JSERRA CATHOLIC HIGH School celebrated something extraordinary on May 4. For the second consecutive year, 33 students entered the Catholic Church, receiving the sacraments of initiation through the school’s OCIA program (Order of Christian Initiation for Adults). While JSerra has always been intentional in its faith formation, the recent surge in students responding to the Gospel has stirred both joy and awe—and points to something deeper taking root.
For Pat Reidy, vice president of Mission and Faith, the explanation isn’t formulaic.
“There’s no single reason this is happening,” he said. “It’s not a program you can replicate and get the same result. The way I describe it is that we’re just trying to create fertile soil. We till, we water, we plant—and when the Lord chooses to bring a harvest, we rejoice.”
That posture of humility frames the school’s approach to evangelization. Reidy frequently references 4:26-29, where Jesus says the farmer sows the seed and goes to sleep, and the crop grows—“and he knows not how.”
“That’s how it feels,” Reidy explained. “The Lord is doing something great here. Not because we’re JSerra, but because Christ always chooses to move. And right now, He is moving powerfully among our young people.”
Indeed, that movement is not unique to JSerra. Reidy points to rising vocations in the U.S., a growing Catholic resurgence in the UK, and moments of grace echoing around the world.
“It’s like when John Paul II came to Denver in 1993—the graces abounded for decades,” he said. “Now, especially now that we have an American pope, we should expect to see graces abounding again. There’s every reason to be encouraged. Jesus is still alive, still calling and people— especially young people—are responding.”
At JSerra, the students themselves are at the heart of this renewal. Wyatt Boyd ’25, one of the 33 students baptized this year, speaks candidly about the moment. Raised in an atheist home, he was skeptical until something started stirring.
“There’s something to this Jesus Christ,” he remembered thinking.
That question led him to OCIA and ultimately to Baptism.
BISHOP TIMOTHY FREYER BAPTIZES A JSERRA STUDENT AS PART OF THE OCIA (ORDER OF CHRISTIAN INITIATION FOR ADULTS) PROGRAM. PHOTO COURTESY OF JSERRA CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL
“The president of our school, Mr. Rich Meyer, often says that Baptism is the greatest thing we can offer our students, and I wholeheartedly agree,” Wyatt shared. “Out of all the academics, out of four years of water polo, out of everything they’ve given, Baptism is the hands-down greatest thing that JSerra has done for me. It is the most important moment of not only my school life, but of my whole life.”
That spirit of shared transformation is also evident in Rebel Smith ’25, a student leader whose involvement in a variety of activities on campus made her a role model for her peers long before her journey to Catholicism began.
“OCIA has not only built the foundations of my faith,” Rebel said, “it has also opened my mind to a whole other life that I never thought was possible—and that is a life with Christ.”