Members of the Samuel Group pose for a photo during last year’s meeting. The group, a spiritual formation program, will begin again in September. (Courtesy photo)
Going into the Samuel Group last fall, Richard Chao was a Rowan University senior studying mechanical engineering, dating Rowan student and fellow group member Carley Robinson, and a Protestant.
Today, he works for a government defense research facility, is engaged to Robinson and has entered the Catholic Church.
He reflects over the past months and program that transformed his life: the Samuel Group, a spiritual formation program that invites young adults to go deeper in their prayer lives. It meets once a month in Saint Anthony of Padua Church, Hammonton.
“The program gave me a chance to clean house spiritually,” Chao says. “By the grace of God and the sisters, God bless them, I now have such a strong foundation.”
These “sisters” would be the Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal, who organize the discernment program for those ages 18-39.
Through Adoration, catechetical talks, study, prayer and fellowship, the Samuel Group “allows a freedom that each of us needs to respond to God’s call,” says Sister Ann Kateri, a Franciscan Sister from Atlantic City who is currently preparing for the program’s September start. This will be the fifth year the program has run in the Diocese.
“Through the sometimes challenging steps of growth and self-examination” the formation offers young men and women the opportunity to reflect on “the deeper causes of fears or attachments that may limit our ability to hear God’s voice,” she says.
Last year, the program saw 32 young adults take part, with 23 first-time participants and nine core team members.
Richard Chao and Carley Robinson attended Rowan University and the Samuel Group together. They are now engaged to be married in 2022. (Courtesy photo)
Chao, 22, grew up Protestant but had been curious about the Catholic faith for some time before joining the program. He credits his now-fiancée and the Samuel Group for his beginning the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults process at Glassboro’s Saint Bridget University Parish. He ultimately entered into full communion with the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil. He proposed to Robinson around the same time.
Robinson was a huge help in guiding Chao to the Catholic faith, he says. The two knowing each other from school and being in the Samuel Group was enriching, he says. “It’s awesome when you can grow together spiritually.”
Begun by Cardinal Carlo Martini of Milan in 1987, the Samuel Group was brought to the United States by the Apostles of the Interior Life, a religious community that ministered on college campuses. Mother Clare Matthias, Franciscan Sister of the Renewal, soon worked with the Apostles of the Interior Life to adapt the program for young adults.
In 2017, Greg Coogan, then-diocesan director of Youth, Young Adult and Campus Ministries, and Sister Dianna Higgins, FMIJ, religion teacher at Paul VI High School, Haddon Township, began the program in South Jersey before leadership was taken on by the Franciscan Sisters.
Chao praised the structure of the program, which concentrates on a different theme each month such as trust, detachment and family. Each member also has a spiritual director. His was Father Michael Goyette, pastor of Our Lady of the Lakes Parish, Collings Lakes.
Robinson, 21, is a rising Rowan University senior in psychology now preparing for a June 25, 2022, wedding, which falls on the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. She said the Samuel Group helped make her feel “comfortable and confident in my spirituality, and my relationship with God was reformed; I know better how to pursue him.”
The group, she adds, “formed [the couple] into a deeper relationship not only with God, but with each other.”
Fellow classmate Joachim Cendana says he finished the program with “a stronger spiritual toolbox.”
“I took time to let God lead the way,” he says, adding that he is replacing the noise of television and social media that “cloud our vision” with the voice of truth.
“God is always with us; he’s laid out his plan for us,” Cendana says. “His hand is in every moment. He journeys with us and continues to call us.”
Looking to discern God’s will in your life? The Samuel Group spiritual formation program is going into its fifth year. Those ages 18-39 are invited to apply for the next session, which begins Sept. 12 and continues each month until May. The meetings are held once a month on Sundays from 1:30 to 5:30 p.m. at Saint Anthony of Padua Church, 285 Route 206, Hammonton.
Interested applicants must interview with Sister Ann Kateri; participate and attend all meetings and have a spiritual director (the program can help attendees find one, if needed).
For more information, contact Sister Ann Kateri at 609-343-1545 or visit www.franciscansisterscfr.com/st-michael.
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