This school year, Bishop Carroll warmly welcomes a new Chaplain, Father Canice McMullen! While not a Bishop Carroll graduate, Father Canice has strong ties to the school and great plans for evangelizing the school community.
Father commented, “I am honored to serve as the new Chaplain at Bishop Carroll. As I begin this assignment, I already feel deeply blessed and grateful to Bishop Bartchak and Mr. Nagy for entrusting me with this wonderful opportunity.” Father Canice’s mother, Ruth (Emerick) McMullen, is a proud 1980 Bishop Carroll graduate. Father commented that even as a small child, he felt a pull to BC, and one of his favorite shirts growing up was a white sleeveless BC shirt with a Husky logo which he wore constantly while playing with his friends. He said that his affection for the school goes beyond nostalgia. After his brother Jared passed away from cancer in 2000 at just six years old, Bishop Carroll was among the first high schools to participate in a service project created to honor his memory, The Jared Box Project, founded by his home parish, Our Lady of Victory in State College. His path to Bishop Carroll has wound through years of ministry at Saint Vincent Archabbey, the Diocese of Greensburg, and the Diocese of Pittsburgh. He said, “Arriving at Bishop Carroll truly feels like a homecoming! I also look forward to the day when my niece and nephew, who live in Ebensburg, join the ranks of proud Bishop Carroll graduates (classes of 2041 and 2043)!”
When asked how he views his role as chaplain, Father replied, “I hope to be a bridge for students to more deeply encounter Christ. It is one thing to know about Jesus. In fact, it is essential for all of us. We should always be seeking to learn more deeply about the beauty of our faith and the teachings of Holy Mother Church. However, it is an entirely different and more essential thing for us to know Jesus as the God who loves us even to the point of death on a Cross. It is my hope and prayer that all of the students who graduate from this school will not merely know about Jesus but will be utterly convicted that the God who made them has destined them for them for eternal happiness in Heaven.”
Father Canice says that there are many wonderful ways for students to apply the faith to their daily lives. He recommends adding five minutes of prayer, using the Hallow App, or choosing to do an act of service. His advice to students is, “What I really encourage students to do is this - do not treat the faith merely as one aspect of your life. Let your faith transform the entirety of your life, and we do this by making Jesus the center of our lives. When Christ is truly at the center, everything changes. I like to use the image of a chandelier as an analogy for our faith life. If a chandelier is lying on the floor, the beautiful strings of crystals become a tangled mess. Same with the state of our life when we are not living the faith. But when we elevate the center of the chandelier to the highest point, every crystal string falls into perfect order and, regardless of the condition of the room, the chandelier is beautiful and ordered. Same with us. When we elevate Christ to the highest point in our life, order, goodness, and beauty will naturally follow and, despite any circumstances of our lives, we will taste a freedom in our daily lives that was never before known. In all moments of our life, especially the difficult ones, we will know how to navigate every obstacle that comes our way. However, in order to get to this point, we must know Jesus. Know Him in prayer. Know Him in the Sacraments. Know Him in Scripture, in our Tradition, and in the teachings of Holy Mother Church. So, rather than attempting to apply the faith to their lives, I hope and pray that the students will let the faith transform their lives and let God bear good fruit through them.”
When asked what advice he has for students, parents, and anyone for keeping close to Jesus, he responded, “I love when people ask me that question! Of course we have the beautiful practices of the Church to guide us in this pursuit of closeness to Jesus. During Lent, we have three beautiful practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. However, these practices are not meant simply to be lived during Lent but are powerful tools to help us grow and remain close to Jesus throughout the entire calendar year. Allow me to begin with the practice of fasting. This is not merely a “Catholic Diet,” nor is it necessarily solely restricted to our food-intake. Rather, it is a practice of denying ourselves something that is good (food, drink, social media, podcasts, video games, music, entertainment, etc.). If we are able to deny ourselves something that is good, we grow in our ability to deny ourselves things that are not good - sin, especially habitual sin, which by definition harms our relationship and closeness with Jesus. Even more significantly, when we fast, we get in touch with our hunger and desires. In doing so, we will come to realize that there is no amount of ice cream, pizza, or entertainment in this world that will satisfy the deepest longings of our heart. Jesus is ultimately the only Person who satisfies our deepest aches, hunger, and longings, especially for love. So, through the practice of fasting, one does not merely deprive themselves, but they empty themselves and stretch their hearts wide open to make space for Jesus. By pairing the practice of fasting with prayer, we invite Jesus into that void of our deepest longings. The Sacrament of Confession and reception of the Holy Eucharist are the greatest ways of achieving this end of detaching from sin, opening our longings, and inviting Jesus into them. I encourage our students to stay close to these Sacraments and visit them frequently. “
He has great ideas for the school year and beyond: “With the rich Tradition of the Catholic faith as our foundation, there is no need to reinvent the wheel! Rather, only to draw more deeply from the treasury that has been handed down to us. In addition to the regular celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the Sacrament of Confession, the goal is to take what students encounter in the classroom and help it travel the most important distance of all: from the mind into the heart. On Friday "Chapel Days," students will be invited into this head-to-heart immersion through a variety of encounters with Jesus including: Eucharistic Adoration, the Liturgy of the Hours (Divine Office), the Blessing of Classrooms during the Epiphany Season, the Holy Rosary, small group discussions, and Lectio Divina (Bible Study). Alongside these spiritual practices, students will also be formed in liturgical ministries such as altar servers or lectors, so that they may participate more fully and fruitfully in the Mass itself. One particular highlight on the horizon that I hope to make a reality is a Eucharistic Procession around the school grounds near the Solemnity of Christ the King.
Beyond the walls of the school, my hope is to accompany students on pilgrimages and acts of service, including things such as the March for Life and the St. Vincent de Paul Soup Kitchen. Additionally, in the classroom itself, I look forward to substitute teaching and guest lecturing for Theology Classes on occasion, offering lectures on topics such as the Shroud of Turin, Theology of the Body, the Four Last Things, and the Temperament (personality type) God gave you, and much more.”
Father would like to again express his appreciation for this opportunity to serve at Bishop Carroll. He said, “I look forward to supporting our strong and Unapologetically Catholic identity, and I will certainly be keeping all our wonderful students, teachers, staff, and alumni in my prayers each and every day.
Welcome, Father Canice! We are blessed to have you guiding us at Bishop Carroll Catholic High School!