FOCUS and Ian McCarron

Announcer: Welcome to the Christ by the Sea, Catholic collaborative podcast for the parishes of Saint Anthony in Cohasset and Saint Mary of the Assumption and Hall. Now, to start off the show, here's Father Scott.

Father Scott: Hello. This is Father Scott Uvart. I'm the pastor of Saint Anthony of Padua Parish in Cohasset, Massachusetts and Saint Mary of the Assumption Parish in Hull, Massachusetts. And together, these two parishes are the Christ by the Sea Catholic Collaborative, two parishes in a collaborative here in the Archdiocese of Boston on the South Shore. I'd like to welcome you to this fifteenth episode of our podcast.

And today, we're going to be learning a little bit more about the group focus, fellowship of Catholic University students. And also, we'll be meeting Ian McCarron, who is a local resident, here in Cohasset and who is now going to begin serving as a focus missionary. Ian, I'd like to take a moment to welcome you to this podcast for our parishes, and I know that you have local connections here, local roots here. And would you take a moment to tell our listeners about, your roots here on the South Shore?

Ian McCarron: Yeah. Thank you, caller Scott. Incredibly grateful to be here on the podcast today. And exactly. So I've, you know, I'm 22 years old, and I've been in Cohasset my entire life.

I was raised here by my parents, Christine and Dan McCarron, with my three brothers, my older brother and my two younger brothers, Quentin, Hayes, and Patrick. And so growing up in Cohasset, I've been a lifelong parishioner of Saint Anthony's, Sunday mass growing up, Christmas and Easter, of course. And then in high school, I went to Boston College High School with the Jesuits, and so the Catholic faith has has always been in my life since I was a kid.

Father Scott: Wonderful. Thanks, Ian. I know you went off to Boston College High School. And then after that, could you tell us a little bit about, your college, what you did for college, where you went, what you studied, any activities you were involved in during your college years.

Ian McCarron: Sure. So following my four years, actually six years at BC High, seven through 12, I was fortunate to get into Williams College in Western Massachusetts, where I played football for two years, lacrosse for one year, and studied political science and Russian. And during my time at Williams, got involved more deeply into our Catholic faith, more deeply into my personal relationship with Christ, through various means, through growing in relationship with other Catholic young men, and and joining and starting discipleship.

Father Scott: Thanks, Ian. Now in both parts of your life here that you've mentioned kind of the Cohasset part of your life and then heading off to Williams College in Western Massachusetts, you mentioned faith, and there seems to be a a trajectory, as it were, about your faith journey. And I would have been blessed to hear a little bit about that. Would you tell us a little bit more about that faith journey, kind of the Catholic roots of it, but then maybe what was kind of missing for you and what you came to discover during your college years?

Ian McCarron: Certainly happy to, to share my journey and and my relationship with Christ and what the amazing things that he's done in my life. You know, as I mentioned, you know, I've been Catholic my whole life. And so for so long, my perception of God and my perception of the Catholic faith was more of a cultural understanding of tradition of going to mass, you know, checking boxes, doing the right things, baptism, what's the confirmation, and, of course, for holy communion before confirmation. And so that was that was my initial understanding, you know, as a child, and I think that's the for for many younger children, that's that's the understanding. And then earlier in my life, God brought difficulties and and different trials before high school and then maintained throughout high school that and at at a at a younger age, I I think I was asking questions, you know, the the bigger questions.

And these trials, whether that was, you know, medical conditions that I've dealt with and, a lot of a lot of football injuries. Like I said, I played football my whole life, but I think I've been I think I was hurt more than I was healthy during those years playing football. And so just repeated setbacks and and difficulties, in my life that drew me towards God in a personal way, in a way from that cultural understanding of of the Catholic faith. And inevitably, towards the end of high school was was in a very difficult place as I was transitioning from BC High. I felt felt really beat up, by life and got to Williams College and had a really, really difficult fall semester, that was almost, you know, just the the icing on the cake, so to say, in terms of in terms of trials that that I had been through.

And I knew who I had to go to. I know who knew exactly who it was. I I knew, you know, in a sense, having had the Catholic faith, who God is, but didn't understand why life was so difficult. Didn't understand why I felt like he he wasn't there. You know, why it was always almost like, why me?

Like, why why is why is my life, seem to have so many setbacks? And so my freshman fall, you know, talking about this transition as you asked about father Scott. I think it was maybe October or November, I, went to the chapel one night and probably for the first time in my life, gone on my knees alone, you know, not prompted to at mass. And at the time, I I was in, a shoulder sling from one of my various injuries and just looked up at the cross and told crisis in my life's yours. You know?

