Twenty-five is nothing but a number until you attach the word “hours” onto the end. Suddenly, a simple number becomes an ominous task: 25 hours of service to be completed within the year while balancing athletics, schoolwork and social life. Twenty-five hours once a year for four years gives a grand total of one-hundred hours of service by graduation (keep up, we’ve hit triple digits!). Service is a required part of life for students each year of high school. However, what seems quite unusual when you think about it is that there are no service requirements for the faculty at Viator. Shouldn’t staff be held to the same standards as students, if not to a higher standard considering they’re expected to be our role models in both educational and spiritual matters? The truth is, with or without mandatory service hours, faculty members are trusted to uphold Viatorian values of service independently.

Staff members and teachers alike are dedicated to serving the community, and they do so without the steel hammer of service hours hanging over their heads all year. To name a few, faculty members including Mrs. Abrahamian, Fr. Corey, Mr. Gruenfeld, Br. John and Ms. Wilson are all involved in separate service projects outside of school.

“The major [service] that I do is monthly I go to a detention center for children who are undocumented and unaccompanied. This ministry is called UCIM. We offer an interfaith prayer service once a month for forty kids for them to be able to express faith and emotions, and to know that religious leaders are there for them and praying for them,” said Br. John.

“About every six weeks I serve at the women’s house of hospitality and I’m basically there to help families that are part of the immigration process. I also work with the Viatorian Youth Congress (VYC), and I’m involved in Quest and Kairos,” said Mrs. Abrahamian.

In addition to faculty members who are within the building during a typical school day, staff members in coaching positions have also taken the initiative to serve those in need.

“A lot of our coaches have done different projects over the years,” said Mr. Jennings.

However, the real power of service lies in the ability of adults to team up with young people and go out into the world to serve the less fortunate. The force that can be made through such a combination is at the core of volunteerism and, when wielded correctly, is unbreakable. Sports coaches have discovered this secret weapon, and have begun to partner with their teams in order to make a difference in the larger world.

“Our lacrosse team has connected with a family and a young boy who has had brain cancer in the past, and has done a great job of welcoming the boy and his family into the Viator community. That’s one really spiritual way that our kids have connected in terms of providing service to those in need. There are a lot of different avenues utilizing service and ministry within our sports programs,” said Mr. Jennings.

Whether service hours are required or not, whether its the faculty or the students, or whether you “feel like it” or not, service is a part of life that is as essential to society as food or water. The feeling is indescribable. It’s that intangible wave of emotion that creeps up your back and washes over you when you least expect it that keeps faculty and students alike going back for more.

“Every single time I go [to UCIM], it’s as if somebody has taken my heart and twisted it—hard—because I have met kids from every single continent and they’re alone and stuck unassisted,” said Br. John.

A quote from St. Theresa of Avila that Mrs. Abrahamian cited as one of her favorites sums it up: “Christ has no body now on earth but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours. Yours are the eyes through which Christ’s compassion is to look out to the world. Yours are the feet with which Christ is to go about doing good. Yours are the hands with which Christ is to bless all people now.”

Aside from the fact that twenty-five hours may seem impossible, let the faculty serve as example and push yourself to do service whenever possible.