Cookies with the Cardinal: Catholic Schoolers Have Joy-Filled Visit with Cardinal Stafford
- Guest Contributor
- 6 hours ago
- 4 min read
Amid relics, rose gardens and sub sandwiches, Denver’s retired archbishop reminded children — and adults — of the simple beauty of faith and perseverance.
By Jay Sorgi
It was the Eucharist, sub sandwiches, a showing off of the seminary and a Spirit-filled conversation with a cardinal that got on the same level as a bunch of cookie-filled Catholic school kids.
More than 35 fourth graders at St. Vincent de Paul School in Denver, and some of their parents, took the trip to nearby St. John Vianney Theological Seminary.
They got an experience few kids get to encounter: A sit-down with Cardinal James F. Stafford, the retired Archbishop of Denver, who served from 1986 to 1996.
“We were all so happy and cheerful to meet him,” said Mac, one of the fourth graders.
They encountered a man with spiritual youth and energy, and an ability to engage young people through their faith.
“I don't know who was more intrigued, the children or him, being 93 years old. He was sharp as a tack,” said Apryl Walker, a parent of a fourth grader at St. Vincent de Paul. “His interaction with the children, he had the kids asking so many questions. It truly was magical, just being in the room with him.”
She said the visit stemmed from a similar field trip and talk with the cardinal that her oldest son received, something she wanted to give her middle son.
“I was not successful at first, but I started reaching out to anyone and everyone that I knew at the seminary,” Walker said. “Finally, someone got back with me, and I was told that the cardinal was on sabbatical, and there was a really good chance that we wouldn't even be able to meet him.”
Much to their surprise, he attended. Much to their hearts, he made an impact.
“I can't even tell you what the special sauce is, but he definitely had a deep connection with all of us,” said Walker. “He talked about his mother being very sick with tuberculosis, how he went to live with relatives, and how he never lost hope and faith in her healing process, and his journey to become an archbishop and a cardinal. Just his life story was really impressive.”
Some of the questions were exactly the kind you can wonderfully expect from children, which he took in with grace and joy.
“Little kids were asking if he was alive during the Titanic,” said Walker. (He had not been born yet.) “He was very determined to chat with the children, and he was so intrigued by the kids. I don't know who was more mesmerized, him or the kids.”
(Photos provided)
That kind of interpersonal presence was not a surprise to Sister Marie Isaac, OP, the principal of St. Vincent de Paul School.
“He has charisma,” she said. “I've met Cardinal Stafford before. You can just tell because he has lived his vocation so faithfully; he is very close to God, and that means he is open to other people. Anyone he meets, he's just open and loving and makes a connection very easily. He's just very personal.”
The field trip included a private 30-minute Mass inside the seminary’s chapel before Cardinal Stafford’s talk with the young people.
Lunch followed outside in the seminary’s rose garden, with hoagie sandwiches, chips and the requisite juice boxes and cookies before viewing parts of the seminary that few Catholics in Denver can gaze upon in person.
“We were able to have a private tour, go through the library and see different relics,” said Walker. “We were able to see a staff that was once Pope John Paul II's. We saw a book that was written in the 1500s. It was pretty magical to see those things you typically wouldn't be able to see.”
“My favorite part of the visit was the library where we got to see the pope's clothes,” said Emma, one of the fourth graders.
Sometimes, field trips to workplaces become seed planters for careers. It’s always possible that such a trip like this might have convinced a fourth grader to be open to the priesthood, diaconate or religious life.
“They say that children think of vocations in fifth grade and then later on, too, but fifth grade is usually the earliest,” said Sister Marie Isaac. “Having our children confirmed in third grade, and then fourth grade, having this beautiful experience, just continues to keep vocations on their minds, I think. It's just a good way to keep them open and give them ideas of what is out there for them.”
That call to a greater life in Christ may someday come from an early September visit to see a 93-year-old cardinal who still has it in mind and spirit, and has shown that living a life in Christ means embracing each person’s individual humanity — including little humans like fourth-graders.
“Meeting Cardinal Stafford helped the children understand that he is down to Earth just like them, and he has a special role in the church, but it doesn't mean that he's untouchable or he's far away from them. He wants to be very close to them,” said Sister Marie Isaac.
Close enough to inspire.
“The cardinal,” said young Mac, “taught me to never give up hope.”
