St. Andrew’s Star of the Sea Youth Center will impact parish and community
Bishop Michael Olson blesses the site for the new Star of the Sea Youth Building at St. Andrew Parish. The space will support the spiritual, social, and educational growth of parish youth. (NTC/Juan Guajardo)
FORT WORTH — Places of quiet reflection encouraging active discernment greatly benefit spiritual and physical health, Sister Monica Vianney Le, OP, of Fort Worth's St. Andrew Catholic School said.
“We always have God in our hearts but, especially in our world so busy and noisy, it's important to have a quiet space to form and let God guide us to that relationship,” Sr. Monica said.
Sr. Monica, who oversees St. Andrew's Catechesis of the Good Shepherd program, exuded joy while discussing the benefits and expectations of the campus' upcoming Star of the Sea Youth Center.
What's now a campus parking lot will soon house a two-story structure for the benefit of St. Andrew Parish, school, and the community at large.
“It's focused on developing relationships with Jesus and having a better understanding of the liturgy,” St. Andrew's Catechesis of the Good Shepherd instructor Loretta Endres said of the program. “This program is just such a beautiful way for children to come to love, know, and serve Jesus.”
Sr. Monica agreed.
“The most important thing is for children to develop a relationship with God,” Sr. Monica said. “This new building will give them a quiet place to form and develop that relationship.”
They and others attended the Dec. 18 groundbreaking ceremony for the planned center. The construction should take about a year, St. Andrew Parish Business Manager Bill Brown said.
“As we break ground today, we take the first step in construction of the Star of the Sea Youth Center,” Father Dan Pattee, TOR, said. “We believe that both our Lord and Lady have led us to this point.”
Bishop Michael Olson agreed in thanking all who have contributed to the center's realization.
“We thank you for the hopes and dreams inspired by Christ,” Bishop Olson said. “Thank God for placing it on our hearts to build this center. We dedicate this in hopes of establishing and raising high Your Son, Jesus Christ, in the hearts of the faithful, especially the young.”
Six atriums will fill the top floor, providing catechesis class space for children 3 to 12. Middle and high school aged children will use the ground floor for various ministry groups and projects.
In addition to St. Andrew students, the building will serve children from other area schools: high school students from both public and private schools and children who are members of St. Andrew Parish but don't attend the school.
“About 80 percent of our child parishioners don't attend school here,” Fr. Pattee said. “So it's important that we reach out to them. It's also important that we get the parents involved. Without them we'll just have an empty building.”
With interest in catechesis classes and youth ministries increasing, the current limited available spaces at St. Andrew for such activities have long since grown insufficient.
St. Andrew's former pastor provided space in the church's hall for catechesis for five years, Fr. Pattee said.
“When I came here they were starting on year three,” Fr. Pattee said. “My fear was that, once they reached five years, they would say, ‘It's been a great run and now we're done.’”
Parishioners and staff members, to Fr. Pattee's delight, instead voiced determination to continue the classes and find space for growing youth ministries.
“And, a couple of days later, an anonymous donor dropped full funding for a building in our laps,” Fr. Pattee said. “I said, ‘I think this is a sign our Lord wants this.’
“I think our Lord and our Lady are not happy that so many children are not learning the faith, especially in these more and more secularized times, and wanted us to do something about it.”
The Star of the Sea refers to Mother Mary, to whom sailors looked for safe passage through rough seas and who, in the bigger picture, many turn to for comfort and accompaniment through life's troubles.
Fr. Pattee tapped St. Patrick Cathedral Director of Communications and Media Jose Trevino to paint a portrait of Mary depicted as the Mother of the Sea, a painting that was on display at the Dec. 18 groundbreaking.
“Fr. Pattee saw an article about me in the North Texas Catholic and asked if I would paint the picture,” Trevino said. “I said, ‘Yes, by all means.’ Then he told me they had a tight deadline of about two and a half weeks. And I said, ‘I'll get it done for you Father.’ I did some research, searched out other depictions of the Mother of the Sea for inspiration, and got it done.”
Fr. Pattee said Trevino's picture will hang in his office long after he's gone.
Plans call for installing a stained-glass window reproduction of Trevino's painting on the front of the new center.
“It's a blessing,” St. Andrew Principal Laura Behee said of the center to come. “This will give us more room for more grade levels of participation for our school, the parish, and students from other schools.”
Endres and Sr. Monica both spoke excitedly of the much-needed extra space soon to be available and the opportunities the center will afford.
“The primary goal is to help children, especially those of very young age, develop a relationship with Jesus in a concrete way,” Endres said. “This new space will facilitate helping them to understand both liturgy and Scripture.”