Tyler Dunning was anxious to attend JSerra Catholic High School because of the success of the school’s baseball program. Dunning does indeed play baseball at JSerra.
ON APRIL 14, 33 JSERRA STUDENTS GATHERED WITH BISHOP TIMOTHY FREYER FOR A SPECIAL MASS AT ST. EDWARD THE CONFESSOR CATHOLIC CHURCH IN DANA POINT TO PARTAKE IN JSERRA’S FIRST-EVER ORDER OF CHRISTIAN INITIATION FOR ADULTS. PHOTO BY MARISA TRUJILLO/DIOCESE OF ORANGE
But now as a junior, Dunning feels he was led to JSerra in response to a higher calling.
On April 14, Dunning was among 33 JSerra students who gathered for a special Mass at St. Edward the Confessor Catholic Church in Dana Point to partake in JSerra’s first-ever Order of Christian Initiation for Adults, a process developed by the Catholic Church for prospective converts to the Catholic faith.
STUDENTS WHO RECEIVED THE SACRAMENTS DURING A SPECIAL MASS CELEBRATED ON ON APRIL 14 WERE MENTORED BY THEIR JSERRA CLASSMATES, WHO SERVED AS GODPARENTS. PHOTO BY MARISA TRUJILLO/DIOCESE OF ORANGE
The students received Sacraments of Baptism, Holy Communion and Confirmation from Most Rev. Timothy Freyer, Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of Orange.
“I didn’t grow up Catholic or Christian or anything,” Dunning said. “So, everything regarding my faith has been on my own and been my personal journey.”
Dunning took a class where students were taught about the sacraments as they pertain to the Catholic faith. He attended an optional campus ministry retreat in the fall at the Palomar Christian Conference Center.
Dunning said the retreat changed the course of his life.
“I would say coming away from the retreat, I had a grasp that is the most important thing … my relationship with God,” he said.
JSerra was given permission by Bishop Kevin Vann to prepare students to receive the sacraments due to the substantial number of JSerra students desiring to convert to Catholicism over the past few years.
“We would like to thank Bishop Vann for the privilege of preparing our students for these Sacraments,” said biology teacher Sr. Miriam, the director of the school’s Curriculum.
JSerra students encounter Catholicism as part of their everyday experiences at the school, Sr. Miriam said.
Interactions with sisters, campus ministers, faculty, staff and coaches all play a role, the sister said.
“JSerra students also have opportunities for spiritual encounters through daily adoration, class retreats and weekly all-school Mass, while forming the intellect in the classroom forming students to know the sacraments and to know who God is,” she added.
The students who received the sacraments were mentored and guided by 11 of their JSerra classmates, who served as Godparents.
Some of the students had never been baptized or were baptized in a different denomination of Christianity, said Bella Holsten, campus minister.
Some convert from other religions or grew up without organized religion.
Senior Lauren Walcott, who enrolled in JSerra as a freshman because of the school’s fine engineering magnet program, began thinking about receiving the sacraments during her sophomore year.
In addition to having a transformational experience at the class retreat, Walcott said that taking a theology class this year titled “Christian Apologetics” provided her with a “logical and philosophical background” to better understand the Catholic faith.
“Just being a super logical person, I kind of needed that affirmation from a class side,” said Walcott, who will pursue an engineering degree at Rice University in the fall.
Patrick Reidy, JSerra’s vice president of Mission and Faith, said the Order of Christian Initiation for Adults was a “spiritual gift from God” and the most significant event in the 21-year history of the school.
“The ultimate purpose of our school and everything we do is to draw every young person more deeply into the heart of Christ who loves them infinitely, and to help them to discover the joy of giving their lives fully over to Him,” Reidy said. “It is a breathtaking and undeserved privilege to see that happen in the most sublime way imaginable: by fully embracing a life in the Church.”