The importance of young people maintaining the faith
By William Van de Planque | On Mission
Summer can often be a significant and formative season of transition for many young people, especially those graduating high school and college.
Taylor Geiger, who works in campus ministry at Roncalli High School, and Fr. Mark Mleziva, vocation director for the Diocese of Green Bay, spoke in a recent “Quo Vadis?” podcast episode about the importance of maintaining the Catholic faith after graduation.
Geiger was struck by something that the 2025 Roncalli High School graduation commencement speaker, Timothy Olson, said during his speech in May.
“He said something along the lines of, ‘The structures that have kept you grounded are all about to disappear,’” Geiger said.
Olson is also the theatre director and teaches English and theology at Roncalli High School.
Preparation for one of the most formative seasons of transition — the time following high school graduation — begins long before the summer after finishing school.
Callie Hynek, who works in campus ministry at Roncalli High School alongside Geiger, said that the academic schedule and calendar are crucial for utilizing the available time to foster faith-centered encounters with students.
“In campus ministry, we try to maximize the time we have with them,” she said. “…Before lunch, we have time for students to come to a quick meal prayer in the chapel before they go to the cafeteria.”
One thing Roncalli High School does to prepare its students for life after high school is a senior retreat.
“The senior retreat is really that send-off. Here’s your everyday routine at Roncalli; that’s going to change the second you walk out this door upon graduation, but don’t forget these key things and what it means to stay connected,” Hynek said. “…We give some talks on not only staying connected to your identity but staying connected to the spirit of Roncalli, where you came from, who our patron saints are and how you might apply that in your future.”
Roncalli emphasizes “staying connected to the Lord, to Jesus, especially in times of transition,” she said.
Hynek said her favorite part about her role in campus ministry at a Catholic high school is the journey she gets “to experience with the students from their freshmen year to their sophomore year.”
“I’m a vehicle to bridge that head and that heart, to make their faith a reality, to make it important to them and to help them grow,” she said.
Finding a faith-filled community when moving away from home and setting a goal to do so beforehand is important for young people, said Fr. Matthew Colle, pastor of Holy Family Parish Brillion and former chaplain at Roncalli High School.
“Little by little, surround yourself with people that are also going to hold those same values of prayer and practicing the faith,” Fr. Colle said.
Mark Wanek, a senior at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay (UWGB), was raised Catholic and knew what kind of community he wanted to be a part of when he left home for college.
“My older three sisters all went to UWGB, but one of my sisters got particularly involved,” Wanek said. “I definitely knew that I wanted some good Catholic friends before I got started.”
However, it was an adjustment for him, he said.
“Leaving home, I’d have to go to Mass myself,” Wanek said. “It was always assumed that we’d go as a family, and even though I’m at college close to home, it’s on me now to take myself to Mass.”
Wanek appreciates the abundance of community events and sacraments available as a part of the Phoenix Catholic campus ministry, he said.
The Catholic community on campus also takes advantage of local opportunities for receiving the sacraments.
“Luckily, Green Bay has a lot of Mass options, so sometimes a group of us will go together,” he said.
Before the start of his junior year, Sr. Laura Zelten, OSF, the campus ministry director for UWGB, asked him if he was interested in being the student outreach coordinator, which involves marketing and promoting events, speaking with new and current students and encouraging people to sign up for events.
“This year I’m going to be the Phoenix Catholic president,” Wanek said.
Fr. Zach Weber, Catholic campus ministry director at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh (UW-Oshkosh), recognizes the importance of pursuing faith-centered community right away when moving to a new place, especially for incoming first-year students at universities.
“The friends you make in your first two weeks will be your friends for the next four years,” he said.
Ordained in 2020, Fr. Weber came to campus at UW-Oshkosh during the COVID-19 pandemic. He immediately recognized the need for spiritual fatherhood, he said.
“A lot of people are like sheep without a shepherd,” he said. “They’ve never had someone to talk to about how their life is going.”
Fr. Weber said that it is powerful to see students experience deliverance and freedom in Christ when they have gone through trauma and have no one to talk about it with.
“It takes time for them to know that they have a loving community and people they care for,” he said.
Wanek spoke about the struggles that can arise during breaks from routines established during time at school.
“The breaks are tough because… I see these people a lot during the week,” he said. “We all come together for bonding, retreats, adoration, worship, Mass and fellowship so often to get us through the school year. We create such a good schedule, and then you go into the break periods: ‘When am I going to adoration? When am I going to see my good friends who are going to help build me up?’”
Wanek emphasized the importance of routine and accountability, especially during breaks from school and seasons of transition.
“This year (over the summer) we decided to do a Bible study every Thursday with a meal to give those who live around Oshkosh an opportunity to (nurture) the faith.”
The Catholic campus ministry at UW-Oshkosh offers ways for students to stay connected following graduation, Fr. Weber said.
“We started doing — I think, two summers ago — alumni events to keep loving our alumni,” he said. “If they don’t go back to an area where there is community or where they are seeking community, it’s going to be a lonely place.”
“Students wanting to stay in Oshkosh because they know that we are offering something has been really beautiful too,” he said. “There has been a hunger to grow in their faith.”
Fr. Colle, who started his new assignment this summer as pastor, was reflecting on how this summer has been a season of transition for him.
“Coming here (to Brillion), I was thinking to myself that when I move, the first thing I want to do is re-establish my prayer routine,” he said.
His advice to all those experiencing seasons of transition — whether it be moving to a new city, starting a new job or starting college — was characterized by prayer and routine.
“Establish a prayer routine; set your mind to it,” he said.
Fr. Colle said that all students who go “off to college or onto the next phase (have) plans, generally: who they’re going to hang out with, what they’re going to do recreationally, where they are going to exercise, where they are going to go to eat; the question then is where are you going to pray, when are you going to pray, how are you going to pray and for what duration or season?”