Experts agree that one of the secrets of aging well is to keep learning new things. Fr. Charles Bolser, CSV, personifies this philosophy.
Señor Kurt Paprocki, right, worked with his newest freshman, Fr. Charles Bolser, in 2016
It was just four years ago that he returned to the classroom to learn Spanish. He took his seat in a Spanish I class at Saint Viator High School, taught by Associate Kurt Paprocki and where Fr. Bolser formerly served as president. Part of Fr. Bolser’s intention was to become proficient enough to say Mass in Spanish.
Mission accomplished. Just last week, Fr. Bolser connected again with his former teacher, this time to say Mass on the eve of the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe for Señor Paprocki’s advanced Spanish classes.
Br. John Eustice offers a reflection, with Fr. Charles Bolser in the background
“We thought it was important,” Fr. Bolser says of the collaborative liturgy.
Br. John Eustice, CSV, who serves as Vice President of Viatorian Identity & Mission at the school, also participated. He offered a reflection on the important feast, drawing his own Spanish honed from his years serving at the Viatorian mission in Belize.
In all, Fr. Bolser said three Masses in Spanish that day. They took place in the Alumni Memorial Chapel at Saint Viator High School, and were split up into three celebrations so that students were socially distanced.
Students made the appropriate responses in Spanish and even offered a few of their intentions in Spanish.
Celebrating the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe with students seemed to reinforce the mission of the school. Students not only learn how to read, write, speak and pray the language, but they also develop an awareness and appreciation for cultures where Spanish is spoken, in this case Mexico and Latin America.
These Spanish Masses also carried out the Viatorian mission of raising up communities where faith is lived, deepened and celebrated.