CONWAY — On a recent Saturday, Andy Mason, a 30-year-old assistant professor of physics at the University of Central Arkansas, found himself not teaching, but instead learning a lesson in spirituality and what it means to give back. While visiting a nursing home along with other members of the Frassati Group at St. Joseph Parish in Conway, he sat down with an elderly woman who had one simple request.
“There was one lady who just wanted someone to sing with, I got drafted into that,” Mason said with a laugh. “I hummed a few bars with her, it was touching.”
Mason is just one of about 12 members in the young adult group focused on charity and discipleship, with 28-year-old Father James Melnick, associate pastor at St. Joseph Parish, leading the charge.
“It’s exactly what Jesus did, form small groups,” said Father Melnick, who started the group at the first of the year. “This has really given me a focus … making these men and women disciples, to intensify their relationship with Christ.”
The group stems from FrassatiUSA, a nonprofit group that has several Frassati groups, including one in Fayetteville, dedicated to Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, who died in 1925 at 24 years old, according to frassatiusa.org. Father Melnick said Frassati — who was beatified by Pope John Paul II on May 20, 1990 — can serve as a role model for young adults.
“He gave so much to the poor and helped the sick so much,” Father Melnick said.
Open to members who are 21 to 35 years old, Father Melnick said he originally started the group to fill a gap that exists between those graduating from college and older adults in the church.
“There wasn’t a group for young adults,” at St. Joseph Parish, Father Melnick said. “It’s really a crucial time where people are trying to find themselves … Some people just don’t know how to pray, so this is a time to hone it in and make the faith your own.”
In his third year as a priest, Father Melnick said he and other Church leaders recognize the fall off after high school and college with young Catholics.
“We do all these things well, but we don’t have a plan for evangelizing the young,” Father Melnick said. “It’s been a blessing. It’s funny how God puts people where the need is. I gain a lot of spiritual fruit from it.”
The Frassati group has an hour-long Bible study every Wednesday at 8 p.m. and goes to nursing homes on some Saturdays to visit parishioners.
Father Melnick said an elderly male parishioner practically begged him to keep bringing the young adults to the nursing home.
“(He said) ’Father, you have to come here more often,’” Father Melnick said. “It was kind of like a ’Field of Dreams’ moment: ’If you build it, they will come.’”
At this point, Father Melnick said members are still working on building friendships with each other and figuring out future goals.
“Part of the work is getting people to know each other,” Father Melnick said. “We focus it on Christ … hopefully friendships can grow out of that.”
On Sept. 19, four members of the group met with Father Melnick to laugh, talk about their lives and dive into a deep discussion about the Eucharist, focusing on the sixth chapter of the Gospel of John. The comfort level young members feel is because of Father Melnick, said Kaitlin Ashley-Pauley, 22.
“I love being around Father James,” Ashley-Pauley said. “It’s nice to find a priest around your age and to have that connection.”
Sam Deragowski, 23, jokingly said she “didn’t really have a choice,” about joining Frassati.
“I threatened her,” Father Melnick said, with the group erupting in laughter.
“There’s just not a whole bunch of things for us, our age group,” Deragowski said. “There’s that awkward gap of 21 to 30, 35.”
Father Melnick said he hopes to hold Bible study at a member’s home or apartment for a more family-type atmosphere.
“This hasn’t been pulling teeth. They come for their love for Christ. It’s about mending those places where people fall through the cracks,” Father Melnick said. “If they’re really connecting to God, he’s going to tell them what to do.”
For young adults interested in the group, Father Melnick said to look up its Facebook page — Frassati Society of Young Adult Catholics: St. Joseph Parish.
