Merry Christmas!

Posted by admin on December 14, 2009 under 1. Media Monday | Be the First to Comment

The authors of the CCMA blog will be on break until January 10th. Until then please enjoy the past posts and have a peaceful Christmas season!

TGIF! Campus Ministry Opportunities

Posted by admin on December 10, 2009 under 5. TGIF! | Be the First to Comment

NCSC “Be the Voice” Conference
Malvern Retreat Center
Malvern, Pennsylvania
December 31, 2009 to January 3, 2010
Contact: www.catholicstudent.org

Petrus Leadership Conference
Hilton Walt Disney World
Orlando, Florida
January 4-6, 2010
Contact: www.petrusdevelopment.com

PCCMA’s Sexuality and Spirituality:
Nurturing Healthy Relationships in a College Setting
The Hotel Hershey
February 8 & 9, 2010
Contact: Courtney Hull, chull@mansfield.edu

Stewards of the Treasures of Our Faith
Campus Ministry Symposium
University of Notre Dame
Notre Dame, Indiana
June 23-28, 2010
Contact: http://campusministry.nd.edu/national-conferences

Sharing Stories That Inspire Giving
CCMA Development Institute
Xavier University
Cincinnati, Ohio
June 15-18, 2010
Contact: info@ccmanet.org

Campus Ministry Leadership Institute
Saint Joseph’s University
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
June 5-11, 2010
Contact: www.sju.edu/CMLI

Frank J. Lewis Institute
University of Notre Dame
Notre Dame, Indiana
June 6-11, 2010
Contact: http://campusministry.nd.edu/national-conferences/fjl

CCMA’s Director’s Institute for Visionary Catholic Ministry in Higher Education
University of Notre Dame
Notre Dame, Indiana
June 28-30, 2010
Contact: info@ccmanet.org

Chrysta Bolinger is the Director of Member Services and Communication for CCMA.

Thursday’s Spiritual Smoothie: The Baptist’s Cry

Posted by admin on under 4. Thursday's Spiritual Smoothie | Be the First to Comment

The Second Week of Advent is a great time to reflect on the role of John the Baptist. I’ve been ruminating on the passage from Luke’s Gospel that is, in turn, a message from Isaiah:

A voice of one crying out in the desert:
“Prepare the way of the Lord,
make straight his paths.
Every valley shall be filled
and every mountain and hill shall be made low.
The winding roads shall be made straight,
and the rough ways made smooth,
and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”

This cry is, or at least should be, our own cry. When we work for justice, when we proclaim how God has revealed God’s self, even when we consciously remove ourselves from the hecticness of everyday life for some quiet contemplation, we are preparing the way of the Lord. This mindset isn’t always easy, but it is something to which I think we should all aspire.

And there is always hope. One of the most beautiful elements of our Christian lives is that we do not need to be a voice of one crying out in the wilderness–we are one body, part of a community which professes and proclaims through words and actions our belief in a transcendent, incarnate God. May we take the mystery of this belief seriously, and prepare the way of the Lord today and all days.

Sarah Heiman is Campus Minister for Education and Spiritual Life at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, CT.

Fat Tuesday: Gaudete!

Posted by admin on December 9, 2009 under 2. Fat Tuesday | Be the First to Comment

These last few days of the semester are pretty busy for both students and campus ministers. Here at Yale we are in reading week. Students are writing papers and studying for final exams next week. Throughout our center, laptops and stacks of books are piling up in every available study space. Our dining hall especially becomes prime study space, as students spread out their work and grab a snack, as they did on kitchen tables at home.

It’s in the midst of this din that we try to help students prepare for the coming of Christ this Advent. We all know how difficult is the task to let the words of John the Baptist be heard amid the silent noise of cramming for exams. As we lament our task, however, do we appreciate the difficulties faced by the Baptist? Up against a powerful Roman ideology and religious leadership that counseled collaboration, John made his voice heard. This Sunday’s Gospel shows his great effect when tax collectors and soldiers–key instruments of Roman hegemony–come to him for baptism.

On this third Sunday of Advent, Gaudete Sunday, we have cause for rejoicing. The Lord is near. We find great consolation in the words of Paul: “The Lord is near. Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,make your requests known to God.” For clear heads, for growing stamina, for an empty seat in the dining hall (and a few snacks as well), for needed study breaks, for a growing capacity to hope, for a holy Christmas, with thanksgiving we pray to you O Lord.

Fr. Peter Walsh, CSC is an assistant chaplain at Saint Thomas More, the Catholic Chapel and Center at Yale University

Media Monday: Climate Change in Copenhagen

Posted by admin on December 6, 2009 under 1. Media Monday | Be the First to Comment

This week representatives from over 200 nations and organizations, including the Vatican, are meeting in Copenhagen to try and hash out an agreement to replace the 1997 Kyoto Protocol curbing the emission of greenhouse gases.
Three great resources to follow the discussions are:
- the Ignatian Econet Blog at http://ignatianeconet.wordpress.com/
- The Vatican YouTube feed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8LID2v7P2c
- The UN Live Feed at http://unfccc.int/2860.php
These critical discussions have reached a new level of tech fame too! This week Google reported that Tiger Woods was ousted as the top search by “Copenhagen” which is now the number one search query on the world’s leading internet search engine.
Pope Benedict and other church leaders have had much to say about this critical conference and hopefully the topic has sparked some great discussions with your students!

Katie Byrnes is an Assistant Chaplain at Saint Thomas More Catholic Chapel & Center at Yale University.

TGIF!

