3 minute read
The Paschal Challenge Offers Powerful Opportunity for Young Men to Follow Jesus’ Path
The Paschal Mystery encompasses Jesus’s dying and rising to new life. It is a core component of our Catholic faith, and we are asked to contemplate this mystery and pray about it. We can consider what all of this means, but we don’t ever get to experience it. On Saturday, July 31, a group of men from throughout the St. Cloud Diocese will walk through the Paschal Mystery in Sauk Centre, during an event called the Paschal Challenge.
The Paschal Challenge is an opportunity for men considering the priesthood to experience a small part of what Jesus went through at the Last Supper, betrayal, arrest, crucifixion, death and resurrection. They spend a day walking through these events, and even physically experiencing some parts.
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As seminarian Kevin Soenneker says, becoming a Catholic priest is a beautiful sacrifice — so it’s important for those considering the priesthood to truly understand the Paschal Mystery.
“This is a way for the men to get out and be active,” Kevin says. “It’s also a way to foster fraternity, and get out and do something new and exciting that offers a spiritual aspect.”
The Paschal Challenge also offers a valuable chance to meet other men who are discerning the priesthood. There’s not always an opportunity for this at school or even church events, so this event brings men from across the diocese together.
“We want to make sure the men can have fun,” Kevin says. “These guys are young and full of energy and we want them to experience something like this.”
The morning begins with breakfast, Scripture reflection and washing of the feet in the upstairs of the rectory or the “upper room.” This mimics the Last Supper that Jesus experienced with the disciples. Next, they will act out when Jesus was arrested, using zip ties to bind their hands.
The men will experience a fraction of what Jesus experienced during the judgment and scourging. The group then works together to carry a large cross, made of railroad ties, from St. Paul’s Parish to the cemetery. The men take turns getting on the cross to mimic Jesus’s death. They also work together to dig a shallow grave.
Students gather during the 2019 Paschal Challenge.
“The whole time, Fr. Greg will share Scripture with the group to help think about what Jesus was going through,” Kevin says. “This is a very emotional time.”
After the events at the cemetery, the men gather at the Sauk River, near the cemetery, to canoe to a spot for Mass and a meal with their families. This is a time to be together and also mimic the resurrection and the meal that followed.
“This is an important time for fraternity and meeting one another’s families,” Kevin says. “This day is the highlight of my summer, as far as vocation events.”
Kevin, along with Fr. Greg Paffel and Fr. Doug Liebsch, Associate Director of Vocations for the St. Cloud Diocese, help coordinate and chaperone this event. There are seminarians who also assist, along with Fr. Rick Aubol and Fr. Jeremy Theis.
This 2021 Paschal Challenge is the second such event — it was first held in 2019, but canceled in 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Noting that this event takes place during the Stearns County Fair, Kevin hopes men will use this as a way to give something up — time at the fair — in order to serve the Lord. It can be considered a personal retreat. He also encourages any man considering the priesthood to join this challenge. This is really a way to be with Jesus during the events of Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday.
“This is more than just reading about it,” Kevin says. “As a human, we can experience it. Jesus was human, as well — you can relate to what He went through.”
In 2019, the cross was carried to the cemetery.
Mass was held after the event.
