VALPARAISO – On a picture-perfect weather day that hinted at autumn, college students and families who call St. Teresa of Avila Catholic Student Center their faith community gathered on Aug. 24 to celebrate the start of a new school year with an outdoor liturgy and an afternoon of food and fun.
Bishop Robert J. McClory, in his homily, urged the congregation gathered under a tent next to Harre Student Union on the Valparaiso University campus – a new venue for the annual Back to School Mass – to trust in the Lord. “Whatever challenges you are going through, do not despair; everybody has something (to struggle with in their life),” said the bishop. “God says, ‘Embrace me in the midst of that trial and know the peace I have for you.’”
Remarked Noah Frederickson, a Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) missionary serving for his second year at St. Teresa of Avila, “As Bishop McClory said, your witness in loving Christ in good and bad times prevails, and living that out in a like-minded community is a blessing.
“Ministering to the future of the Catholic Church is a great thing,” he added. “A lot of problems stem from having no relationship with Christ, but living out your faith is a beautiful thing here at St. Teresa.”
Frederickson, a University of Northern Iowa graduate, said he most enjoys hosting a Bible Study class that he hopes to extend to fraternities on the VU campus, and he appreciates the time he spends with Father McDaniel. “He is young, and I can relate to him as a father figure and a brother. My relationship with Christ grows as the students’ faith grows.”
Dominic Niceforo, a 2025 VU graduate anticipating a career in computer science, returned for the Mass and picnic from Bridgeview, Ill. with his parents, Steven and Debra Niceforo. “My mentor, former FOCUS missionary Rocco Hutter, led me back to the Church when I was a student, and it’s good to be back on campus and share the day with my parents, and enjoy the good weather,” he said.
He was happy to see fellow computer science major Sam Thyen, a VU senior, attending the Mass with his fiancée, Emily King, a VU junior and recent Catholic convert.
“I’m from Blytheville, Ark., and Sam moved there with his family,” she explained. “We met in high school, and while I was baptized as a Southern Baptist in 2022, I later became interested in the Catholic Church and started attending Mass back home,” she explained.
When Thyen, a ‘cradle Catholic’ originally from Granger, returned to Indiana to attend VU, King followed and is majoring in communications and psychology. “I took OCIA (Order of Christian Initiation of Adults) classes at St. Paul here in Valparaiso and received the sacraments of Holy Communion and confirmation on Feb. 2,” King said.
“It feels amazing to fully experience the Mass as a Catholic; I feel really included now,” added King, who said her favorite part of the Mass is singing the “Gloria,” calling it so heartfelt. Every word is meaningful, and it gets stuck in my head and stays with me.”
Back at St. Teresa of Avila, parishioners Beth and Rick Yukon and Al Guzman were attending their first Back to School picnic. “I am new to the church, having moved to Valparaiso less than a year ago, and I volunteered to help set up for the picnic, so I’m here,” said Guzman as he enjoyed a pulled pork sandwich and salads. “Rick is a friend, and he suggested I join St. Teresa. I like Father McDaniel’s sermons; he makes church fun.”
Rick Yukon said he recently retired and has been helping with maintenance projects around the student center campus. “I find attending St. Teresa very fulfilling,” he said. “Father McDaniels homilies are excellent, and it is a growing church, with a lot of young families moving in.”
Among those families is Eugene and Cecilia Quirante and their daughters, Bernadette, 11, and Claire, nine. “We’ve been members since we moved here in 2020, and we like that St. Teresa is not too small, but not too large either,” said Cecilia Quirante. “We see familiar faces when we attend Mass, and the girls attend faith formation classes.”
Having attended the Back to School Mass twice before in downtown Valparaiso, they enjoyed the VU campus venue this year. “It’s wonderful and the weather is great. This church is very family-oriented; they know what we are going through in our lives.”
Looking ahead to the new school year and beyond, Bishop McClory advised in his homily: “The horizon is vast, and there will be pain, but do not despair. God says to ‘Cling on to me all the more, because I will be clinging onto you.’”
Caption: Father Jacob McDaniel, chaplain of St. Teresa of Avila Catholic Student Center in Valparaiso, visits with the Quirante family on Aug. 24 at the annual Back to School Picnic held in the parking lot just off the University of Valparaiso campus. Cecilia (left) and Eugene (right) Quirante enjoyed lunch with their daughters, fifth-grader Bernadette, 11, and fourth-grader Claire, nine, while Father McDaniel invited the girls to an upcoming meeting for prospective altar servers. (Marlene A. Zloza photo)
