According to our newly ordained Bishop Paul Swain, St. Katharine Drexel Parish is special to him because he was once a priest “without a church” when his church burned down. Therefore, celebrating Mass in places like the O’Gorman Junior High Gym is quite familiar to him. On Sunday, January 21, 2007, 24 St. Katharine Drexel Parish students were confirmed in Christ by Bishop Swain.
According to Sue Knight, Melisa Gruidel’s mother, Bishop Swain’s homily discussed the many pressures teenagers deal with today, issues such as internet and cell phones - things that did not exist when we were teenagers. He then told a story about a lighted model of a cathedral. One day it was somehow unplugged and no one chose to plug it back in, so people sort of forgot about it. When someone finally did plug it in, everyone noticed it again. The Holy Spirit is your light, and you have to "plug it in" to let it shine through you – a very poignant sentiment to share as these young adults transition into the next stage of their spiritual life.
The 2007 Confirmation students are: Rachael Andersen, Kory Aschoff, Ashley Behm, Thomas Bell, Jon Bennett, Matt Brazil, Abby Denning, Tom Dockry, Jeremy Dougherty, Brett Feterl, Sidney Frey, Missie Gruidel, Kelly Halma, Mandi Hemmer, Andrew Hennings, Alex Hickman, Kelsi Jordahl, Amanda Kautz, Nathan Kautz, Andrew Klundt, Justin Steinberg, Jacob Vissers, Lauren Wolf and Eric Wuebben.
