Welcome to Holy Week 2010! The authors of the CCMA Empowered blog are taking a well deserved week off to plan, prepare and celebrate these three most sacred days. While they are away enjoy this fantastic new look into the Sistine Chapel from the Vatican! http://www.vatican.va/various/cappelle/sistina_vr/index.html
Katie Byrnes is an Assistant Chaplain at Saint Thomas More Catholic Chapel & Center at Yale University.
Call for Exemplary Awards CCMA offers five official awards that recognize outstanding people and programs in the campus ministry field. For 2009-2010, we will recognize an Exemplary Bishop, the Reverend Charles Forsyth Award, the Archbishop Paul J. Hallinan Award, the Higher Education Relations Committee Exemplary Administrator, and seven Exemplary Campus Ministry programs. Nominations are open to all and may be made by completing the nomination application and submitting it to CCMA by April 26. Nominations for all exemplary awards may be made online by clicking on the title above! The new webpage is designed to provide information on all the awards and to offer campus ministers an easy way to submit nominations. The site features award information, past winners, and links to the proper nomination forms. Campus ministers are welcome to nominate programs of their own if they feel that the program is an example of excellence in any of the six aspects of campus ministry and vocations. Please visit the awards information at http://www.ccmanet.org/ccma.nsf/Awardsprogram2010?Openpage. Nominate your program today!
Wide Awake! Date: April 9-10, 2010 Location: Catholic Theological Union, Chicago, Ill. Young Adult Conference Keynote: John Allen Special guest workshop presenters Fr. Brian Daley, S.J. and David Fagerburg both of U. of Notre Dame
Join other college students and young adults (under 35) who desire to wake up to their deeper purpose in life. We exist for more than making money and working jobs. Our academic and career successes/failures do not define our identity. This conference will include large group sessions of powerful music, young adult personal stories of faith, and compelling speaker and workshops to guide young adults in specific aspects and disciplines of living a life of faith. Registration and information at: http://www.evangelicalcatholic.org
The Campus Ministry Leadership Institute (CMLI) is a six-day training and working institute for student leaders and campus ministers who attend together as campus teams. Now in its eleventh year, the institute is designed to produce dynamic leaders who work collaboratively to develop and implement successful Catholic campus ministry programs. CMLI participant teams will learn and practice valuable leadership skills, develop a project that is ready to implement at home, generate new ideas for your ministry, network with campus leaders from across the country and enhance understanding of Catholic campus ministry. Please visit the CMLI website at www.sju.edu/CMLI for information and to register.
University of Notre Dame is proud to announce that the Frank J. Lewis Institute for Campus Ministry Orientation will be held this June. The program provides valuable experience for campus ministers with one to three years experience in the field. Participants will come from across the country to learn and be refreshed. Topics for the Institute include forming the faith community, appropriating the faith, forming the Christian conscience, educating for justice, developing leaders for the future and personal development. More details and information will be available by visiting http://campusministry.nd.edu/national-conferences/fjl.
Today the Church celebrates the Feast of the Annunciation, a joyful event honoring Mary’s great fiat, “Let it be done to me according to your word.” This is a wonderful opportunity to ask how we respond to God’s call, whether it’s done in joy or resentment, for example, or whether we’re even open enough to hear how God is calling us. May we all become more attentive to the voice of God in our lives, and follow Mary’s example of faith and trust in God who loves us.
Enjoy this video of a plainchant of Ave Maria!
Sarah Heiman is Campus Minister for Education and Spiritual Life at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, CT.
This Sunday, we celebrate Palm Sunday/Passion Sunday. In the Church calendar before the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, these were two different feasts. Last Sunday would have been Passion Sunday and the two weeks prior to Easter formed a mini season called Passiontide. Older Catholics remember Passiontide most for the veiling of statues in churches, since the representation of the human body in sacred art depends on the hope of the resurrection. In a way, this practice anticipated a bit of the starkness of Good Friday and Holy Saturday, as we deprive ourselves of other signs of the resurrection–the linens that drape the altar, holy water in our fonts and, most importantly, the Eucharist itself.
This Sunday brings together the joy of Palm Sunday and Christ’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem with the reading of the Passion from the Gospel of Luke. We move very quickly from singing “hosanna” to proclaiming “crucify him.” The homily for this Sunday is always very brief. We need some time to catch our breath, as it were. Since we no longer have “Passiontide” to ease us into this mystery of Christ’s sacrifice, we do need to provide students with a way to come to some understanding of the events of our faith that we begin to celebrate this Sunday and continue through the Triduum.
Tomorrow, March 24th, is the thirtieth anniversary of the martyrdom of Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador. Much has changed since 1980 when he was killed by right wing death squads in El Salvador’s ugly civil war that was a battleground for the Cold War. Among the many events that mark the passing of time since then has been the birth of most (all) of our students. For some of them, their knowledge of Romero is scant, if they have any at all. Perhaps they watched an episode of “The Daily Show” last week where he spoofed the decision of the Texas School Board to remove references to him from school text books because no one knows about him. But those much has changed, his witness, which cost him his life, is a timeless reminder that the Passion of Christ we celebrate continues in the lives of Christians today. Archbishop Romero’s anniversary gives us a bit of a “passiontide” this year.
