Scouts Honored
By Amanda Hudson, News Editor
February 8, 2018
ROCKFORD—The annual Scout Sunday Mass where religious awards were presented to Boy Scouts, American Heritage Girls and Girl Scouts was held the afternoon of Feb. 4 at the Cathedral of St. Peter.
Father Colin Easton, diocesan chaplain for scouting, celebrated the Mass. He spoke of how Jesus went off by Himself to pray, and then created His disciples, adding they were not instantly disciples the moment they were chosen.
“They were in the process of becoming,” Father Easton said.
“Christ, as He worked with them, He formed them. He created for Himself disciples ... men after His own heart,” he continued.
“In the same way, each one of you here is being formed by the process of scouting ... each one of us is in the process of being created by Christ.
“I suggest that for us all here today, it is for the same purpose: to become men and women of Christ, men and women of the Church, and men and women for others.
“So today we celebrate God working with you, (and we) celebrate the gift to us of scouting and the gift to scouting of your faith that you bring into the scouting world.
“We honor today the hard work you have put in. We honor the Lord who has been with each one of you in a unique manner. ... The end goal for a Catholic Scout (is) to become a man of Christ, to become a woman of Christ. And in the midst of that in the Scouting world, we allow God ... to take us and to form us,” he said.
Honored were:
Boy Scouts Awards
Light of Christ: For grades 1-3, its purpose is to help Cub Scouts develop a personal relationship with Jesus.
Rockford—St. Rita: Danielis Petty
Parvuli Dei: For grades 4-6, its purpose is to help young boys explore a wide range of activities in order to discover the presence of God in their daily lives as members of their families and parishes.
Belvidere—St. James: Brandon Acevedo, Ricky Kessler, Elijah Motos
Geneva—St. Peter: Jack Goulding
Huntley—St. Mary: Benjamin Konopka
Rockford—Holy Family: Jacob Jaworowski, Aidan Khalil, Luke Wedwick
St. Charles—St. Patrick: Brendan Fergus
Ad Altare Dei: For grades 7-9, its purpose is to help Catholic Boy Scouts of the Roman Rite develop a fully Christian way of life in the faith community. It is organized in chapters based on the seven sacraments.
Batavia—Holy Cross: Trenton Turner
Belvidere—St. James: Gabriel Motos
Cary—SS. Peter and Paul: Ian Barnes, Jared Bright, David Etling, Lukas Etter, Kameron Fadden, Michael Gonzalez, Lucas Kascher, Lukas Klipp, Andrew Mohr, Andrew Roth, Charlie Wojdyla, Thomas Wozniak
DeKalb—St. Mary: Joe Fuss
Geneva—St. Peter: Daniel Cooper, Paul Goulding
Rockford—Holy Family: Chris Caruana, Kevin Clemens, Aidan Wedwick
St. Bernadette: Daniel Blakeley-Snyder
St. James: John Cabrera
Sycamore—St. Mary: Jeremy Peterson, Aiden Zibrun
Pope Pius XII award: For grades 10-12, the program deals with different life possibilities (single, married, religious, ordained), occupations and ministries in the Church as well as calls to a vocation. It includes youth-led discussions on current issues facing the Church and society.
Batavia—Holy Cross: Trenton Turner
Geneva—St. Peter: Adam Coats, Jack Donovan, Christian Goulding, Keilan McCann, Jonathon Miller, Devin Wise
Pecatonica—St. Mary: Nicholas Mirza
Rockford—St. Bernadette: Elijah Bracken
St. Charles—St. Patrick: Thomas Hite, Dominic Palermo
South Beloit—St. Peter: Andrew Beggs
International Catholic Awareness Award: For multiple grade levels and adults, its purpose is to understand more about Scouting and Catholicism in other countries and how they may differ from Scouting and Catholicism in the United States.
Rockford—Holy Family: Ian Cordes, Mike DeLeo, Jef Heckinger, Sawyer Heckinger
St. Rita: Ian Barnes, Daniel Blakeley-Snyder, Jared Bright, Chris Caruana, Kevin Clemens, David Etling, Lukas Etter, Kameron Fadden, Michael Gonzalez, Lucas Kascher, Lukas Klipp, Andrew Mohr, Andrew Roth, Dominykas Petty, Aidan Wedwick, Charlie Wojdyla, Thomas Wozniak
Pillars of Faith Recognition: For Boy Scouts who have earned all four of the Catholic Religious Emblems.
Pecatonica—St. Mary: Nicholas Mirza
Rockford—St. Bernadette: Elijah Bracken
South Beloit—St. Peter: Andrew Beggs
Pope Paul VI Unit Award
Rockford—Holy Family, Troop 139
St. Charles—St. Patrick, Pack 110
American Heritage Girls and Girl Scouts Awards
Family of God: For grades 1-3, this program helps girls discover the presence of God in their daily lives as members of their families and parishes.
Virgil—SS. Peter and Paul: Lanie Klug
I Live My Faith: For grades 4-6, its activities focus on developing awareness within the individual of her potential as a growing person, friend, family member, citizen and participant in the community of faith.
Virgil—SS. Peter and Paul:
Reese Klug
Marian Medal: For grades 7-9, through Mary, the first disciple, Catholic girls will grow in appreciation of Mary and in understanding themselves.
Batavia—Holy Cross: Renee Forsyth, Aisling McGrath, Brigid Mrenna, Joselyn Roche, Rebecca Wirth
Adult Awards
St. George Emblem: Two adults received this award which honors members of the laity and clergy who have made significant contributions to the spiritual development of Catholic youth in scouting.
Holy Family Parish, Rockford: Dr. Jeffrey Royce was honored for making sure scouts have an opportunity to attend Mass during weekend campouts; for incorporating his musical talents in the scouting program and; for his service in a number of positions including the past eight years as scout master, previously serving as assistant scout master. He is a vigil member of Order of the Arrow, active in his parish as confirmation teacher and a leader of medical staff at a local hospital and respected assistant professor at University of Illinois College of Medicine.
St. Catherine of Siena Parish, West Dundee: Deacon Steven Fox has served more than 20 years as troop assistant scout master. He is an advocate for Catholic scouting and an instructor for two religious awards, as well as a religious education teacher. He is a unit commissioner, and a vigil member of Order of Arrow. He is a permanent deacon for the diocese and is a chaplain at Presence St. Joseph Hospital in Elgin.