Article by Lyndsey Ruchalski, Class of 2014
Every year Bishop William Murphy visits Kellenberg Memorial High School. During this year’s visit on January 29, he personally met with the Junior Class. Currently, the Junior Class is learning about Dorothy Day and her conversion to the Catholic faith. Bishop Murphy spoke with the Juniors on how he had the privilege of meeting Dorothy when he was first ordained a priest. He spoke of how she was able to overome her troubled past by her faith in God.
During her life, Dorothy had many toxic relationships, which turned her away from God. Dorothy had an abortion but then turned her life around. She later had a daughter, and with her daughter was baptized. For the rest of her life, Dorothy spread God’s love through working with the poor. She lived her life like the poor and raised her daughter to love God and work through God’s love. Bishop Murphy reflected on this and taught us that we need to find relationships that will keep us close to God . He also said that God has a plan for us and like Dorothy, we chose to live through His love.
After Bishop Murphy met with the whole Junior Class, he and the World Youth Day participates went upstairs for breakfast. There, Bishop Murphy told the few juniors of his past experiences on each of his five World Youth Days. He told us that we will see how the church is actually universal when people all over the world will come together in Rio de Janerio, Brazil this July for a Mass with the pope. Bishop Murphy also talked about how fulfilling the experience will be by meeting people our own age sharing a common faith.
Before Bishop Murphy left, he visited the Freshman retreat in Emmannuel. The theme of the Freshman retreat is Breaking Down and Breaking Through, like Dorothy Day and her story. We look forward to his visit next year.