NORTH PLATTE (SNR) – Father Randall Langhorst, pastor of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in North Platte, has introduced a new event to the parish that honors the patron saint and helps him reach out to the people.
“Teaching Rock” is a monthly night of instruction. The event honors St. Elizabeth Ann Seton’s faith formation of children and others: she instructed them by sitting on a rock because nothing else was available.
The topic for August was an introduction to Father Langhorst – he was appointed pastor there in June – and his conversion to the faith and call to the priesthood. The September topic was “Satan and his Demons.”
The next event will be Oct. 12, featuring “Purgatory and the Poor Souls.” “Understanding the Orthodox Russian and Ukrainian Churches” will be presented Nov. 9.
Each session begins at 6:30 p.m. and lasts about an hour. Each talk is followed by light refreshments or snacks. Father Langhorst said parishioners are welcome to come to all sessions, or only those topics of interest to help each individual with spiritual growth.
Father Langhorst said he came up with the idea for the event during a holy hour before the Blessed Sacrament, hoping to help meet a desire on the parishioners’ part to go deeper on topics of faith.
“As a graduate of Mount Saint Mary’s University and Seminary and a convert to the Faith I have a special place for Elizabeth Ann Seton in my heart and spirituality,” he said.
When St. Elizabeth Ann Seton first began teaching, she taught faith formation classes to children in the nearby parish on Catoctin Mountain in Maryland, but she did not at first have a schoolhouse to hold her classes. Instead, he explained, Mother Seton taught children about the Catholic faith from a rock in the woods on Sunday afternoons.
This rock still exists and is memorialized with a plaque. It lies directly behind Mount Saint Mary’s University and Seminary.
“While this physical rock of Mother Seton must remain in place, the spiritual rock of the Church continues to take up the task of informing, instructing and teaching the Catholic faith,” Father Langhorst explained to the parish, announcing the new venture. “With that in mind and in union with our parish patroness, SEAS Teaching Rock invites any and all (from any parish and those not fully united in our faith) to formation topics of interest to deepen their knowledge of the Catholic faith.”
Joan Ryland was eager to attend the first meeting and learn about the parish’s new pastor. A member of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in North
Platte since its inception, she recalled that the first Masses were celebrated at the college cafeteria, then in the parish hall before the church was built.
She called the first Rock meeting “extremely interesting and helpful” for all parishioners.
“This is the first time that I have ever had a background history of our pastor,” she said, “and it makes it so much easier to understand where he’s coming from and why he does as he does.”
She was interested to learn Father Langhorst was a convert to the faith and had a degree in German and Czech and in travel.
“He joined the seminary just a few months after he became a Catholic,” Ryland said.
She also appreciated the other talks and practical advice —like how holy water is a major defense against Satan and demons.
“I would highly recommend everyone to attend his Rock talks,” she said. “They are only once a month but I look forward to them.”
