbishop Aquila said. "You have been entrusted with a great gift, and it is important to share that gift with others." He also encouraged them that while their evangelizing work may not look the same as it did on the college campus, it is still just as necessary. "Too many Catholics are comfortable in 'I am saved,' and did not go out on mis- sion," Archbishop Aquila said. "It's not easy work, but our parishes need you. Whatever walks you go into, whether it's the secular workplace or whether it's a parish, you can make a difference." The desire to walk intimately with Christ and share that relationship with others rang true for some of the attendees — and is something they'll carry going forward. "With the training I've been given, the real change I see in the Church is going to have to come from me, and I've been given a gift and responsibility," said Pat- rick Dunford, a "Go Forth" attendee who was a campus missionary for five years. "Not that I have things figured out, but I've seen too much to know what [not fol- lowing Christ the way I have been] could do to my relationship to the Lord, how incomplete my life would be without it. "Intimacy with the Lord [is the thing I'll always carry with me]," Dunford continued. "At the end of the day, your transitions are regular, but they're sec- ondary to how you're living your life and who you're living it for. No matter what happens in life, the core of my identity in Christ never changes." Tim Schaffer, another "Go Forth" attendee who was a campus missionary for two years, said that the event has encouraged him as he goes forward into whatever God has in store next. "One of the biggest things that's been coming up in conversations with people here is the importance of testimony and being a living witness, and being able to share life with people that way…and mod- elling the Gospel for them," Schaffer said. "Go Forth" is also an opportunity for departing missionaries, or missionaries transitioning to positions at the organi- zation's headquarters here in Colorado, to process their time on campus, pray and heal. "They really needed a time on tran- sitioning out of FOCUS and for retreat, FOCUS missionaries 'go forth' beyond college campuses BY THERESE AAKER therese.aaker@archden.org @ThereseAaker

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