St Ignatius High School - Ignatian Yearbook (Cleveland, OH)

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ABOVE: The theology course as well as the attitude of Fr. Kysela demonstrates a progressive viewpoint. RIGHT: Both students and faculty habitually look up to Fr. O'Reilly. Theology Department. SKATED: Mr. Harvey Bollich (Theology 2. 4); Fr. Thomas Leonhardt. S.J., (Theology 2, 4; Department Head); Fr. John Kysela, S.J.. (Theology 1. 3). STANDING: Fr. Robert Welsh. S.J.. (Theology 4); Mr. Eugene O’Brien. S.J., (Theology 1. 2: Latin 2); Mr. Cordon Myers, S.J., (Theology 2, 4); Mr. Kenneth Styles, S.J.. (Theology 2. Latin 2; English 2).

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Personal Sharing Binds Ignatians in Christ Enter Rnd friend Faith, the alpha of Christianity, must encompass the entire person; one’s emotions as well as intellect must he involved in the God Who is love, 'rite retreat program provides the structure whereby the student might enter into this total spirit of his faith. The concepts of theology become important only if an encounter with the living Christ embodies them. Through a process of participation and interaction, Ignatians actually give the retreat to one another and discover that Christ binds us and reveals us within community. A particularly pressing concern dealt with the need for private discernment and support following the retreat experience. Here the counseling program proved its worth as student and counselor tried to integrate the Christ encounter with their day-to-day living. Upperclassmen participated in weekend retreats at Colombiere. TEC (Teens Encounter Christ), and SEARCH (Search for Christian Maturity). Also available was the In-Service retreat house near St. Ignatius where students lived for an entire week, going to school in the day and reflecting together in the evening on these life experiences and their ultimate meaning. Semester break marked a time of special sharing together in Christ as sixty juniors and seniors along with faculty members opened their community to all tin- freshmen and sophomores in the underclassmen days of renewal. Two months of rigorous organization and bloody” pulling together preceded the event, preparing the students and faculty to giv« themselves totally to the ideals they talked about in speeches and discussions. Mr. Gordon Myers, S.J., co-director of the program, commented that this was a tangible implementation of Vatican Us recommendation that Young people themselves should lx-comc the first and immediate apostles to other youths, exercising an apostolatc of their own among themselves.”

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LEFT: A now addition to the Theology Department, Mr. Boilieh, is the first marriage instructor to have personal experience in the field. Theology Creates Change, Offers Ignatians Challenge If St. Ignatius does not devote its energies and talents primarily to the formation of Christian men, tin- school fails in its most hasie purpose. Theology plays perhaps the most explicit role in this formation by challenging the student's often unprogressive and unexplored faith and by imparting a body of knowledge with which lie may intelligently come to grips. “Meaningful change, the most appropriate phrase to dcscrilx. the advances of the Theology Department, centered around the area of curriculum. A large step involved the change to five periods of theology a week for sophomores, juniors, and seniors; teachers found they could not present their developed courses under the previous three-day-a-week system. These courses began in freshman year with important studies in Scripture. With this background sophomores grasped the full implications of Fr. Karl Palmer's statement: ''Man is for man the way to Cod. The studies of man-in-isolation, man-in-situation, the Church, and the sacraments formed the bulk of this course. Juniors received a more specialized curriculum which consisted of three diverse courses: Social Communications examined man's relation to man and groups of men through communication; the Vocation Course offered Ignatians the opportunity to consider their commitment to the redemptive mission of Jesus Christ; finally, to aid the student’s understanding of his emotions, a Human Dynamics Course was offered. The culmination of the four-year program consisted of studies in the Person of Jesus, Faith and the Formation of Conscience, Marriage, and the Church. All courses stressed ideas current in theological thinking. The purpose of the Jesuit high school is to prepare outstanding men for the Church, society, and family. If St. Ignatius is nothing more than an excellent college-preparatory school, a school with outstanding athletic teams and great spirit, this purpose becomes farcical. Tin- Theology Department employs itself most directly upon this problem and rests most firmly on this challenge. 27