Students learn through Lenten activities
By Tavia Malone, Globe staff writer
Posted March 21, 2002

Schools and parishes in the diocese have been celebrating the Lenten season through a variety of events as youths have played an active role in many of these activities.

Patricia Alfonso, youth minister for St. Mary Church in Dow City, has been involving CCD students of her parish in several Lenten activities.

"This year we've worked with them on their rosary and we do have a prayer box they do every week," said Alfonso.

Every week, a different student takes the prayer box home to their family and brings it back the next week after putting an item in the box. The students are then asked to relate the item in the box to their faith. "It is kind of fun thing that the kids did," Alfonso said. "Anything from Sponge Bob to snowflakes and angels have been put in the box."

The religious education students at St. Mary have also been learning the rosary. The last 15 minutes of class, all students will join together and pray the rosary. Special intentions for the week are also said at this time.

"Parents are welcome to come in and join us when they can," Alfonso said.

Another activity that students and adults of the Dow City parish will be participating in is a Family Fun Night. The event will be held at the Manning Rec Center and students will provide all of the treats. For a small charge, people can make use of the pool, basketball courts, hot tub and can even rollerskate. The Family Fun Night is a fundraiser for St. Mary's CCD.

Students at St. Mary's School in Storm Lake also have been participating in the Lenten activities. Father Doug Klein, spiritual life director at St. Mary's School, helped start the Lenten theme "Living the Promise."

"There is a real focus on baptism," said Father Klein. "Each class also has a candle. We are also preparing for living the promise and living in the light of Christ."

All grades have been participating in reconciliation services throughout Lent based on "Living the Promise." Liturgies are also focused on the theme. "As something special for Lent, we continue the theme throughout our Masses," he said.

The freshman class at St. Mary's also will be presenting a living Stations of the Cross for the entire school. Religious education classes participate in similar activities, such as Stations of the Cross and reconciliation services.

St. Mary's High School in Remsen also has many activities planned for the students at the school. Weekly Masses have been held as well as Stations of the Cross.

Mary Arens, spiritual life director at Remsen St. Mary's, has planned many events to help students celebrate Lent. The student Christian Leadership Team rewrote the Stations of the Cross. "They had to rewrite them how they pertained to their lives," said Arens. "Then they would give reflections accordingly."

In addition to rewriting the Stations of the Cross, the students are putting together a special presentation using the reflections.

"Throughout the whole school year, we have been taking pictures," she said. "We are going to put the pictures into a power point presentation and we connect a reflection to the pictures." Modern music will be used in the event, which is open to the public.

"It's really a neat thing because it is a combination of the modern-day reflections and students apply that to their lives," said Arens.

Students from Remsen St. Mary's will also be visiting Sioux City and Omaha to volunteer and have fun. On Holy Thursday, the Junior Retreat will be held. Students will work at the Ronald McDonald House, Opportunities Unlimited, St. Boniface Preschool and St. Joseph's ESL programs. A retreat will be held at the Dorothy Peacaut Nature Center after the volunteering.

"In the evening on Holy Thursday, we have invited parishioners to bake homemade bread," she said. "We are purchasing clusters of grapes and then students will volunteer to deliver those gifts to the shut-ins for the Last Supper."

In Omaha, students from Remsen St. Mary's will volunteer at places such as Habitat for Humanity and the Vincent DePaul Homeless Shelter. The Day of Caring will also include a Mass and dinner.

Many parishes and schools have creative ways to involve their students in the season of Lent. Service projects, special Masses and Stations of the Cross are just a few ways that churches and schools in the diocese have taken part in Lent.