Above: Cheryl Smith, front left, Faith Formation associate coordinator and youth minister at St. Mary’s in Clinton, and Anne Elacqua, junior-senior high school Faith Formation director at Mount Carmel / Blessed Sacrament Parish in Utica, guide the young adults in the Second Mile session on July 15 at St. John the Evangelist Church in New Hartford.
Teens share their faith beyond typical religion classes
By Fran Perritano
Contributing writer
An invitation to dinner might have been the appetizer one teenager needed to enrich his faith.
Jude is a 16-year-old parishioner of St. Mary’s Church in Clinton. He was asked by the parish’s youth minister, Cheryl Smith, to join a teen advisory committee for area religious classes.
“At the end of a class … she invited myself and my friend Andrew … to attend a dinner at Symeon’s, where we’d discuss further,” Jude said. “While I was obviously intrigued by the idea of holding an important role in the development of class curriculum, it was the offer of dinner which won me over initially. However, by the time my souvlaki was devoured, I knew that I was going to stay for the long run, and 14 months later, that remains true.”
Jude is a member of a teen ministry called the Second Mile. Smith facilitates the group meetings at St. John the Evangelist Church.
Andrew, left, and Jude are two of the young adults participating in the Second Mile. The friends joined the program after being invited to dinner at Symeon’s by Cheryl Smith. There, they learned more about the Second Mile, and it caught their interest.
“The Second Mile gets its name from what Jesus said in scripture: ‘Should anyone press you into service for one mile, go with him for two miles,’” said Smith, a Syracuse diocesan employee for about 20 years and is Vicariate 5 collaborative Faith Formation coordinator, and Faith Formation associate/youth minister at St. Mary’s. “The teens involved in this group go the Second Mile because they not only attend Faith Formation but also meet regularly to learn even more about their faith by doing scripture study. They also do a lot of research and help tweak and/or develop sessions for the other teens in ninth and 10th grade.”
The group was formed about a year ago and meets an average of every two to three weeks. Currently, there are about 10 teens from five parishes participating. Five members of the group attended the last meeting on July 15. While enjoying some pizza and wings, the young men and women read from the Acts of the Apostles and shared their thoughts about the scriptures.
Jude said his faith was wavering in his early teens. The Second Mile helped him get back on the path.
“When I was in middle school, I found myself at the transitional phase where I had begun to have doubts about the faith into which I was raised, but I hadn’t yet reached the point where I had found my own reason to believe,” he said. “This led to confusion and nihilism, which wasn’t helped by my stubborn refusal to ask anybody my questions. Over time, my Catholicism became a Sunday morning activity, and as soon as I stepped out of the church, I stopped thinking of God until next week, when I’d once again quietly resent Him for prohibiting me from sleeping in on a weekend.
“It was toward the end of my freshman year that my growing interest in the faith was rewarded with an invitation to the Second Mile,” Jude said. “While my metanoia wasn’t necessarily a result of my having joined the Second Mile, I found that the group stimulated my faith by providing a human aspect. … I also love being able to come to a group once every month or so where I can grab a slice (or two or three or 10) of pizza, read the Bible, and swap stories with other teens of where we’ve seen God.”
From the top: John Paul, Hanna and Marlee are part of the Second Mile program. “Being a young Catholic in today’s world, it’s not easy to find peers who share your beliefs or values,” Marlee said.
Hannah, a 16-year-old from St. Patrick-St. Anthony Church in Chadwicks, is another teen who sings the praises of the group.
“The Second Mile has shown me a group of people my age who truly believe,” she said. “When I was first asked to join the group, I thought that, for some reason, I was not faithful enough or close enough to Jesus to even be there. But as I kept coming to these meetings, I felt increasingly closer to my faith and Jesus. I feel it is easier to allow yourself to do so when you have an incredible group around you that demonstrates their faith freely.”
Marlee Winfield is a 17-year-old parishioner at St. John the Evangelist in New Hartford. She said before joining the Second Mile, her faith was OK. Sharing it with others, however, strengthened her commitment.
“Before joining this group, although I was faithful, I struggled to fully comprehend the faith,” she said. “I had a premature assumption that adolescents couldn’t obtain the same level of understanding as adults or religious leaders. Through my time with the Second Mile group, I’ve learned that deep faith can be achieved at any age. It’s willpower, determination, and a genuine desire for a relationship with God that allow individuals to live out their faith fully.”
Marlee said being a part of the Second Mile has reinforced her relationship with God, the Church, and herself.
“Sharing my experiences with others my age and discovering the similarities in our journeys has helped my sense of self and understanding of my faith grow in ways I never thought possible for someone so young,” she said. “Being a young Catholic in today’s world, it’s not easy to find peers who share your beliefs or values. When I was given the chance to share my experience as a growing Catholic with others, my desire for connection and to express my thoughts is what truly motivated me to join such an incredibly faith-driven group.”
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How to join
Any teenager in ninth through 12th grade can email Cheryl Smith csmith@syrdio.org, or they come with a friend already in the group, or let their parish leader know, and that person can contact Smith.