Fr. Peter Walsh, CSC is an assistant chaplain at Saint Thomas More, the Catholic Chapel and Center at Yale University.
Looking for a way to incorporate art into your prayer life or the lives of your students? Check out Perfect Intimacy at http://www.lilialmog.com/New_Site/Perfect_Intimacy.html. What you will find is a photo exhibition by artist Lili Almog featuring a series of photos taken at three Carmelite monasteries over two years. The images will inspire you and give you a unique window into the lives of these extraordinary women. An artist whose body of work has focused several times on the private lives of women, makes these Carmelite communities a focus in a new way. The communities - Mt. Carmel in Haifa, one in Bethlehem and one in Port Tobacco, MD allow her an unusual amount of access considering the Carmelite started as hermits!
Katie Byrnes is an Assistant Chaplain at Saint Thomas More Catholic Chapel Center at Yale University.
Vote today for the South and West Region Representative positions available on CCMA’s executive board. The deadline to cast your ballot is April 5. For more information and to obtain a ballot, contact the national office at 888.714.6631, or info@ccmanet.org.
Call for Exemplary Awards
CCMA offers five official awards that recognize outstanding people and programs in the campus ministry field. For 2009, we will recognize an Exemplary Bishop, the Reverend Charles Forsyth Award, the Archbishop Paul J. Hallinan Award, the Higher Education Relations Committee Exemplary Administrator, and seven Exemplary Campus Ministry programs. Nominations are open to all and may be made by completing the nomination application and submitting it to CCMA by April 26. Nominations for all exemplary awards may be made online by visiting http://www.ccmanet.org/ccma.nsf/Awardsprogram2010?Openpage! The new webpage is designed to provide information on all the awards and to offer campus ministers an easy way to submit nominations. The site features award information, past winners, and links to the proper nomination forms. As we continuously develop the webpages, we will add photos and updates for your information. Campus ministers are welcome to nominate programs of their own if they feel that the program is an example of excellence in any of the six aspects of campus ministry and vocations.
Oxfam is looking for students who are ready to CHANGE the world! Oxfam America, an international relief and development organization that creates lasting solutions to poverty, hunger, and injustice, is currently accepting applications for the CHANGE Initiative, their national student leadership program. CHANGE offers college students, at US based campuses, entering their sophomore or junior year the opportunity to become effective social change agents. CHANGE Leaders are exposed to the international development issues that inform Oxfam’s work, and apply their skills and insights to run Oxfam campaigns on their campuses and in their communities.
Maryknoll Fathers & Brothers Sponsor Contest to Win Mission Trip Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers announce their second Explore My Mission contest. Catholic young people, ages 18 to 35, with a passion for living the Gospel by helping others can win an opportunity to experience another culture and live the world of mission in another country.
Two grand prize winners will be awarded a two-week, short-term mission trip to Tanzania, East Africa. They will work along side the Maryknoll East Africa Mission Community in their service among the poor in rural and urban settings near Lake Victoria and will be accompanied by veteran Maryknoll missioners, Father Dennis Moorman and Brother Tim Raible, and other Maryknoll staff.
“With last year’s contest winners, we had a wonderful experience of mission in Brazil and shared so much with the Brazilian people,” said Father Moorman. “I’m psyched for this year’s trip to East Africa! Tanzania is a great country with amazing people! We are going to have a fantastic experience of mission and learning with the Tanzanian people.”
Assignment: Create a video, three minutes or less, featuring you, the service or ministry with which you are involved, and the reason you would be a good choice for this mission project. Amateur videos are welcome.�
Deadline: Video entries may be uploaded to the official contest website, www.ExploreMyMission.org, by April 9, 2010. Complete instructions are available at the website. Contest winners will be notified by May 18, 2010. Winners will be in Tanzania the first two weeks of July 2010.
Applications are due on April 1, 2010. Selected students are required to participate in a week-long training in Boston, July 24-30, 2010, which is organized and paid for by Oxfam. Students must agree to join or form an Oxfam Club and implement an Oxfam campaign on campus during the 2010-11 academic year, as well as communicate regularly with Oxfam staff about their work.
Apply on line, recommend a student, and watch our CHANGE video at: http://www.oxfamamerica.org/change. If you have any questions please call 800.77.OXFAM, ext. 2464 or email CHANGE@oxfamamerica.org.
Chrysta Bolinger is the Director of Member Services and Communication.
Inspired by Fr. Peter’s post on Tuesday, I want to reflect on silence as well. Every time I go on retreat with my students, I urge them to consider a “technology fast.” This isn’t because technology is a bad thing (see Katie’s posts on Mondays!), but because sometimes our reliance on technology can keep us from being present in the moment. Too often I think we characterize silence as the awkward moment when no one is talking, nothing is happening, and we don’t know what we’re supposed to be doing. And having that cell phone to text someone about it or being able to instantly update our Facebook status allows us some relief from dealing with the question of why that silence is there.
