Bishop Bruté Days continues to inspire faith and vocations in teenage boys
Bishop Bruté Days participants kneel in prayer during eucharistic adoration on July 14 in the chapel of Bishop Simon Bruté College Seminary in Indianapolis. (Photo by Sean Gallagher)
By Sean Gallagher
MONROE COUNTY—During the middle of a six-hour drive from his home near Green Bay, Wis., to Bishop Simon Bruté College Seminary in Indianapolis, Avery Boham didn’t know what the big deal was.
What was so special about Bishop Bruté Days, the archdiocese’s annual vocations camp for high school-aged boys held this year on July 14-16, that his parents were willing to drive from so far away for Avery to take part? (See a photo gallery from the camp)
A day into the vocations camp, Avery was as sold on Bishop Bruté Days as his parents were.
“On the way down, I was like, ‘Mom, why are you sending me all the way down to Indianapolis?’ ” recalled Avery, who will soon start the ninth grade as a homeschooled student. “As I got used to it, I was like, ‘This was a good idea. Thanks, Mom.’ I’ll definitely come back next year.”
That’s been the reaction of many of the teenage boys who take part in Bishop Bruté Days from year to year. They’re drawn by the camaraderie they experience with their peers, the seminarians who help operate the camp, and archdiocesan priests who spend time with them during the three-day event.
That fellowship is built up through a combination of prayer, daily Mass, eucharistic adoration, the availability of the sacrament of penance, spiritual presentations and outdoor games like soccer and capture the flag. This year, this happened both at Bishop Bruté Seminary and at Mother of the Redeemer Retreat Center in Bloomington, which the participants visited on July 15.
“I really do enjoy praying with all of my brothers here,” said Avery. “It really makes me feel part of a community. They share the same faith that I have. They’re deeply invested in it like I am.”
Laying a ‘good foundation’ of faith
Jessica Boham and her family had learned about Bishop Bruté Days when they lived near Indianapolis while her husband Sampson was studying at the Indiana University Medical School in the city. Avery was too young at the time to take part in the vocations camp. But Jessica was convinced enough by its goodness that she filed it away in the back of her mind for the future, even if her family lived far from Indianapolis.
“Being a strong Catholic family, we thought that this would give him a good foundation to learn more about the Catholic faith,” she said. “And we thought that Bishop Bruté Days would give him an opportunity to be really immersed in what it might be like to be in a seminary. Then he could grow from that and continue his discernment.”
Although he may have had the longest drive to get to the camp, Avery definitely wasn’t alone. He was one of 65 teenage boys who took part, most of them coming from 33 parishes across central and southern Indiana. The day before the high school camp, there was a one-day event at the seminary for seventh- and eighth-graders that drew 45 participants from across the archdiocese.
It didn’t take Avery long to look upon as “brothers” the young men from Indiana in the high school camp, something that gratified his father.
“It’s great to see young boys participating in this,” Sampson said. “[Avery] being around other boys with the same mission and ambition will help him grow more in the Catholic faith.”
“We are so glad we brought our son to Bishop Bruté Days,” added Jessica. “The moments of peace, sacredness and seriousness of the camp was balanced with activity, laughter and friendship—just the right mix to begin his discernment of God’s will in his life.”
Being inspired and hoping to inspire
The three newly ordained archdiocesan priests visited Bishop Bruté Days on July 14. Father Samuel Hansen, Father Timothy Khuishing and Father Khaing Thu all received priestly formation at Bishop Bruté as college seminarians.
Father Thu was the principal celebrant of a Mass at the seminary on July 14. When he stood at the altar during the liturgy, he looked out on all the teenage boys at Bishop Bruté Days in the pews of the seminary’s chapel, looking much like he did when he took part in the camp years ago.
“It reminded me of when I was in those pews,” said Father Thu, now serving as parochial vicar at St. Michael Parish in Greenfield and St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in Fortville. “As a participant, I was really inspired and motivated by all the priests who helped at Bishop Bruté Days. I hope now to be an inspiration, not because of who I am, but because of the priesthood through which I am celebrating Mass and serving the people.”
While hoping to inspire this year’s camp participants, Father Thu noted that he’s encouraged by them.
“I’m inspired by their presence and the fact that they have a lot of energy that they want to use to serve the Church,” he said. “Hopefully they’ll be guided in the right direction to listen to God’s call in their lives.”
