Brentwood — The sun was shining and the beach only 20 minutes away while a dozen teens sat in the basement of St. Luke’s Church here learning about the Bible.
“Is our Church a missionary Church?” Jorge Diez, religious education director for St. Luke’s Church, asked the students, who are preparing to teach religious education in their own parishes.

The event began with praise and worship, Mass celebrated by Bishop Larry Silva of the Diocese of Honolulu, and adoration. Afterward, volunteers from local parish youth groups brought everyone to a nearby park, where they prayed the Angelus, enjoyed various Hawaiian cultural activities like making leis and learning to hula, tried authentic Hawaiian food for lunch and dinner, listened to various talks, entertained each other with song and dance, and learned about the “aloha spirit.”

“Yes,” they exclaimed.

“Are you missionaries?” Diez, who has a doctorate in theology, asked further.

“Yes,” they repeated.

“If you are teaching the word of God, especially to our children,” he noted, “you are missionaries.” The participating students plan to or are already serving as catechists in their respective parishes. The summer class was set up by the diocesan Office of Faith Formation especially for teens.

The four-morning New Testament class was preceded by a four-morning Old Testament class the previous week. Both are required courses for those who want to be certified as catechists (religion teachers) in the diocese. Most of the students are from St. Luke’s, but a couple come from other parishes.

The students seemed happy to be at the July 9 class, even if they had to show up by 9:30 in the morning. “It’s over by noon, so you can go home, take a nap, and have the whole afternoon,” said Cathy Rico, a parishioner of St. Lawrence the Martyr Church, Sayville, and a sophomore at Sayville High School.

The class was lively as Diez explained the material and often had students read sections from a book and passages from Scripture.

Occasionally, the students laughed good-naturedly when a classmate stumbled over such words as “Ephesians” or “indefatigable.” They also gave classmates high fives or thumbs up signs for reading well.

They asked questions, like the difference between a missionary and a prophet, what is meant by an “unclean animal” in ancient Jewish ritual, and why the pope has such stringent security when he travels. They also shared their enthusiasm for God and for Jesus.

“I would really love to meet that guy (Jesus),” said Angelisa Contreras, a junior at Brentwood High. “You know. Take his picture, put it on MySpace.”
They also discussed their desire to teach others.

“I want to teach confirmation classes when I’m 18, so I can relate to the kids,” said Kevin Amaya, a sophomore at Brent-wood High. He said he took the class “because I want to do something for my religion.”

“I had a confirmation teacher who was young, so I thought that I would like to teach kids the way she taught me,” said Jamie Garcia, a parishioner of St. Luke’s and a sophomore at East Islip High School. She has taught second grade and fifth grade but prefers fifth. “They are more calm, and they understand better.”

Diez noted that young people like these “are an important source to find catechists for our parish.” Most of the parishioners are Spanish-speaking now, and many would have trouble teaching the kids, who mostly speak English. These teens speak English but are comfortable in Spanish and can talk to the parents.

“This is also a way to get them involved,” Diez continued. “You can have social activities for them, but it’s important to give them responsibility.”

In addition to learning to be catechists, the students said they enjoyed the experience of the class.

“It’s fun,” said Laura Mejia, an eighth-grader at North Middle School in Brentwood. “I learn something new every day.”

“I thought it would be nice to meet youth from other parishes,” said Cathy Rico. “It’s great learning about God with other young people.”