August 5, 2024 // Diocese

Father Schneider Uses Life of St. Peter to Inspire Youths

Eric Peat

At times, the Lord calls one of His shepherds to venture to a new pasture and tend to a larger flock. Father Jake Schneider, Parochial Vicar at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in Fort Wayne, received such a call when he was asked to deliver the King’s Message as the featured speaker at Fraternus Ranch 2024.

The opportunity arose when Regional Sage Dan Landrigan was on a call with the Fraternus leadership team in late 2023, and Executive Director Jason Craig asked for suggestions for the upcoming year’s speaker.

“Father Jake had been at the parish at that point for about five months, and I’d heard him preach a lot already on Sundays and at daily Masses,” recalled Landrigan, a parishioner at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton. “In my heart, I knew he was going to be perfect for it.”

Landrigan asked Father Schneider if he could pass his name along, and after prayerful discernment, Father Schneider agreed. He was quickly offered the role and given the unique opportunity to select a theme for both his nightly talks and for Ranch 2024 itself. Father Schneider settled on Tu Es Petrus, Latin for “You Are Peter” – the words Christ spoke to St. Peter when establishing His Church.

“I found the life of St. Peter to be perfect,” Father Schneider told Today’s Catholic, as he wanted to focus on St. Paul’s anthropology of the old man vs. new man and needed a model to give it flesh. “Finding in him the two names – Simon, being the expression of the old man, and Peter, being the expression of the new man – was the image I needed for the concept to stick for the men. The famous words of Jesus, ‘Tu es Petrus,’ is a title that requires a lifetime of embracing and living up to.”

Utilizing video clips to introduce each session, Father Schneider launched into a five-part talk on the transformative nature of discipleship and how that played out in the life of St. Peter.

The first part established the foundations of the old man, Simon, and how Jesus used all that was good in his life when changing him to a new man. Father Schneider challenged the brothers – the term Fraternus leaders use for the organization’s young members – to make themselves “radically available to Christ” in their daily routines, examine the way they relate to others, and contemplate whether they are living as mere believers or as true disciples.

Part 2 dove into the weaknesses that Simon still carried and how “the Rock” at times become instead a stumbling block to Christ, his brothers, and himself. “Here’s our reality check, brothers: We’ve all got weaknesses, and regardless of what they say, you can’t change your weaknesses into strengths – that’s not how it works. They remain with us,” said Father Schneider, who urged the young men to know their own weaknesses and to beware of living contrary to the revealed truth by “rationalizing our own sinfulness,” to beware their own forgetfulness, and to avoid isolation.

In the third part of the King’s Message, Father Schneider highlighted the strengths of St. Peter as a new creation who renewed all things in Christ. “Christ is the perfect human person,” said Father Schneider, “and if everyone can be a part of His life, living with, in, and through Him, you are part of that new creation.” In St. Peter’s Pentecost speech, he embraced his new responsibilities by putting himself under Christ’s authority. Father Schneider counseled the young men to act with Christ through regular prayer, develop their gifts for the glory of God, and remember Christ through Scripture to have a “grace-filled eyesight” of each day.

Part 4 focused on St. Peter’s perseverance, refusing to be defined by his misfortunes but instead striving for the goal of salvation. When Christ places a weight in front of us, Father Schneider said, we can either think of it as an impediment or as the impetus to propel us forward. Like St. Peter, we must find the inner strength to not be crushed by our weaknesses but to use our gifts for the Church. “The same path, that same greatness of St. Peter, is for every single one of you,” Father Schneider said. “Remember this Ranch, for you have been chosen by Christ to achieve that same imperishable crown of glory.”

Finally, in his fifth King’s Message, Father Schneider stressed that while renewing all things in Christ takes a lifetime, the week of brotherhood and prayer revealed a glimpse of how it feels to be a part of the new man. He sent the young men forth, imploring them to “let Christ tell you who you are. Let Christ speak to you through every experience, every challenge going forward, and follow that voice all the way to heaven.”

At the conclusion of his King’s Message each night, Father Schneider received a raucous applause and countless high-fives from the Fraternus brothers, who walked away with much to reflect upon.

“I thought the King’s Messages were very intriguing,” said first-time Ranch attendee Vincent Brindel, an eighth grader with the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton chapter. “It was quite cool knowing that our chapter’s priest was the one giving such an important part of the day.”

“They were very good,” agreed fellow eighth grader Levi Minnich, who was attending his second Ranch. “[St. Peter] can be a model because if you have a bad start in life, you can still grow into a faithful life.”

However, Father Schneider said he benefitted from the experience just as much as the young men.

“Just being at Ranch surrounded by men pursuing Christ was refreshing; it’s as if I came home even more rooted in my own masculinity,” Father Schneider reflected. “By crafting and giving these messages, I was drawn closer to the life of St. Peter and his encounter with Christ, which gave me a rich background to help interpret my own life with Christ. I, too, have failed the Lord, but He hasn’t rejected me and given me moments of reconciliation. I have also done remarkable things with the Lord as His priest, and I have to remember that it’s for His kingdom and His glory.”