SYM: The Salesian Swim Team
by Linda Randazzo
Upon the conclusion of my freshman year at college, I began to pack away the contents of my dorm. Under a couple of textbooks and a dictionary, I found my old Catholic Youth Bible, somewhat glaring at me. I decided to take a break from packing and I frivolously began flipping through the pages. By what was certainly nothing short of the work of the Holy Spirit, I came across a parable in the Gospel of Matthew. I absent-mindedly began reading The Parable of the Lost Sheep. “…If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills and go in search of the stray? And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not stray. In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of His little ones be lost.”
“It is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of His little ones be lost,” I repeated to myself as I unsuccessfully tried to cease the chill that was rushing through my veins. It would not be until months later, as my friends and I were concluding our Empowering Salesian Leaders seminar, that I would truly be able to give praise to God for this exact moment.
On July 27, 2014 a group of fellow alumni from La Salle High School and myself loaded up in a car and began to make our way to Lutz, FL for the very first ESL, Empowering Salesian Leaders. It was a 4 ½ hour drive from Miami, which left me a lot of time to be with my thoughts. I am sad to admit that after leaving my Salesian institution and going away for my first year of college, I lost touch with my intimate relationship with God. And it was not because I didn’t try. I still said my three Hail Mary’s before bed, I made sure to practice Lent, and I even began trying to attend Mass during the week in between my classes. But it seemed so hopeless.
So as I sat in that car with my cheerful friends around me, I could not help but feel like a hypocrite. How could I have the audacity to attempt to pass myself off as a leader of Salesian ministry when I really could not even lead myself towards God?
We arrived at where the seminar was being held and began to unload our things. Still feeling a little down, I decided to postpone unpacking my bag and left the other girls in the bunks and went off to the common area. As I entered, I saw Tony Sepulvado (one of the Young Team members from my October Leadership retreat back in 2012), who had already arrived. I knew for a fact that there was no way he remembered me, because I was not even in his small group during said retreat, but such joy filled in my heart that I couldn’t help myself. I ran to him and gave him a hug…then I (of course) helped him put the pieces together as to where our paths had crossed, and he enthusiastically responded with just as much joy.
For the remainder of the week-long experience, we played, we learned, we prayed, and welcomed each other back to the ministry that helped make our connections with God so full of joy and meaning. Without even realizing it at first, I found myself submerged in my beautiful relationship with God once again. And that is when I realized how effective the Salesian Spirituality is at helping me (and others) grow as a disciple of Christ. I was able to experience first-hand the grace God placed on what is soon to be realized as the Salesian Youth Movement. Right from the moment I saw a Salesian brother, Tony, I felt at home and welcomed. We didn’t even know each other that well, but the mere similarity that we were Salesians filled us both with love and joy for each other.
Often when we leave our respective Salesian institutions, it is really quite easy to lose sight of God’s love. I personally believe that is because God’s love is so prevalent that it is to us what water is to a fish: it goes unseen and unquestioned—but it is there. It is so important, without it, we lose our ability to breathe and thrive. The Salesian Youth Movement is a beautiful way for Salesian alumni to be made aware of the prevalence that is God’s love. It is a great support system for college-aged Catholics who feel as though they are drowning, and need the support of their fellow Salesians, to just keep swimming.
“It is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of His little ones be lost,” I repeated to myself as I unsuccessfully tried to cease the chill that was rushing through my veins. It would not be until months later, as my friends and I were concluding our Empowering Salesian Leaders seminar, that I would truly be able to give praise to God for this exact moment.
On July 27, 2014 a group of fellow alumni from La Salle High School and myself loaded up in a car and began to make our way to Lutz, FL for the very first ESL, Empowering Salesian Leaders. It was a 4 ½ hour drive from Miami, which left me a lot of time to be with my thoughts. I am sad to admit that after leaving my Salesian institution and going away for my first year of college, I lost touch with my intimate relationship with God. And it was not because I didn’t try. I still said my three Hail Mary’s before bed, I made sure to practice Lent, and I even began trying to attend Mass during the week in between my classes. But it seemed so hopeless.
So as I sat in that car with my cheerful friends around me, I could not help but feel like a hypocrite. How could I have the audacity to attempt to pass myself off as a leader of Salesian ministry when I really could not even lead myself towards God?
We arrived at where the seminar was being held and began to unload our things. Still feeling a little down, I decided to postpone unpacking my bag and left the other girls in the bunks and went off to the common area. As I entered, I saw Tony Sepulvado (one of the Young Team members from my October Leadership retreat back in 2012), who had already arrived. I knew for a fact that there was no way he remembered me, because I was not even in his small group during said retreat, but such joy filled in my heart that I couldn’t help myself. I ran to him and gave him a hug…then I (of course) helped him put the pieces together as to where our paths had crossed, and he enthusiastically responded with just as much joy.
For the remainder of the week-long experience, we played, we learned, we prayed, and welcomed each other back to the ministry that helped make our connections with God so full of joy and meaning. Without even realizing it at first, I found myself submerged in my beautiful relationship with God once again. And that is when I realized how effective the Salesian Spirituality is at helping me (and others) grow as a disciple of Christ. I was able to experience first-hand the grace God placed on what is soon to be realized as the Salesian Youth Movement. Right from the moment I saw a Salesian brother, Tony, I felt at home and welcomed. We didn’t even know each other that well, but the mere similarity that we were Salesians filled us both with love and joy for each other.
Often when we leave our respective Salesian institutions, it is really quite easy to lose sight of God’s love. I personally believe that is because God’s love is so prevalent that it is to us what water is to a fish: it goes unseen and unquestioned—but it is there. It is so important, without it, we lose our ability to breathe and thrive. The Salesian Youth Movement is a beautiful way for Salesian alumni to be made aware of the prevalence that is God’s love. It is a great support system for college-aged Catholics who feel as though they are drowning, and need the support of their fellow Salesians, to just keep swimming.