Article by Lyndsey Ruchalski, class of 2014:
On October 2, the 2013-2014 school year had its first XLT. XLT is an evening of praise and worship adoration held once a month. The night started with the XLT band leading the students to sing-a-long to the songs in the auditorium. The attendees then went to the cafeteria for dinner and also get to know one another. Afterwards, everyone went back to the auditorium, where the tower of candles were lit. Brother Tim spoke about the World Youth Day trip that took place this past July in Rio de Janiero, Brazil. He gave a slideshow of some pictures and quotes from Pope Francis that took place throughout that week. The first quote being, “It is good for us to be here.” Brother Tim explained that it is good to be here to just be in the presence of God. He introduced some pilgrims to share their experience of World Youth Day and how they encountered Christ. Being one of those pilgrims, I shared that I encountered Christ through meeting people from all over the world, realizing how the Church was universal. I also quoted Pope Francis, who said we are Christ’s athletes, and we are to not be afraid of being able to go out and make disciples of Christ. Adrianna Duggan also shared what she got out of her experience. She said that she felt it was easy to be Catholic at World Youth Day, but she also promised to herself to be fearless and strong in her faith after World Youth Day. Will Clemens, a Chaminade student, and Peter Herzog also shared their experience. Will reflected on seeing the Christ the Redeemer statue on the cloudy day, where he only saw the feet of Christ. He said that it made him reflect that we believe in Christ even though we cannot see Him, we know He is there. Peter stated how Pope Francis said to not look over the balcony but to be part of the crowd. Peter felt encouraged by this and shared that this made him want to be involved with his faith. Shortly after, the auditorium was filled with silence as the students were on their knees in adoration.