Clearly, not all silence is sacred silence. Sometimes silence really is awkward because no one knows how to respond or what to do next. But I really think it’s in the sacred silence, when we intentionally embrace those naturally occurring moments of silence or set time aside specifically to be silent, that we allow ourselves to strip away our illusions of what we “should” be doing and instead listen to the whispering voice of God.
One of my favorite scripture passages is the story of Elijah hiding in a cave, waiting for the Lord to pass by (1 Kings 19). Elijah endures strong winds, an earthquake, a fire, and finally, in a tiny whispering sound, knows that God is present. How can we find God in the stillness today?
Sarah Heiman is Campus Minister for Education and Spiritual Life at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, CT.
First off, I’d like to say that I have always taken comfort in the fact that when confronted by the Pharisees about what to do with the woman caught in adultery, Jesus procrastinated! One of my spiritual guides once wisely told me “why put off until tomorrow what can be done the next day?”. I don’t mean to validate every form of procrastination, but there is something about letting a problem sit for a while.
Can we learn something from Jesus’ hesitation in the midst of this confrontation? Rather than directly answering the question posed, he waited in a kind of holy silence. He preferred to let the mercy of God “droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven” until it could have its effect. In our culture, where instant responses and sound bytes are valued, there is something countercultural and consoling about Jesus waiting in silence.
Along with last Sunday’s parable of the prodigal son, this gospel makes clear that the theme of Lent is mercy. The mercy of God is something we all know about intellectually, but do we know it experientially? And if we do know it in our own lives, how do we communicate it to those who are struggling with the reality of sin? Is simply restating it enough? One of the most overlooked parts of a homily–at least a component that I often overlook–is silence.
Fr. Peter Walsh, CSC is an assistant chaplain at Saint Thomas More, the Catholic Chapel and Center at Yale University
CCMA Membership for 2010-2011 CCMA would like to take this opportunity to thank all members for their continued support and prayers through the past year and national convention. You all are such a blessing to us! Annual membership renewals invoices are being mailed in the next several weeks. Renewal and new membership rates remain the same:
Individual Membership: $125 per year Team Membership (four or more campus ministers at the same campus ministry site): $105 each Diocesan Membership (four or more campus ministers from the same diocese): $105 each Associate Membership: $55 per year Corporate Non Profit Membership: $150 per year Corporate For Profit Membership: $250 per year
Membership term begins July 1 and ends June 30. In order to be included in the 2010-2011 Catholic Campus Ministry Directory, please renew membership by June 1, 2010. Please contact Michelle Gundrum at Gundrum@ccmanet.org or 888.714.6631, Ext. 17, for more information or to renew or join CCMA.
Duchesne Volunteer House Offers Immersion Trips Duchesne Volunteer House was founded by the Religious of the Sacred Heart in New Orleans in August 2007 as a response to the devastation brought on by hurricane Katrina. Duchesne Volunteer House offers a week long service and immersion program for college students. The program includes a reality/hope tour of the city, work opportunities, prayer and theological reflection. We are presently accepting applications for the 2010-2011 school year. Our schedule fills up quickly. For more information please contact Sr. Mary Pat White at mwhite@rscj.org or visit their website at http://duchesnehouse.rscj.org.
Catholics on Call Accepting Applications for 2010 Young Adult Summer Conferences Catholics on Call invites young people, ages 18-30, who are considering a life of service in the Church to join them for their 2010 young adult summer conferences. Participants will have the opportunity to connect and pray with other like-minded young adults, to hear nationally-known speakers discuss how to listen to God’s call, and to learn valuable skills that will help them to discern their vocation, whether it be to priesthood, religious life or lay ecclesial ministry. Conveniently scheduled as an extended weekend (June 3- 6) or weeklong program (Aug. 1-6) and located at Catholic Theological Union in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago, these conferences are free of charge and include room and board. For an application please visit www.catholicsoncall.org or for more information contact Catholics on Call at catholicsoncall@ctu.edu or 773.371.5431.
Chrysta Bolinger is CCMA’s Director, Member Services and Communication.
Campus Ministry programs offer a diverse list of ministries that are meant to address the diverse gifts of the community and the multiplicity of ways in which the Holy Spirit continues to move and work in the world today. These programs and events are essential for our ministry, but I think it is undeniable that the primary way in which we minister to the faith community is through liturgy. Hands down, attendance at a Sunday Mass is the primary way our students encounter Christ and the biggest opportunity we have to communicate our support and encouragement for these students as they discern where God is calling them in their lives.
A friend recently recommended I check out another Catholic blog, this one edited by Fr. Anthony Ruff, OSB, and a joint project of Liturgical Press and Saint John’s School of Theology-Seminary. PrayTell offers reflections and information on liturgy and worship, and I’ve found it to be fantastic. One post that has captivated my imagination is from Teresa Berger (full disclosure: I was Teresa’s student at Yale Divinity School) on whether we long for liturgy; check it out here.
How does liturgy fill our own wells? Do we long for liturgy, for the encounter with the Risen Christ? How do we communicate that longing to our students?
Sarah Heiman is Campus Minister for Education and Spiritual Life at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, CT.
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