Students at Crist Rey St. Martin College Prep almost never gather for all-school assemblies. With their unique work study program, where students work five days a month to help fund their education, they rarely are in the building all together.
Recently, however, they broke with tradition.
Fr. Thomas von Behren and Fr. John Milton concelebrated a Mass of the Holy Spirit at the North suburban school, that is part of the Cristo Rey Network and of which the Viatorians are one of three endorsing religious communities that support it.
Photo by Jim Dippold
Traditionally, the Mass of the Holy Spirit is offered at the start of the academic year and calls on the Holy Spirit to be with faculty and students in all of their endeavors throughout the year — in the classroom, at their worksites and at organizations in the community where they volunteer.
Photo by Jim Dippold
“For us, it’s one of only two times during the year when the entire school gathers,” says Jim Dippold, campus ministry director. “Ordinarily, 25 percent of our students have left the building every morning for work by 7:30 a.m., but for this Mass we hold them back and they go to work late on that day.”
The school partners with more than 75 businesses, who employ students in industries that include: health care, consumer goods, financial services, engineering, architecture, law, education and nonprofits.
The only other day the entire student body gathers comes at the end of the school year for awards and the senior send off.