Althoff Catholic High School - Crusader Yearbook (Belleville, IL)

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Because religion competes against opposing and conflicting social trends, Retreats attempt to bridge the gap. Early in the morning on Thursday, Octo¬ ber 2, forty Althoff students gathered in front of the gym. These students were waiting for the bus that would take them to the Marianist Apostolic Center for their Senior Retreat. I was one of these forty students. While everyone sat around waiting for the bus, which was late of course, I heard various groups of people talking. Some were ex¬ cited, and some were not even close to being enthused about the whole idea. The bus finally arrived, and all of us lugged our gear on board. Somewhere near ten o ' clock the bus reached its des¬ tination. Everyone went inside the re¬ treat house. We were introduced to our 2 retreat leaders. They were both very young, and it seemed odd that such young people would be doing this. I think everyone was expecting a couple of priests to make us ' holy ' on our two day trip, but this was not the case. The first day was spent doing various activities in small groups of ten and as a large group of forty. Each small group had a leader, and I was so privileged to have Tony Bankston as my group lead¬ er. But, believe it or not, my group actu¬ ally did get some things accomplished. During the day we were allowed free time every once in a while. The guys all went and played football or basketball. What the girls did, I don ' t know, be¬ cause I was playing football. To close our first day we watched a movie, and then we were treated to a late night piz¬ za party. About midnight, everyone went to bed. We were all exhausted. The next morning at 8:30, everyone woke to the sounds of Louie, Louie blaring over the speakers in the rooms. After showering, getting dressed, and eating, we all went to the ' great ' room to begin our activities of the day. The activities were always lots of fun, and I learned a lot about people I never knew before. Somewhere around 3:00 we were told it was time to return to Alth¬ off. Normally, you would think teen¬ agers would be relieved to go home. But not this group. During our 2 days we had all grown together as a kind of family. We took some group pictures and then boarded the bus. Some were glad, and some were sad, but I know everyone en¬ joyed this experience. We returned to Althoff at 4:00. Many talked of their evening plans because it was Friday. We would all see each other in school Mon¬ day and remember the wonderful school retreat we had. P.S. I ' m sure you want to know about the food. Well, be¬ lieve it or not, the food was very deli¬ cious. And they let us have seconds and thirds, and fourths ... — Greg Bedell The Freshmen Retreat was a worthwhile experience. It gave the freshman class a chance to get to know some of our fellow classmates as well as a chance to become closer to God. The day began with a busride to our destination, St. Luke ' s Parish Center. There, we were greeted by Father Elmar, who conducted our retreat. We were then put in groups with a senior as the leader of each group. After being separated into groups, we discussed who we were and what we liked. We then discussed how God had touched our lives. After getting to know the people in our group, it was much easier to talk with them. This allowed the day to run smoother. After eating lunch, we participated in a prayer service. The day ended with mass at St. Luke ' s Church. After mass, we boarded the bus for the ride back to school. All in all, the retreat was a success because we became closer to God and closer as a class. — Garrett Hoerner

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Greets Church ' s 100th 1900 — A site is purchased for St. John ' s Orphanage. 1905 — Cathedral High School in Belleville opens. 1912 — St. Peter ' s Cathedral in Belleville burns; restoration begins later. 1913 — Janssen dies. 1914 — The Rev. Henry J. Alth- off is ordained the second bishop of Belleville. 1926 — St. Henry ' s Preparatory Seminary opens; closed in 1984. 1947 — Althoff dies and is re¬ placed by the Rev. Albert R. Zuroweste. 1950s — The diocese opens four high schools: Assumption in East St. Louis; Gibault in Waterloo; Mater Dei in Breese; and Althoff in Belleville. 1962-65 — Zuroweste serves as Council Father at Vatican II. 1976 — Zuroweste retires and is replaced by the Rev. William M. Cosgrove. 1981 — Cosgrove retires and is replaced by the Rev. John N. Wurm. 1984 — Wurm dies and is re¬ placed by the Rev. James P. Ke- leher. 1987 — Diocese celebrates its centennial. In the areas where there are no Catholic schools, how are the children educated in religion?? They do very well. Many of the parishes have a Director of Religious Education that is responsible for coordinating the whole religious program for the parish. They are like the principal; they do all the organizing. It ' s a great way for the laity to get involved in one of the most important ministries of the church — education. Is the CYO meeting the needs of the youth in the diocese?? This is the most active CYO I ' ve experienced. In other places I ' ve seen, it ' s been exclusively athletic. Ours includes social and spiritual. It can be furthered. One problem is that there is no counterpart for those older than CYO age — young adults. Will we lose contact with those out of high school? 20-24 could be very productive — this is my only worry. Why do you think that so few religious vocations are occur¬ ring in the diocese? It ' s a national trend. We will ordain three priests this year. In the past four years no one was ordained. One — we be¬ come more materialistic and individualistic; for a person to become a religious the road is not open to material gains. Two — on the positive side, a lot are discovering that they can serve in the Church as laity. What are you feelings about the youth in our diocese? I find them open and positive. I wish I was able to work directly with them. I miss that, the openness. Young people like to make it a better world. They are very altruistic, and the Church needs to tap this. When kids finish high school, it seems we lose a lot. The theme of the Centennial is A Time of Favor. I think that the years that you have spent at Althoff have been very graced. Those years have been difficult and exciting. It was good to spend them at Althoff. Look back and remember the years, remember the faith you have made and the friends you have made. It is a time of favor for our future. The Lord will continue to walk with us through the hard times. Look at the future with a lot of hope and be faithful to values and the Blood of Christ and the faith of your church.

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Teens Encounter Christ is a three-day experience in Christian living. You experience: a fresh and exciting place away from home, school, and work; meeting youth from other areas; finding a God you can believe in; encoun¬ tering Jesus Christ, risen and alive today; a follow-up program to help you live what you find at TEC, a time to reflect on your life, your ideas, hopes, and dreams. An encounter with Christ must be a freely accepted response. There will be no pressure. You are not to be expected to make definite decisions or make final conclusions. That ' s what the brochure tells you. Now let me tell you what REALLY goes on. On the Saturday morning of your TEC, you travel between one and three hours to wherever the retreat is being held. It ' s usually held somewhere in the boonies of southern Illinois, so don ' t expect too much hopping nightlife. You check in about 11:00 a.m., and you settle into your room. You had better have practiced your southern accent, because chances are that you will be rooming with someone from Murphysboro, or (heaven forbid) Ken¬ tucky, and they don ' t know how to talk right. My TEC weekend was the best weekend of my life. It did not change ME; it just added so much to my personality, my relationship with God, and most of all, to my relationship with you — every one of you. TEC is not a cult-thing. It gives you something practical to hold on to. You can ' t imagine the family TEC has created. Here are people who really love you, not just tolerate you or patronize you, but love you unconditional¬ ly. They don ' t care about your grades, or who your friends are, or what kind of car you drive. They just care about you. It ' s so simple, you ' ll be amazed at how easy it is. 6 1. Greg Graham practices music during a break on Sparta 62. 2. E. J. Jarvis jumps for joy over Fr. Alan Ruppert. 3. Holly Halverson, Lau¬ ra Voellinger, and Debbie Monk display their piety on their senior retreat. 4. Ken Wetstein, Mark Fausz, Liz Murphy, Brenda Rensing, Mol¬ ly Polka, Lisa Buettner, and Amy Kniepkamp sing the Blessing of Aaron at a reunion mass. 5. Greg Davis and Ken Rutter get crazy at the Evansville reunion. 6. Doug Elbe and Fr. Alan enjoy messing up Jim Schranz ' s styled hair. 7 Reunions are a very important and fun part of the TEC retreat program. I don ' t know, maybe it was the people — well, I guess it had to be the people — but my senior retreat was just a great experience. I did not expect it to be, but it was. It is so incredible how people can go to school with someone for three years or so and never talk to that someone, but know his or her name and form a defi¬ nite opinion about him or her. Everyone seems so nonchalant about typecasting people who are basically strangers, when you get right down to it. I did it. You probably do it now. Well, retreat blew all of my stereotypes right out the water. At first, I felt guilty. Where did I get off pre-judging these people? Didn ' t I hate the idea of others typecasting me? Then, I was happy to find how much I had in common with a lot of the people in my group; many of us had the same fears, worries, etc. We talked and thought, and then we talked about what we thought about. We complained, protested, learned, agreed, disagreed, laughed, and even cried. We had a good time. We became friends. I can ' t say that everyone in our group became best buddies. But I can say that at least everyone in our group un¬ derstands each other better. A lot of stereotypes were erased and a lot of bad feelings were cleared. No matter what you think, retreat is not stupid. It is about getting to know your classmates, and, more importantly, it is about getting to know yourself. — Ali¬ cia Sierra