Salesianum and Father Judge students at Salesian Leadership Camp.
At the end of May, Fr. Jack Kolodziej, OSFS, reached out and asked if I would be able to help chaperone a small group of students from Father Judge High School (Philadelphia) during Salesian Leadership Camp (SLC) at Camp DeSales in Brooklyn, MI. I have to admit that when I heard this, I was a little scared. As someone who both graduated from and worked at Salesianum School in Wilmington (DE) I’ve spent a number of years hearing about the “rowdy Judge boys from Philly,” and the *ahem* intense hockey rivalry our two schools share. However, with the little St. Francis on my shoulder encouraging me to “do all things through love, and nothing through fear,” I tentatively said “yes” to Fr. Jack. Then I mentally prepared myself for the ten-hour van ride and week-long Salesian Leadership Camp with four teenage boys whom I’d never met.
Much to my delight and surprise, the boys from Judge turned out to be very similar to the guys I knew from Sallies. The week that students spent at SLC was all about embodying Salesian Spirituality in leadership, and the four Judge students I got to know exemplified that spirituality so well that they could have fit right in at Sallies. In fact, I never would’ve been able to tell the two groups apart watching them interact with each other without my prior knowledge! Well… almost. Getting to watch the Judge and Sallies boys realize for the first time that the other prayed a different Direction of Intention was comical. It was like hearing your Midwestern cousin call lollipops “suckers” instead of, you know, lollipops (and if you call them suckers, you’re wrong - sorry!).
Despite the superficial differences like this, however, it was striking how similar Sallies and Judge were not only to each other but also to each of the five other schools that were in attendance that week. Every school had its own Direction of Intention, something that’s at the core of our shared Salesian inheritance. How many leaders could you name who actively seek the strength to accept any difficulties or challenges they may face before beginning a task? What’s more, how many actually reflect this in their actions and reactions? My personal list would’ve been pretty short, but it got a lot longer at SLC this summer.
My experience at SLC truly embodied what St. Francis de Sales wrote about “unidiversity” - “uniqueness along with diversity, and diversity along with unity.” Seven schools with seven different backgrounds all met in one place, yet each instantly recognized itself in the others. How fortunate and blessed we are to inherit this tradition, especially in a world increasingly fractured! In Matthew 13, Jesus tells of the Parable of the Sower, whose seed is sown indiscriminately on the wayside of a path, rocky ground, thorns, and fertile soil. Jesus explains to his disciples that without the ability to understand the Gospels, the proverbial “fertile soil,” the Word of God cannot take root. Salesian tradition, I would argue, is that fertile soil - it prepares our hearts for God’s love so that we can reprint the Gospels with our lives.
Though Sallies and Judge take different routes in their teaching, evident in the differences seen in their students, they both arrive at the same location: Brooklyn, MI. Just kidding - they both arrive at the core tenets of Salesian Spirituality. When you truly seek to embody the writings of St. Francis, St. Jane, and Blessed Brisson, OSFS, though, it’s hard to end up anywhere else. Take me as an example - I graduated from Sallies in 2018, and I still found myself looking to quotes from our patrons when I felt stuck writing this reflection. I still pray the Direction of Intention at the start of every day, too - but I’m happy to say I’ve added a second version into my rotation.
Owen Fink
Loyola University Chicago Law '26
Loyola University Chicago '22
Salesianum '18
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