Annual Mass honors the hard work of youth in scouting

The Catholic Church has long held relationships with scouting organizations, as many parishes host their own respective troops to foster community, education and a nurturing spirit in their young members. 

The Archdiocese of Oklahoma City celebrated those connections on Sunday, March 12, with a special Mass in recognition of all that scouting programs do for area youth.    

The Mass was celebrated at 4 p.m. at the Catholic Pastoral Center in Oklahoma City. Scouting programs recognized included Boy Scouts of America, Girl Scouts of America, American Heritage Girls and Trail Life. Camp Fire was also recognized, but did not have any awards to present. 

Mass was celebrated by Father Kelly Edwards, pastor of Saint Eugene Catholic Church in Weatherford, and chaplain of the Catholic Student Center of Southwestern Oklahoma State University. Father Kelly is also an Eagle Scout and chaplain of the Catholic Committee on Scouting for the archdiocese.

“It was good to participate in something from the other side, to see the process and give them something I also received,” Father Edwards said. “I’m learning as we go along because it is my first year to be part of the Liturgy as the chaplain.”

Chad Goodman and his wife, Janie, are scouting volunteers within the archdiocese, and were participants in the Mass. Approximately 65 scouts and their families participated.

“Duty to God is one of the key fundamentals of all of the scouting programs,” Chad said, adding that the Catholic Church has promoted scouting going back a century, to the 1920s.

Recipients of nine awards were recognized at the Mass, including Boy Scouts of America. Wyatt Robinett was awarded the Footsteps of American Saints – Mother Marianne Cope Award; Charles Braun, Charlotte Bryson, Mark Bryson, IV, Josiah Fedor and Wyatt Robinett were presented with the Light of Christ award; Charles Braun and Connor Yamamoto were presented with the Parvuli Dei award; and Pearson Brown, Daniel Myers, Kaitlyn Patton, Lauren Patton, William Patton, Jacob Rojo and Jude Tejeda were presented with the Ad Altare Dei award. 

American Heritage Girls presented two awards. Cordelia Bement, Lily Claire Elkins and Emma Lusch were presented the God is Love award and Sophia Bement and Sarah Meyers were presented the Marian Medal (Mary, the First Disciple).

Girl Scouts of America awards included The Spirit Alive and Pillars of Faith – Service to God Award, both earned by Kaitlyn Patton.

The Bronze Pelican Award is awarded to Boy Scouts of America adult leaders. Recipients included Janie Goodman, Matt Jackson and Eric Patton.

Each award reaches a certain demographic for religions education. For the Light of Christ, it is geared toward the youngest in Cub Scouts.

“The purpose is to help Tiger and Wolf Cub Scouts develop a personal relationship with Jesus,” Goodman said. “With the parents’ active assistance and participation in this program it is hoped that the Cub will come to see Jesus as a real person, as his friend.”

Older Cub Scouts can receive the Ad Altare Dei, also known as Altar of God.

“The goal of Ad Altare Dei program is to help Catholic Youth that have completed sixth grade to evolve a Christian way of life in the faith community,” Goodman said. “The program is organized in chapters based on the seven sacraments.

“The ‘God is Love’ program is designed for use with students who are in kindergarten through first grade,” Goodman said. “Mary, the First Disciple is for Catholic girl scouts, grades seventh through 10th, to enable them to ‘proclaim the greatness of the Lord.’” 

The Mass was followed by a special outdoor themed dinner recognizing the spirit of scouting in the outdoors.

“We had a bit of a scouting theme, hamburgers, hot dogs, baked beans. It was really nice,” Chad said. “This was the first year we had a dinner following the Mass. It was nice to break bread with one another.”
The goal of the awards is to foster a love of God in the scouts and teach them the Gospel and to spread it.

“While it’s very helpful for the scout to receive the award, it is another step through the door of being joyful, faithful, Christ-centered Catholics,” Father Edwards said.

Everett Brazil, III is a freelance writer for the Sooner Catholic.

Photo Fran Kozakowski/Sooner Catholic.


Visit archokc.org/scouting.