Each Thursday during the school year, students from St. Katharine Drexel School in St. Cloud eagerly wait in the hallway connecting St. Augustine Parish to the school cafeteria, ready and excited to invite daily Mass goers to accompany them to the adjoining space where classes take turns serving them coffee and donuts. And what happens there is just as sweet.
“It’s just so cute talking to the kids. They are always asking interesting questions,” said Theresa Diederichs, one of the Mass attendees. “Today they asked if I was baptized and where I made my first communion.”
The program, in existence for over a decade, provides students and parishioners alike the opportunity for a multi-generational meet and greet. Theresa and her husband Fran, both in their 90s, are regular attendees.
School and parish leaders say the weekly gatherings provide students the opportunity to practice hospitality and conversation and, for many older parishioners, the conversations offer a rare chance to interact with young children.
“Because it’s a regular daily Mass for the parish, but not a school Mass, it’s an opportunity for those who gather to come to know our students individually and know the school through them,” Father Scott Pogatchnik, pastor at St. Augustine Parish.
On a recent Thursday, Jessi McCall, helped her second-grade students host for their third and final time this school year.
“The first and second time the students are shy, so our third time is usually the best,” McCall said. “Their minds are so creative, and they love to ask questions and meet new people.”
The conversations vary from class to class, age to age and week to week. Preschool students, the youngest participants, have been known to ask “What is your favorite color?” or “What is your favorite animal?”
Often, the students bring books, and the groups intermingle to read. Other times, the students perform songs.
“If one of the individuals from daily Mass has a birthday, the students will sing ‘Happy Birthday,'” Father Pogatchnik said. “It’s a very human way to build relationships across generations.”
St. Augustine parishioners Tom and Mary Mathews also attend regularly.
“It’s interesting to watch how different the classes are one to the other, and each student is unique, too,” Mary said.
Next week, the school year ends and the church hallway will be without the familiar buzz on Thursdays — until next year, when the young hosts will be ready with questions, smiles and a fresh batch of coffee and donuts.
“When those kids are at the back of the church, it brings a smile to the parishioners face. The hospitality of that is really beautiful,” Father Pogatchnik said. “There’s something to be said about the joy the children bring to our community.”