The Rev. Brian Miller is a familiar face on the sidelines of sporting events, but his presence is felt in his day-to-day interactions with a student body within the halls of Marian Catholic High School in Hometown.

Miller, chaplain at Marian for the past five years, is pastor at St. Joseph the Worker and St. Charles Borromeo Catholic churches in Frackville and Ashland.

He says he’s doing “what I was called by God to do.”

“The chaplain position is so important to our identity as a faith-based Catholic high school, and we are blessed to have a fantastic one in Father Miller,” said Head of School Michael Brennan.

“Father’s relationships with our students, staff and school community go far beyond his school duties, as he is often seen celebrating Mass with our athletic teams before games, and rarely ever misses an event involving our students.”

“A Reading boy,” as he describes himself, Miller graduated from Central Catholic High School in 1999 and was ordained in 2010. “I wasn’t a Coal Cracker,” he said, “but when I was assigned here in Schuylkill County, I accepted it willingly. I always try to be open to whatever the bishop and diocese want me to do. I never had an assignment I didn’t like.”

He tells the story that despite having two parishes, the bishop told him he was also being assigned to be the chaplain at Marian “because (the bishop) said he wanted to give me something to do.”

Miller, he added, “serves as a role model, spiritual adviser and friend to our community, all while juggling his duties as the pastor of two local parishes. Father’s guidance to me as I began my journey as Head of School was so critical in helping me with my transition, and he does so much more for our students, teams, staff and community. We are extremely lucky and grateful to have him here at Marian Catholic.”

“Unless you’re inside the building, you wouldn’t think to realize the great impact Father has had on this school and the people inside it,” noted Marian’s longtime teacher, AD and coach Stan Dakosty. He added, “Not only is he a great spiritual leader, but he’s an extraordinary example for our young adults and our faculty on how life should be lived as Christians, and he has impacted many, many people in many, many ways.”

A place to talk

Miller said, “High school is just like a parish, but it has a different set of blessings and problems. It’s one demographic. In a parish, you deal with parishioners from age 95 to newborn and they all have their own sets of needs and challenges. In a high school setting, it’s a little simpler because you’re dealing with one age group.”

The door to Father Miller’s office on the second floor of the school became a place where students felt comfortable being.

“You’d be surprised how many kids will knock on my door and ask, ‘Can we talk?’?” he said. The answer is always a resounding, “Yes.”

Retreats

Under his watch and direction, and assisted by faculty member Patrick Smith, director of campus ministry, Marian plans an entire year of retreats for its students.

A freshmen retreat, Miller said, involves bringing in a group of college students who gear their presentation to high schoolers. The event, he said, helps the first-year students emotionally, “because if you’re an incoming freshman, you’re moving from being a kid in grade school to the high school setting, and you may need help with the transition. They’re basically going from being a young child to more of a grown up.”

The priest said the chaplaincy program at Marian includes a “discernment retreat,” which allows the students to “discern God’s role in their lives.”

He described the retreat as being “three hours in which we discuss the art of making decisions with incorporating prayer and God into those decisions.”

Similarly, during the Advent and Lent seasons, mini-retreats allow the students to reflect on those seasons, while other retreat opportunities include the students joining Father Miller and three faculty members on a two-day trip to the Malvern Retreat House, where the participants, the priest said, “improve their relationships between themselves, others and God.”

Students are required to participate in two retreats per year. One of them is on Dec. 8, the feast of the Immaculate Conception, when all students, faculty and staff pause to honor Mary, the patroness of the school. The daylong event includes speakers, Mass, adoration and confessions.

Father Miller said the retreats “allow the boys and girls as persons to grow and mature.” He said, “When I see where teens are hurt, my approach is to provide them an opportunity for healing” when they are dealing with self-esteem issues, fear, loneliness and other problems.

The priest’s work, Smith said, “offers our students opportunities for spiritual and personal growth.”

With two parishes, Miller’s day is a hectic one. He describes some days as “Mass, a funeral and high school, during which time there are a wide range of emotions.”

“To be a good student and to excel, you have to be mentally, physically and emotionally ready. … I kind of provide the spiritual part of that. God called me here,” he said.