Seeing the world through grown-up eyes can wear you down, says Father Rob Moriarty. He knows, from studying canon law among the long-robed, learned men of Catholic University in Washington, D.C.
But when Moriarty completed his degree and returned to his home state of Utah, he sought out an entirely different scholarly institution: a Catholic high school in Draper. Here, surrounded by teenagers in jeans and sweatshirts, he's found new inspiration.
The teenage energy is what does it, Moriarty says. "It's just fun to be around them. If you're with adults a lot, you get jaded and bitter."
The Dominican cleric, who at 34 has been ordained nearly nine years, doesn't look particularly priestly as he works elbow to elbow with a dozen sophomores and juniors. It's 9 a.m. on a Saturday, and they're sorting cereal, canned vegetables, brownie mix and hundreds of pounds of other nonperishables at the Utah Food Bank. No one sounds cranky about having to rise at 7:30 on a weekend morning to drive from Draper to Salt Lake City.
"We need some manly men over here," calls a Food Bank staffer as she prepares to sort frozen turkeys by weight. Chris Vander Velden and Joe Mehl, both 16, present themselves at the loading dock. First they step onto the scale and weigh themselves, just for fun; then they start hefting turkeys onto the freezer shelves.
"This is just part of being a good Christian," says Mehl, summing up his reasons for coming to the Food Bank instead of sleeping in on Saturday morning.
"It's about thinking of other people," added Vander Velden. Yes, service is a graduation requirement at Juan Diego, but
no, teachers aren't keeping track of how many hours each student spends on service projects.
"Last year the kids had 10 hours of required service," said Patrick Mooney, the school's activities director. "We found that they just did their 10 hours and thought they were finished with service."
So instead of mandating a certain number of hours, Juan Diego seeks to nurture in students "a generous spirit," as Moriarty says.
"Service is just as important as academics," added Mooney. "The kids' experiences outside class can be devastating, life-changing."
Juan Diego held a "service opportunities fair" soon after school started this fall to acquaint students with Wasatch Front organizations needing volunteers. Mooney had no trouble finding teens interested in working at the Food Bank, serving lunches at the St. Vincent de Paul soup kitchen or visiting the women's shelter to invite children to go sledding.
"After all is said and done, they're wanting more," Mooney said. "I think it's a basic human response to enjoy giving. . . . and some of these kids have so much stuff. I've asked the kids in my classes, 'How many of you have more than one TV? A washer and dryer?' And I don't need to say more."
Evita Ruby, 16, darted around the Food Bank, sorting cans and carrying boxes, chatting a little but not slowing down as she did so. The Juan Diego junior class president is just getting started, she says, on a career of activism. Along with weekend outings like the one to the Food Bank, she has joined a committee to protest Utah's Initiative A, the English-only law passed in November.
"There are no constitutional grounds for English-only," she said. "This is America. If you're just going to insist on English only, America won't be what it was meant to be."
Ruby sets an example for her classmates, said Mooney. "I'm hoping these kids will go back" to school Monday "and start talking about what they're doing" as volunteers for local service groups.
At Judge Memorial Catholic High School in Salt Lake City, some 50 local agencies introduce themselves to students during the yearly Christian Street Fair. Juniors must complete 25 hours of service during the first three quarters of the school year, while seniors are required to do 45 hours within the first three quarters.
"I visit the kids as they're doing their journal reflections in class" on their service work, said Colleen Smith, Judge's Christian service director. "They love it. . . . One girl was tutoring kids at a (elementary) school, and she said, 'If it wasn't for the tutoring program, these kids wouldn't make it.' "
Many teens become attached to their service groups, Smith said, and continue working with them after they've satisfied the school's requirements. They keep going back to walk the dogs at the Best Friends shelter, or they keep up their Monday-night bowling games with Special Olympians. Many aim for and surpass 100 hours of service their senior year and receive the Presidential Service Award.
Like other parochial schools, Lutheran High in Salt Lake City aims to instill a year-round service ethic. The community needs us year-round, says Petra Eick, Lutheran's Student Council adviser. "We have dances to which students bring canned foods for the food bank, our choir sings at hospitals, kids volunteer at the Rape Recovery Center. . . . we help whoever asks us," she said. Lutheran students participate in at least three service projects each year.
Michael Cavanaugh teaches theology at Juan Diego — a lofty subject that may be tough to bring home to high school students. But take them to a food bank, a shelter or a soup kitchen, and you don't have to roll out a lengthy lecture.
"This is a simple day," Cavanaugh said. "But it builds a sense of community, a sense of giving."
Ruby boiled it down a bit further.
"You have one life to live, so you have to make the most of it," she said.
E-mail: durbani@desnews.com