Father Hansen, parochial vicar at St. Monica Parish in Indianapolis, called returning to Bishop Bruté “a dream fulfilled,” saying that in the two years he was in formation there he had “imagined being a priest so much.”
“So, it’s a special time to be here to share the joys and the glories of the priesthood with guys who are hoping for that one day,” said Father Hansen.
Peers helping each other grow in faith
John Paul Pack appreciated getting to meet and know the many priests and seminarians present during Bishop Bruté Days. An incoming homeschooled senior and a member of St. John the Evangelist Parish in Indianapolis, this year’s vocations camp was the fourth one for John Paul, who is discerning applying to become an archdiocesan seminarian.
“I’ve loved this place ever since my first year here,” he said. “I’ve found it super-inspirational.”
In addition to being inspired by the priests and seminarians at the vocations camp, John Paul also valued having so many peers with him there.
“It gives you a sense of fraternity,” he said. “You get to meet these awesome young men with super-good Catholic backgrounds. They just take their faith so seriously. That inspires me to take my faith more seriously.”
Michael Bauer, an incoming junior at New Palestine High School in New Palestine and a member of St. Michael Parish in Greenfield, is also a Bishop Bruté Days veteran.
“I go to a public school,” he said. “So, I’m surrounded by the secular world all the time. It’s good to be back among faith-filled people.”
Being around so many Catholic peers at the camp gives Michael a spiritual shot in the arm.
“It gives me a chance to revitalize my faith,” he noted. “My daily mundane life gets to me. I fall away from faith a little bit. But every summer when I come back here, my faith is reinvigorated all over again.”
Hope for the future of the Church
In addition to helping teenage boys grow in their faith and begin discerning God’s call in their lives, Bishop Bruté Days also helps archdiocesan seminarians in their ongoing formation for ordained ministry.
Seminarian Nathan Huynh, who will soon begin his fourth year of formation at Bishop Bruté, assisted at the vocations camp.
“Youth ministry is something that I’ve always enjoyed in general,” said Huynh, a member of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in New Albany. “It’s nice to see familiar faces from past Bishop Bruté Days or other events where I’ve met these teenagers. What makes this event flow is everyone’s enthusiasm to want to grow closer to God.
“It gives me hope that the future of the Church is in good hands.”
Seminarian Dean Cheever, who will be starting his second year of formation at Bishop Bruté, was similarly encouraged by spending time with the teens at the vocations camp.
“Honestly, they’re very inspiring,” said Cheever, a member of St. Therese of the Infant Jesus (Little Flower) Parish in Indianapolis. “It seems like they share attitudes that we have. They’re very excited about the future of the Church, learning about the faith and bringing it to other people.”
Father Michael Keucher, archdiocesan vocations director, shares that excitement. That hope is what keeps Bishop Bruté Days from getting old for him, even though this year’s vocations camp was the seventh one he has overseen.
“Every single year, I have the joy of knowing that every one of these guys was invited personally by the Lord,” said Father Keucher, who is also pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Shelbyville and St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Shelby County. “They’re not here by accident, but by grace. That’s what keeps it new, along with the enthusiasm, zeal, excitement in them for God, which is very beautiful.”
During this year’s Bishop Bruté Days, Father Keucher and other priests who assisted gave reflections on the Sacred Heart of Jesus since it was just the month after the country’s bishops re-consecrated America to the
Sacred Heart in commemoration of the 250th anniversary of America’s founding.
“St. John Vianney said that the priesthood is the love of the heart of Jesus,” Father Keucher said in an interview with The Criterion. “So, it’s really appropriate to be thinking about the Sacred Heart in connection with the priestly vocation. We have young men here who are growing in virtue, prayer, fraternity, their love for the Lord and their desire to do his will. That’s a gift to the archdiocese.”
In his homily during the Bishop Bruté Days’ closing Mass, Father Keucher addressed the parents of the camp participants.
“It was such a joy for me as a priest to witness the fierceness of the love of God in the hearts of your sons,” Father Keucher said. “It’s been a great three days. I love watching young men fall in love with the Lord and, little by little, grow into men of virtue, men of prayer, men of Christ. And that’s exactly what’s going on here.”
(For more information about a vocation to the priesthood in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, go to HearGodsCall.com.) †