I I've never known you, personally, and I want to know you. And I don't want want life to be so difficult all the time. And and I invite you in I invite you into my heart. I invite you into my life. And, you know, if you show up and and if I can come to know you, like, whatever whatever plans I have for myself, I give them to you, and I surrender them entirely to you.

I think many people have have a surrender moment at some point in their lives. For others, God brings it into their life later. But I see now, you know, with the blessings and the grace that I've received in my life since my freshman year, since that happened, and the way that God brought this opportunity to be a focused missionary, and share the graces that I've received since that surrender moment. I see why he you know, I see why all those trials happened at such an early time, and all those things that I had once received as, you know, unfair difficulties were actually blessings because they drew my heart away from away from the world and towards Christ and towards heaven.

Father Scott: Thank you, Ian. Just for the record, that's why I was in the marching band and not in football. There were far fewer injuries in the marching band than football.

Ian McCarron: Yeah. It can be a lot. It can be

Father Scott: a lot. Well, thank you for sharing your faith journey. As you did, I was thinking that your story is not an uncommon story. I don't know if that's a consolation or not, but it's not an uncommon story for Catholics who have received all the sacraments and have kind of a a cultural Catholicism as it were, but then they reach a critical moment in their life, and they come to know the need for a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It's not enough to be just carried along in a cultural Catholicism.

There has to be a personal embrace of the faith, a personal embrace of a relationship with Jesus Christ. So I think that's a very common story for many, many Catholics. As you mentioned, you started to talk about what is next in your life. You mentioned mentioned an organization called FOCUS, the fellowship of Catholic university students, and you now are going to serve as a missionary for them. Would you tell us about how you came to be connected to FOCUS and what that early connection has been like and what the next steps for you are with with Focus.

Ian McCarron: Yeah. Happy to. So Focus entered into my life this year, just after New Year's, and I'd and I'd really didn't seek out this opportunity on my own. I hadn't heard of Focus before I was invited to Resurrection Church in Hingham, which I've gone to often throughout high school because of the great seaside life team that's been there. And so I was invited to seek a conference that focus host annually for college students by the seaside live team at Hingham in January.

And I was home for, I think it was, you know, Christmas break, and, yeah, I got nothing else going on at the moment. And why not? You know? I wanna grow even more in my relationship with God, and this seems like a like a great conference. Why wouldn't I go?

And so I went to this conference in DC. It was and just incredible incredible graces were poured into my life during that conference, an experience with the holy spirit and an encounter with with God that I never experienced in my entire life really rocked me, that I that I brought me to a new level within my faith and my love for Christ and and an understanding of of his truth is such a such a grace, which was followed at the same time with an invitation to do focus. And I at first, it wasn't made exactly clear, but I I noticed that God was doing something. I had ran into an old friend at at the conference who I had met while interviewing for for a a different opportunity my junior year of high school that I had totally blown, and was really, you know, disappointed by my failure with this opportunity and ran into this friend who I didn't I didn't think that I would see again, and he we caught up at the conference, and he essentially shared with me that he had a similar experience, in messing up this opportunity, but was able to start dating a FOCUS missionary and explained to me that FOCUS has missionaries, which I wasn't even aware of.

Right? I was I was more so this is my first introduction to FOCUS. And then he invited me to the recruitment dinner for FOCUS, which was just an hour, you know, an hour or two later in the night. And so I realized that God was was opening doors. I didn't know exactly what was happening, and my my walls were definitely up about the idea of becoming a missionary at first following graduation from school.

But I continued to pray on it, and, you know, I was first really, really impressed and appreciative of the focus organization just from the conference alone, to see how amazing it was that so many other college students were so you know, what seems to be deeply committed to Christ and to the faith and have such a have such a passion and love for God. It was an amazing thing to see. And so I already really appreciated Focus and then, you know, took one step after the next and through prayer and discernment and finding my way to Kansas City for a men's invitation recruitment weekend had the greatest moment of clarity that I've ever had in my entire life that this is exactly what God is asking me to do and and more so inviting me to do. And I you know, when when God presents you a door like that, what else can you do but walk through it? And I'm so grateful that he's he's brought this blessing into my life to to now go and and work with Focus.

Father Scott: Thanks, Ian. Now I know Focus is on many, many, college and university campuses across the country, and I think you already know where you're going. You wanna share with our listeners where you'll be heading for, Focus to work as a missionary?

