Summer vocations camp helps young men discern God’s call

The way Stephen Kirby sees it, young people can’t really get set on fire for love of Christ unless they first come into contact with others on fire for their faith.

That’s what makes Quo Vadis, a summer vocations camp sponsored by the Archdiocese of Baltimore so important. The annual event, organized and staffed by seminarians in their pastoral year of formation, brings together young men who share an interest in their common Catholic faith and who are interested in discerning God’s call in their lives,

This year’s camp was held for the first time at St. Mary’s Seminary and University in Roland Park the week of July 11 and was the first overnight camp since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

Rising college freshman Matthew Cleary, right, is attending his fourth Quo Vidas camp at St. Mary’s Seminary and University in Baltimore. (Kevin J. Parks/CR Staff)

“Quo Vadis is the call to holiness,” said Kirby, a second-year theology major at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg and a graduate of Mount St. Joseph High School in Irvington, who has attended all 10 Quo Vadis camps. “The call to follow Christ is a universal thing. The most basic thing we are all doing together is trying to get to heaven. It doesn’t matter what your vocation is (priesthood, diaconate or married life).”

Some 45 young men from across the Archdiocese of Baltimore ranging in age from rising high school freshmen to those entering college in the fall attended the four-day camp, which includes time for prayer, Mass and small and large group talks. The young men discussed how to listen to God speak in their lives, how to serve their community and how to build a strong Catholic faith. They also learned first-hand from seminarians and priests about vocations to the religious life and had an opportunity to speak with Archbishop William E. Lori, who celebrated a special Mass with them.

The participants made a pilgrimage to the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Homeland to participate in eucharistic adoration. Additional highlights included outdoor adoration on St. Mary’s campus, an evening bonfire with group skits, and an excursion to the NCR Trail in Monkton for bike riding and tubing down the Big Gunpowder Fall River.

“There’s a lot of excitement because we are beginning again in some ways,” said Father Matthew Himes, associate director for vocations for the Archdiocese of Baltimore and Catholic chaplain for UMBC in Catonsville, who recently celebrated his third anniversary as a priest and was part of the four-day camp. “The teens are really enjoying the week, they’re enjoying time for intentional prayer, and enjoying time being together to grow in community – the common element being growing in a relationship with God together.”

Matthew Cleary, a parishioner of Holy Family in Davidsonville, who is attending his fourth Quo Vadis camp, said he comes back to Quo Vadis every year because of the amount of time dedicated to prayer.

“I can really focus on time with God,” said Cleary, a rising college freshman who is considering a future in engineering or law. “I know I am going to see my friends and grow in that relationship as well. It’s a no-brainer to come here.”

Seminarians Thomas “Tommy” O’Donnell and Zach Watson, co-coordinators of the 2022 Quo Vadis camp, said putting the camp together was exciting as they looked at different ideas with their fellow seminarian event planners.

“These campers are the best group I’ve ever encountered at Quo Vadis,” O’Donnell said. “Whether from Havre de Grace, Annapolis, Emmitsburg, they are a really good group of teens. They’re very prayerful, engaged, smart, they have good questions, and they want to get to know the Lord better.”

Watson said the camp is about building the church for the future.

“We’re also building a community of each other in their own journey with the Lord,” he said. “It’s to encourage them to be in the church for the rest of their lives. It’s very personal to us, the church of the future.”

Email Kevin Parks at kparks@CatholicReview.org

To view more photos from the event, click below: