Marianist LIFE - Luke Stieritz

Marianist LIFE is a youth group of sorts who meet every other Wednesday with the intention of helping their members grow in faith and friendship. The group consists of juniors and seniors from MND and Moeller plus 7 student leaders from each school. While there is adult moderation over the meeting, the activities and planning are mostly student lead. Leaders will get together a week before the LIFE meeting and plan what they want to do by establishing a theme for the meeting, thinking of creative ways to engage members, and most importantly figuring out a way to tie faith into all of that.

In my honest opinion as one of the student leaders from Moeller, I can say that the program is fun, engaging, and it makes you think in ways that inspire growth. The program is not perfect, however as many members who attend the meeting often do so not to grow in faith, but to socialize. This isn’t a bad thing, in fact that is arguably the part of LIFE that has been the most popular. This does mean that when people come, they prioritize socializing over activities meant to help introduce people to the faith/grow in faith, resulting in less serious participation. Several leaders and members alike feel that the faith aspect of the meeting is important, but it should not be as heavily prioritized over just letting people hang out and have fun.

I do tend to agree with the stance that socializing is the part of LIFE that should be focused on, but I also recognize that this isn’t the purpose of the program in the first place. Marianist LIFE is meant to introduce and engage people in faith in a fun and lighthearted environment, while still managing to be serious about certain topics and still making sure people make friends and strengthen relationships. This is a difficult task, and a very fine line to walk. Doing all these things at the same time and finding the perfect mix of elements that make LIFE great is much easier said than done. But I’m optimistic that once the leadership team gets a feel for their audience, things will smooth out, and everyone will be happy.

With all that said I must note that this program is one of my favorite things that Moeller does. The activities are fun, and the people there are even better. I have made many friends there, and I have strengthened many more. When I got the chance to be a LIFE leader, I didn’t hesitate to apply. I was lucky enough to get the role, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. And I’m not the only one who loves this program. What follows are some quotes from members of LIFE in response to the questions, do you enjoy LIFE? What do you like about it/what do you have the most fun doing? What do you think could improve the program?

“Overall yes, as an experience I do. It’s a more fun way of connecting with Jesus, and I really enjoy hanging out with friends outside of school. As for improvements, I wish that there would be more large-scale activities that we could do to have fun with each other, then talk about after.” – Andew Rudol

“It was cool, I had the most fun hanging with friends and talking in small groups. Last year LIFE meetings were pretty good, I think they did a good job with activities, and they did a good job improvising when they realized things weren’t working.” – EJ Turnbow (He has not been to any meetings this year, so the comment is on the LIFE meetings of the 2024-2025 school year.)

“Overall I enjoy LIFE, more so last year, but still this year too. I have the most fun being able to have fun with friends in a controlled environment and not having to spend any money on activities or what not to hang out. LIFE could play more games, compared to last year there are a lot less games as well as interesting games. People mostly came for the games and the social aspect, but now since its so faith based, people see it as another religion class. It’s off putting for those who aren’t catholic when they are force fed religion.” – Micheal Gulbranson

“Yes I enjoy life, genuinely just socializing, being able to go out of my comfort zone in an understanding environment. I liked how last year was more interactive with activities that were unanimously considered to be fun. I understand that it’s a religious group, but I think they can do a better job getting a balance with activities, socializing, and faith. All of those are important.” – Chase Gipson

As you can see, people like LIFE, and when people like something, they want the best for it. Criticism should be taken seriously because it comes from a place of goodwill. When people believe a service could be doing better than it is, they will let the service organizers know. Just like when a beloved show showcases a new season that no one likes, there is outrage and seemingly overwhelming negative views about the show. But this doesn’t happen because people hate the show, it happens because they love it, and want it to be better. People love LIFE, and this is a good thing. I think that we should try and make it so that people can have the most fun, and then credit that to religion.