Christ at the Heart of Our School

A student testimonial on the presence of The Most Holy Eucharist in our Fatima Chapel —

“Then Jesus declared, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry’ ”  -John 6:35 (NIV)

One of the greatest blessings we have received at Chesterton Academy of The Holy Family was the permission to have Jesus in the Blessed sacrament present in our building. Our entire mission is centered on Him so it makes perfect sense to have Him physically present right off the very center of our hallway. We pass Him as we change classes and it is such a comfort to see the tabernacle with the red sanctuary lamp next to it. 

I have spent many happy, sad, anxious, stressed, frustrated, joy-filled, peaceful, troubled, and quiet moments with Him in the chapel. Jesus is always there, ready for a visit, ready to comfort us if we need it, ready to listen, helping us and guiding us when we’re struggling. A few weeks before The Blessed Sacrament was brought in our chaplain, Fr. Ryan Adorjan, challenged us to be open to whatever graces God wanted to offer us through this gift. Fr. Ryan assured us that those graces would be present but we had to be open to them if we wanted to enjoy the benefits. 

It was beautiful to see the student body, along with teachers, staff, and parents come and pray, both by themselves and together. We started to pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy weekly, along with prayers through the intercession of St Joseph during this year dedicated to him. Jesus said “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” (Matthew 18:20, NIV) There were moments when we gathered together to pray after school and I was struck with the power and beauty that came with people gathering and giving a few minutes of their day to come before The Lord to share their struggles, lift up intentions, and worship Him. It is such an honor to share a building with Our Lord; He is so good to have come and share Himself with us. 

- Teresa Jansen, CATHF ‘21