C
atholic
Herald
DIOCESE OF SUPERIOR
www.superiorcatholicherald.org Vol 151/Edition 14, 12 Pages Aug. 5, 2021
This testimony was posted by the MidwestCapuchinFriarVocationice in mid-July. Capuchin Br. Nathan Linton professed his final vows of poverty, chastity and obedience last month.
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r. Nathan grew up in a small town in Northwest Wisconsin called Cum- berland and faith had always been an important part of his family life growing up. His mother was a cradle Catholic, the 13th of 14 kids, and his father had converted to Catholicism after marrying his mother. They were a typical Catholic family, going to Sun- day Mass, going through religious education and receiving the sacraments, but for Br. Nathan, faith only began to take on a more personal meaning after his own discernment. When he was in seventh grade, he noticed his father starting the process of be- coming a permanent deacon in his diocese and seeing this, Br. Nathan started to ask himself a question, If Gods calling him to something, does that mean Gods calling me to something? I started taking my own life of faith more seriously, said Br. Nathan, I started doing research about what the Catholic faith really is, what it means, and why we believe what we believe and really started to be more attracted to it and take my own prayer life and faith life more seriously. The idea of priesthood started to come up and I kind of went back and forth with that for a while, said Br. Nathan. Even- tually, when I was a sophomore in high school, I contacted our vocations director for the diocese and did a visit to the semi- nary,whichwasveryirming. In order to discern his vocation, Brother Nathan decided that he would at least go to seminary after high school. At that point, I had never met anyone religious before, he recalled. The idea of religious life was not at all in my consciousness. But it was the end of his junior year and the guidance counselors had encouraged the students to write about the career they were planning to go into as well as a backup career that was similar but not too similar. I wrote about priesthood as my primary career and then religious life as a backup. In that paper, Br. Nathan wrote about the Benedictines, the Dominicans, and the Capuchins. What impressed him about all of
JENNY SNARSKI
CATHOLIC HERALD STAFF JSNARSKI@CATHOLICDOS.ORG
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fter attending or leading Extreme Faith Camp for almost an entire decade - including running virtu- al sessions under 2020s COVID-19 lock- down - Chris Hurtubise said, This year was absolutely my favorite year yet. Hurtubise, whose position as youth minister for St. Josephs in Amery brought him to Wisconsin before he moved into his diocesan roles - first as associate director of Catholic Formation, and currently as director of the ice of Evangelization and Missionary Disciple- ship - said that even though it was the camps biggest year yet, his sentiments have little to do with that. Given the year we just came out of, Hurtubise stated, being able to be to- gether and have a relatively normal week illed with all of the graces, fellowship and healthy human interaction was just an extraordinary gift. In 2019, Extreme Faith Camp was held for a week both on the western and eastern sides of the diocese. After not being able to have any in-person youth events for almost an entire year, three weeks of camp were offered. The theme for 2021 was Run to the Father, which focused on the story of the prodigal son. Hurtubise commented, The Masses, the adoration, the confession night, the talks, the small groups, the adventures, the games, the meals - every aspect of camp took on a new richness and a new significance. Among the leaders, there was a deep sense of gratitude, and among everyone there seemed to be a deep sense of sim- ple joy, he said. Including youth leaders and adults (some attending more than one week), a total of 195 people participated in Extreme Faith Camp at Crescent Lake in Rhinelander and 185 camped at the CrossWoods site in Mason. Campers and leaders were ministered to in turns by two deacons, Dcn. Tim Mika of Ashland and Dcn. Jim Arndt of Merrill, and four priests: Frs. John Anderson, Joe Ste- fancin, David Neuschwander and Adam Laski. Fr. Laski also served as chaplain for the prayer team. Fr. Laski described being prayer team chaplain as a real joy. He ex- plained that as EFC is geared toward middle-school participants, prayer team is the first role high school leaders are asked to take on as they move up. It is an invitation to get to know Jesus through service, he said, But also particularly through practicing prayer and letting that be the focal point they are meant to be the spiritual heart of the camp. Commenting that young high-school- ers arent always thought of as mature, focused and others-centered, Fr. Laski irmed the students readily and gen- erously respond to the invitation to go deeper in prayer. It is the lab portion of camp, Fr. Laski said, where the Holy Spirit takes the lead and works his action. As chaplain, his role is to introduce prayer team members to the Holy Spirits action and to help them experi- ence various forms of prayer - petition, intercession, thanksgiving, praying with Scripture and the Psalms, etc. - and to help them discover what works for them. Fr. Laski said each evening, the prayer team shares graces experienced throughout the day. He encourages them to ask themselves and then share reflec- tions on the following: Where was Jesus present today? Where did you see him working? Where
The 'extraordinary gift' of gathering: Faith camps full of grace
One group of campers and leaders works together to complete a task as part of a daily chal- lenge in an Adventure Olympics event, part of the teamwork aspect of Extreme Faith Camp. (Photo by Mindy Hamilton)
Cumberland Capuchin makes final vows
See LINTON, Page 2 See FAITH, Page 3
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