“God’s not dead!” we sang as we made a music video through the halls on a rainy day in mid June. Who are we? The Faith Peer Leaders of course! Formerly known as the Chapel Assistants, our new title better captures the role of our developing program. We don’t just take care of the chapel, but we take care our spirituality and witness to others by our example, service and talks during Class Leadership Discussions. FPL led CLD without adult supervision, and we even managed to help students during a surprise fire drill.
Theology classes, chapel periods, regular times for Confession, and of course daily Mass are means of formation for Catholics at school. But what about outside of the classroom? Some 40 unnoticed students can tell you that the strengthening of their faith also lies in the faith peer leadership program.
Ms. Mahoney, head of the Faith Peer Leadership program describes the role of the program as “a blazing trail of light in the world with love for God and commitment to the way of life he teaches us, through prayer and service to others.” Quite obviously, we are not just those girls that have to get to school early to set up for Mass. Yes, that is one of our special privileges and as peer leader Margaret Sparicio ‘14 recounts, “I understand the process of the Mass on a deeper level just by setting up for it.” However, our responsibilities and activities do not end there at the chapel doors.
Faith Peer Leader, Katrin O’Grady ‘15 explains that at Faith Peer Leadership group meetings, “there are opportunities for reflection…Opportunities that wouldn’t come by by just going to Mass everyday.” We pray for each other and for the school, and beyond. Once a month we receive a meditation from Fr. Joe. A meditation is similar to a chapel period where Fr. Joe leads us in prayer by touching upon a part in the Gospel and one or multiple aspects of our lives that may need reflection and spiritual growth. On meditation days, we each write down personal prayer intentions and put them all together in a basket at the altar. This unites us all as we join together our intentions for the day or for the year. On top of that, Katrin insists that “being a faith peer leader gives” her “perspective”- at school, in friendships, and at home.
You can find out more on the new FPL bulletin board outside of Fr. Dick’s office. When asked why we’ve created the bulletin board, Siobhan O’Brien ‘15 explained that we want “to involve the rest of the school and keep them updated on the news of the church.” We also want to highlight any leadership or service roles peer leaders held over the summer, the big feast days of the month, and any other news we think would be helpful to share with the rest of the school, for example, the Beatification of Don Alvaro in Madrid.
It is evident that Faith Peer Leadership doesn’t end at Montrose. We stressed in our summer meeting that we are called to be faith leaders in all aspects of our life, not just when we’re setting up the chapel or going to a meditation. We are called to be role models in the school and in our communities, bringing the light of Christ to others by our example of faith, generosity and a spirit service. After all, God’s very much alive!