NORWALK—It is the invitation Jesus gives to each of his disciples: “Follow me.” And that invitation was the one extended to some 125 high school students at “Follow Me Home,” a formation event at St. Matthew Parish on September 21.
Over the course of the day, the teenagers had the opportunity to attend Mass celebrated by Bishop Caggiano, play games, do a service project and have an audience with the bishop. The day ended with a Holy Hour and a candlelight procession honoring Our Lady, akin to the nightly processions held in Fatima, Portugal.
Aptly, the event at St. Matthew took place on the Feast of St. Matthew. And the bishop reflected on Matthew’s role prior to being called by Jesus: he was a tax collector, and there were few other professions as despised in the time of Jesus.
And yet, he said, Jesus did not act toward Matthew the way that others might have.
“You could imagine Matthew, sitting at his post, would’ve had many people walk by muttering things under their breath that I could not possibly say in church today,” Bishop Caggiano said. “And yet, Jesus did not walk by. Jesus refused to cast him away. Jesus refused to cancel him out. Jesus saw not only what he was, but what he could become in his power and grace.”
The bishop reflected that calling Matthew to be a disciple was likely a source of controversy for Jesus and his early disciples. But it communicated something crucial about God’s great love for his children: it is all-encompassing and never ending. And that message was key for the high schoolers gathered for Mass that day.
“Every Sunday, we gather to worship the Lord, who is a forgiving and merciful Lord, who never gives up on any of his children no matter how astray they are, no matter how far they have wander through,” the bishop said. “No one is junk before God. No one is lost before God. And God gives up on no one.”
Photos by Rose Brennan
However, since God’s love is all-encompassing and never ending, it extends to everyone—including the people we find it difficult to love in the first place. The bishop asked those gathered to think about who might be the “tax collector” in their lives and to choose to respond to them in the way Jesus responded to Matthew.
“Who is the one that you or I have just simply written off?” the bishop asked. “Is there such a person in your life in mind? Because if there is, the challenge of tonight’s Gospel is to ask the Holy Spirit for the grace to do what our humanity would not do by itself: to ask for the grace of the Lord, so that we might one day stop at his or her table and to reach out to that person, and to allow that person an opportunity to not simply be a person in our eyes … but to dare to imagine that we could walk with them to become the person that they were meant to be.”
After dinner, the students had an audience with Bishop Caggiano, who recalled two instances over the summer that had him reflecting on the role of “spiritual sight”: an opportunity to experience virtual reality and the realization that he needed to wear reading glasses. And while the bishop’s experiences dealt with sight in the literal sense, he began to reflect on the eyes of Christ and what that might mean for the young people there that day.
“It takes an entire lifetime for you and I to learn to see as Jesus sees,” Bishop Caggiano said. “What do you think Jesus sees when he looks at you? What do you think Jesus sees when he looks at the person sitting next to you? What do you think Jesus sees when he looks at all of us from his place in glory?”
The bishop also noted that what Jesus sees and what we see don’t always line up. But, he said, our view of ourselves should not distort the view that Christ has of us.
“What does Jesus see when he looks at you? He sees someone beautiful,” the bishop said. “He sees someone whose life is precious and promising. He sees an individual whose life is worth living despite the challenge you should face. He sees someone that is not perfect, but he still loves you … He sees someone who may have made some mistakes, caused some sin, may have some faults, and yet if you were the only person who ever lived, he would’ve suffered and died solely for you.”
The high school students then had the opportunity to participate in a service project called “Hoodies for the Homeless.” Before they packed up hoodies with inspirational notes that would keep the unsheltered warm during this winter, the students heard from two people who have experienced homelessness in their lives, assuring them they were making a difference.
The day closed out with a Holy Hour with praise and worship led by Lee Roessler, who shared his testimony about becoming a praise and worship musician. During the Holy Hour, the students spent time in Adoration, witnessed a procession with the Blessed Sacrament and had the opportunity to go to Confession.
After Benediction, the high schoolers participated in a candlelight procession honoring Our Lady: the greatest example of Christian discipleship. And as the students gathered outdoors by the lake at St. Matthew, they could see a statue of Mary out on the water, calling them to follow her and her Son home.
By Rose Brennan