Ian McCarron: Definitely. For the next two years, I will be with focus at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. And so I'll leave town in August to get moved into Pittsburgh, and we'll be walking with the students there, specifically athletes, because so many or so much of my story is correlated with sports and in my faith journey. And FOCUS has a branch of the organization that is committed to athlete outreach called Varsity Catholic. And so I'm really grateful that I'll be, stationed at Carnegie Mellon University as a varsity Catholic missionary, and we'll we'll come to know a lot of great athletes and and students as well at Carnegie over over the next two years.

Father Scott: That's great. There's a couple of local intersections with your story. You mentioned this SEEK conference down in was it SEEK?

Ian McCarron: Yeah. SEEK down in DC.

Father Scott: Yeah. The SEEK conference down in DC. Well, there's a a a man a young man who just graduated from Boston University, who is not was not Catholic at the time, but became connected with the campus ministry at Boston University and especially, the FOCUS missionaries, and they invited him to go down. And he went down to that conference also, and he's since come back. And he, at this past Easter vigil, was received into the Catholic church, because he was already a baptized Christian.

He was received into the Catholic church. He was confirmed and received first full of the Eucharist. And the other intersection is that several years ago, the parish over in Hull, the other parish in our collaborative, had a young woman, Kayler Deemer, who became a FOCUS missionary and spent a few years with them both on the campus of University of Connecticut as well as Columbia University. And after she finished her time with FOCUS, she then entered the Sisters of Life, a religious order in New York. And today, she's not known to us as Kayler Deemer, but rather as sister Anna Simeon.

And so we have these local connections with FOCUS and not only in supporting FOCUS missionaries, but also in seeing the good work that FOCUS missionaries do on campuses. And we want to be as supportive as we can for you, Ian. What are the ways in which our parishioners and our listeners can be supportive to you moving forward?

Ian McCarron: Sure. So, you know, firstly, I'll I'll be blessed for your spiritual support that you would keep me and, my efforts in your prayers and and pray for the students at Carnegie Mellon University, in in their journey with God and that God would use me to be a resource for these young men and women, as they come to know Christ or for those who haven't encountered him yet that that I may be able to use my witness effectively. Specifically, I'd ask for the intercession of our lady, growing in my relationship with with Mary this year. She's just brought incredible graces in my life and and continually trying to consecrate myself to her. So ask ask for that spiritually.

Of course, and then as well as a as a FOCUS missionary, I rely entirely on the financial support of of family and friends and those who are attracted to the mission of focus in order to live out mission. I think it's Romans ten fifteen. Father, you you would know better than I, but it's just something along the lines of and and I'm explaining or paraphrasing here, but you cannot preach without having being sent. Right? And and the way that Christ and his disciples lived out the gospel and and Saint Paul as well is so instrumental in bringing the gospel to the entire world is is that you invite others onto mission with you to partake in in bringing God's kingdom to our world.

You know, I it would be a shame for me to just ask for financial support or or ask for money or even support myself and go do this work on my own because then I'm limiting others from partaking in this grace that God's bringing in my life and limiting I would be limiting them from receiving God's grace. And so I I humbly ask for the financial support and invite anybody who, sounds like focus is is something that they would be interested in to support me. And there's I thought you have something to share.

Father Scott: Yeah. Sure. There'll be some information in the notes for this podcast down below where you can find more information about focus in general, and there'll also be a link for how to find out a little bit more about Ian and a way to offer support to Ian as he embraces, his life as a FOCUS missionary. And, yes, the Bible verse that you refer to talks about how can anyone preach unless they are sent. We don't preach on our own.

It's not of our own doing, but we are called, and sent to preach. We're on mission. And, the verse, then goes on to say, how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news. And so many focused missionaries throughout the world bring good news, to many on the college campuses, university campuses. So you can look below in the notes for this podcast in order to find ways to learn about focus and to support Ian as a focus missionary.

Well, Ian, I'd like to thank you for being with us on this podcast. Ian has a closing comment.

Ian McCarron: Ideally, I and, of course, I I would love to come into contact and get to know my supporters and those who are joining me on mission. So like father Scott said, my link is below this podcast, and there you can find my focus email as well as as my number, my my cell number. So please, if if you're interested, reach out and would love to schedule an appointment to get to know you and talk about ways that you can join me and support me on mission.

Father Scott: Thank you thank you all for for listening, and god bless. Thanks so much, Ian. It's been great to hear about your faith journey, your spiritual and religious journey, to hear about, your embrace of FOCUS and your becoming a FOCUS missionary at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. Thank you all for listening to this fifteenth episode of the podcast. And, until the next podcast, I hope that God will bless you and will be with you, as you continue your journey in faith and embrace a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Announcer: Thanks for listening to the Christ by the Sea Catholic Collaborative podcast. You can follow us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. This has been a production of the Parish Podcast Project.