Posted by admin on December 4, 2009 under 5. TGIF! | Be the First to Comment

CCMA Receives Certification Approval
Congratulations to the Certification Committee, Cathy Seymour-Chair; Maureen Bergan, Carol Boerding, Paula Fitzgerald, Fr. J. Friedel, Michelle Gundrum, Vinci Paterson, Denise Philips, and Maggie Riggins, who worked countless hours preparing the seven-year Certification standards and procedures audit. Please see below:

During their annual fall board meeting, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Commission on Certification and Accreditation (USCCB/CCA) reviewed Catholic Campus Ministry Association’s (CCMA) Certification standards and procedures. The USCCB/CCA board approved CCMA’s Certification standards and procedures for a period of seven years; from 2009-2016.

CCMA Accepting Petrus Fellowship Applications
Applications are being accepted now for the Petrus Fellowship. This fellowship promotes the growth of professional development ministry within Catholic campus ministry for higher education and provides $4,500 payable at $1,500 per summer toward the tuition and fees of the Masters of Arts in Philanthropy and Development program at St. Mary’s University of Minnesota in Winona. CCMA awards the scholarships on an annual basis, one each year, such that three persons are in the program concurrently.

Candidates for the fellowship should be employed full-time as the Development Director or equivalent position at a Catholic campus ministry program. In order to be eligible for the Petrus Fellowship, five criteria must be met:
 Candidate must have a minimum of two years full time fundraising experience.
 Candidate must be accepted into the Masters of Arts in Philanthropy and Development program at St. Mary’s University of Minnesota.
 The candidate’s Catholic campus ministry center must commit to investing a matching professional development award to the recipient and the candidate must commit to fund the final half balance of the St. Mary’s program.
 The Development Director must agree, in writing, with his or her local directory of Catholic campus ministry, to remain employed with the sponsoring campus ministry center until the awarding of the Masters of Arts degree.
 The candidate will write a thesis that is relevant to the advancement of professional fund development in Catholic campus ministry.

The Philanthropy and Development program at St. Mary’s University of Minnesota offers a Masters of Arts degree consisting of 30 semester credits. This includes eight credit hours of coursework during each summer session and a six-credit Project Demonstrating Mastery. This program takes place over a two-year, three-summer period.

To apply for the Petrus Fellowship, please mail a letter of interest to CCMA’s Executive Director explaining why you believe you and your ministry will benefit from this scholarship program. The address is: CCMA, Attn: Petrus Fellowship, 1118 Pendleton Street, Suite 300, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202. Applications must be submitted by April 30, 2010. Please contact the national office at 888.714.6631 or info@ccmanet.org for more information.

Chrysta Bolinger is CCMA’s Director of Member Services and Communications.

Hopefulness

Posted by admin on December 3, 2009 under 4. Thursday's Spiritual Smoothie | Be the First to Comment

Happy Advent! One of my favorite forms of prayer within the Church is the Liturgy of the Hours. For whatever reason, Vespers just seems more appropriate during the time of hope and joyful anticipation that we celebrate in Advent. Perhaps we can take time today to reflect with an ancient hymn that is the perfect opening hymn for Advent Evening Prayer services. Here’s the first verse:

Creator of the stars of night,
Your people’s everlasting light,
O Christ, Redeemer of us all,
We pray you hear us when we call.

Sarah Heiman is Campus Minister for Education and Spiritual Life at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, CT.

Wednesday Program Swap!

Posted by admin on December 2, 2009 under 3. Program Swap! Wednesday | Be the First to Comment

It’s In The Bag
Retreat “Ice-Breaker” Opening Activity

This activity is best done as one of the first things you do as a retreat begins. Give each person a paper bag, pens, pencils, crayons, and markers. Have each person print their name on the bag and decorate it with pictures, symbols that help to describe themselves to others in the retreat group. After they have all decorated the bag, you may have the participants in some way describe the bag to the whole group.

Once everyone has done the above, distribute the following handout, “It’s In The Bag.” Ask them to privately complete the questions, stick the questions in the bag, fold the top and place the bags in a designated place where they are accessible, noticeable but out of the way for the remainder of the retreat. You may even place a sanctuary candle near the area where the bags are to represent the presence of Christ.

Explain to the participants that, in answering the questions and putting them in the bag, they are letting go of those concerns for the duration of the retreat and entrusting them to God. Let God take care of them during the retreat. They will be there for them to take back at the end. They might find that God has taken care of some of those questions during the retreat.

Another option is to suggest that the retreat participants write notes of encouragement to one another during the retreat and to put their notes in the person’s bag during the retreat.

Make sure to give each participant their bag at the conclusion of the retreat.

Questions:
What has been on my mind most lately?
What is up in the air in my life right now?
What question(s) do I want answered?
What distracts me most each time I try to get quiet?
What relationship am I worried about ?
What do I fear now?
What is making me angry?
What would I like God to handle right now?

Submitted by Rev. John Hanley, OSFS, Director of Campus Ministry at DeSales University in Pennsylvania.

Fat Tuesday: Road Work Ahead

Posted by admin on December 1, 2009 under 2. Fat Tuesday | Be the First to Comment

This past summer, the interstate highways around Yale were often clogged with traffic. Though we always have beach traffic heading along rt. 95 or slowdowns on rt. 91 North to Massachusetts and Vermont, this summer saw an unprecedented number of road crews with those signs warning to slow down for work crews and reminding us that “fines are doubled in work areas.” The stimulus money was kicking in and long delayed projects were moving forward.

John the Baptist borrows a central image of his preaching from Isaiah: “the winding roads shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth.” For the people returning from exile in the first reading from Baruch, they shall be “borne aloft” as if on thrones along fast highways when their redemption comes. For those listening to John the Baptist, it is the crooked highways and potholed avenues of human lives that need attention. What roadwork will we take on this Advent?