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Courtesy of Raphael DeRosa
Scouts attend Mass which was celebrated on top of Black Mountain in Philmont, N.M.
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This past summer I boarded a plane to Cimarron, N.M., (about two hours north of Santa Fe). I was in my Boy Scout uniform and on my way to the finest scout camp. As I tilted my head back on the seat I made one thing clear to myself: I wanted to learn more about my faith.
I wanted to know exactly why I call myself a Catholic. I wanted my questions answered that I’ve had about my faith, the same questions that many young Catholics at 17 have as well.
I don’t think these expectations were too high, and four days after spending a week at the Columban Center with the Christian Leadership Institute, I was inspired to be an active child of God. After all, I wasn’t going on an ordinary, 10-day backpacking trek that most troops prepare for two years to attend. I was going on the St. George Trek, which was put together by the National Catholic Committee on Scouting as a retreat-themed trek. Also, I was hoping to have a lot of fun because I gratefully accepted a scholarship from the Buffalo Diocesan Catholic Committee on Scouting.
“Your chance is as good as anybody’s” my dad told me as I was filling out my application this past January. He has always talked about when he was on the staff at Philmont Scout Ranch for four years. Ever since I can remember, I’ve wanted to make it out to those same Rocky Mountains.
In a similar scholarship manner, other dioceses across America sent one scout to the St. George Trek, which occurs about every other year. They look for Catholic Boy Scouts who are active in their church and community to go backpacking for 10 days with leaders of the Church. They then get to experience the beauty of nature while they hike in this land with which God has blessed us. The result? There were 65 Catholic scouts from across the country with two things in common: Jesus and scouting.
After arriving at the St. George Trek, we were divided into seven crews, each with a priest and a seminarian, except for an all girls crew, which had two Benedictine Sisters hiking with them. It was challenging at first (and maybe a little bit awkward), but we quickly became familiar with one another after realizing that you weren’t the only one with no friends from home with you.
This camp, donated to the scouting movement in 1938 by oilman Waite Phillips, is every scout’s dream because it is complete with more than 125,000 acres of wilderness, mountains, backpacking trails, and high adventures. Nicknamed “God’s Country,” Philmont became the perfect place to explore the theme of the trek, “Vocations – Walk Humbly with God.”
Vocations did not necessarily mean the priesthood or sisterhood, but what God wants us to do with our lives. The outdoors provided a very relaxing atmosphere to have daily Mass at each campsite we visited, recite the rosary daily while hiking, and very openly speak about our faith. All of these questions that I’ve had about Catholicism, not being sure who or when to ask, were suddenly able to be answered by a trusted priest (My crew was headed by Father Ken Schluping of the Diocese of Richmond, Va.) and an eager seminarian (We had Adam Carrico of the Diocese of Louisville, Ky.).
I think that anywhere a teen goes there is usually a sense of awkwardness and question when casually talking about faith with friends. As unfortunate as this may be, I think it is because faith has become a big unknown for the young Church today.
On the plane back home, I had difficulty figuring out my favorite part of the trek. Was it one of the highlights, like the fresh air, the spectacular view atop of Mount Baldy, the fellowship I shared with people I thought I hardly knew, or the questions for which I so badly wanted answers? Or was it one of the challenges we faced that sustain many camping trips, such as the 4,000-5,000 daily calorie diet of nuts and granola bars, being stalked by a mountain lion for over two hours, the eight liters of water I drank daily, or the thin mountain air that made it hard to breathe?
At any rate, I learned that God has a calling, a unique vocation for each of us to find. It is up to us to figure it out, but we don’t always have to go on a backpacking trip to find the answer. Sometimes it’s about looking in the mirror and wondering why you call yourself a Catholic.
Raphael de Rosa is an Eagle Scout of Troop 849, a senior at Niagara Catholic High School, and a resident of Niagara Falls.
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