Witnesses of the Faith | December 2024

December 3, 2024 | Miles Christi

Priestly Ministry at High Schools
Testimony from Fr. Paul de Soza

I have the joy of carrying out most of my apostolate as a priest in two high schools here in San Diego. Serving as a priest to teens is truly a blessing, and I wanted to share with you the privilege I have of ministering as a priest on a daily basis.

A typical week at the high school includes celebrating Holy Mass, hearing confessions, providing spiritual direction, and leading formation groups for our students. Every now and then, we also hold retreats for them.

It brings great consolation to my heart to celebrate Holy Mass for the students at our schools. One thing I’ve noticed, particularly after COVID, is that the number of participants at daily Mass has increased—Deo gratias! This shows that when we truly understand the gift of the Eucharist, we develop a thirst for it, especially the desire to participate in person in the Lord’s Sacrifice. Our Blessed Mother shares with us a glimpse of the affections and thoughts she experienced at the foot of the Cross.

Another activity flourishing at our schools is the faith-lunch formation groups. We give thanks to God for the fruits of these gatherings! On some days, we offer “Pizza with Padres” at the schools where we serve. We invite all students to join us during lunch, teach them about our faith, and share a wonderful time together. This year, I’ve chosen to talk about virtues. Once a week, I focus on a specific virtue, explaining it to the students and encouraging them to practice it with concrete examples applicable to their daily lives—family, friends, classes, grades, sports, peer pressure, and so on. As we explore the topic, we enjoy pizza and sometimes play games together.

We also offer students the opportunity to meet with us for spiritual direction. This is something they truly value and appreciate. At the beginning of the school year, we visited all the religion classes to introduce ourselves and invite the students to sign up for spiritual direction and join the faith-lunch formation groups. The response has been wonderful—so many students signed up for spiritual direction this year! This fills our priestly hearts with joy. We are so grateful to help teens in any way we can, especially through spiritual direction. Our goal is to encourage them to develop a friendship with the Lord and plant the seeds for their future. Helping them place the foundation of their “houses” on solid rock is a vital mission we have as priests.

Another fruitful ministry is the retreats. For freshmen and sophomores, we hold retreats on campus, while for juniors and seniors, we organize off-campus retreats. I especially love going to a retreat house off-campus, as it helps everyone enter fully into “retreat mode.” Leaving behind our daily concerns, we figuratively and literally “go up the mountain.” In the mountains—where the retreat houses are—we feel closer to God and gain a higher perspective, viewing our lives and the world from God’s vantage point. During the retreats, we have talks, small-group discussions, and, as the cherry on top, Mass, confessions, and adoration.

Thank you very much for reading this article! Now that you know a little more about our apostolate as Miles Christi priests, I humbly ask for your prayers for the fruits of our high school ministry with teens. There is still much work to be done, but your prayers will help the students open their hearts widely to the Lord and will provide us with the light and strength to guide them according to God’s most holy will.