S a int L o uis Pa r is h
College Ministry Newsletter
October 2014
Happy Fall, Y’all!
Happy Fall from St. Louis College Ministry!
Have things settled down for you yet at school?
A sense of normalcy is beginning to return to us
at CYM– and no, it’s never really “normal” here.
We are more or less settled into our new CYM
Room– see picture for awesomeness!- and we
have been adjusting to a more regular schedule.
Archbishop Lori joined us for Mass on Oct 5 to
dedicate the new building. If you have not been
inside yet, come visit anytime! Just give us a
heads up!
New CYM Room!
Our office is remembering you as you journey home for Fall Break and study
hard for your midterms! Feel free to send us prayer intentions when you
have a particularly difficult test!
Prayer for the Intercession of St. Joseph
Cupertino– Patron Saint of Studying
-Pumpkins are members
of the vine crops family
called cucurbits.
-The largest pumpkin pie
ever made was over five
feet in diameter and
weighed over 350
pounds. It used 80
pounds of cooked
pumpkin, 36 pounds of
Confirmation is scheduled with Bishop Higgins and Bishop Madden on
sugar, 12 dozen eggs and
November 9. We hope to see some of you there to celebrate with your took six hours to bake.
siblings!
-Pumpkins were once
All religious education programs are up and running.
recommended for
removing freckles and
The Respect Life Committee has begun their Friday Night Prayer Sercuring snake bites.
vices at 7:30pm in the Chapel. Feel free to join if you are home!
-The largest pumpkin
The Women’s ACTS Retreat takes place Oct 23– 26.
ever grown weighed
1,140 pounds.
Foster the Faith High School Youth Group is meeting bi-weekly to go
through the Teen Discovering Christ Course. Pray for their retreat on No- -Pumpkins are 90 percent
water.
vember 2!
O Great St. Joseph of Cupertino who while on earth did obtain from God
the grace to be asked at your examination only the questions you knew,
obtain for me a like favor in the examinations for which I am now preparing. In return I promise to make you known and cause you to be invoked.
Through Christ our Lord, Amen! St. Joseph of Cupertino, Pray for us.
What’s happening at St. Louis!
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Pumpkin Trivia, you
know, to impress your
friends!
(Taken from: http://
urbanext.illinois.edu/
pumpkins/facts.cfm )
Meet some of our College
Students who Serve at St. Louis!
Jensen Kalampnayil
I work at the Parish
Office and also help
as a Hospitality Minister/ Usher during
the Sunday
8am Mass. Through
both of these positions, I have had the
opportunity to not
only see how vibrant
the community at St.
Louis is but I've also
had the chance to see the various forms of interaction
between the adults and the youth. I've also come in
contact with a large portion of the various
groups/organizations that St .Louis has.
Marina Congedo
I am a catechist for
Monday Night
Religious Education.
As a St. Louis and
Mount de Sales alumna,
my education was
grounded in Catholic
tradition. When I
transitioned into a
public state school,
I realized just how
blessed I was to have
that education, and how much of a responsibility I
have to use it. I love the opportunity to share my faith
and I love my students!
Laura Goudreau
I sing with the folk group at the 9:30 am mass on Sundays, and sometimes I cantor as well. I am involved
because I think that it is important to give back to the
community and to use the gifts that God gives us. St.
Augustine said that singing is like praying twice, and I
am grateful to have the opportunity to praise God
through song each week!
3 Minute Retreat
To grow closer with another person takes time and
communication. To grow closer to God requires the
same. Putting aside time for God is a challenge for
everyone, regardless of their walk of life, however,
there are some special challenges that come with being in college: Always being around people, not having a quiet place to pray, maintaining a hectic school
schedule and busy social life. What can we do to
make time for the Lord?
Try the Loyola Press 3 Minute Retreat. You can
download a free app or receive an email that will
offer you a 3 minute daily reflection. 3 minutes a
day can make all the difference and it’s a great
place to start! Visit
http://www.loyolapress.com/3-minute-retreatsdaily-online-prayer.htm to subscribe to emails.
Campus Ministries
One of our St. Louis College Ministry goals is to connect our college students with the Campus Ministry and Service Communities at their schools.
Are you involved with your campus ministry? For next month’s November
newsletter, we would like to share some of your stories and pictures from
your involvement with campus ministry! Email [email protected] if
you would like to share! Visit the main College Page on our CYM website
to find the information for your campus ministry!
College Epiphany
Retreat
Jan 2-4
Save the Date!
October is Respect Life Month!
Where does the “Respect for Life”
Movement Come From?
As Christians, our lives are founded upon the fact that we
are unconditionally loved by our Creator, God the Father,
who sent his only Son to redeem man, and his Holy Spirit to
accompany us in our journey towards eternal life. Unconditional means that the love of God requires nothing of us; it
knows no discrimination; it is freely given to every single
person regardless of who they are or what they have done.
Our human dignity comes from the fact that God loves us. Since God always loves us, we are ALWAYS in
possession of our human dignity, again, regardless of who were are or what we have done. It is for this reason that all Christians– who believe in the unconditional love of God- have a responsibility to protect and
defend the lives and dignity of other people.
For whom is the Movement?
Well, firstly, everyone! But in particular, the Catholic Church
puts forth a great effort to defend those who can’t defend
themselves. “In his 2013 Day for Life Greeting, Pope Francis
conveyed that ‘even the weakest and most vulnerable, the sick,
Last year, our parish hosted a group of college stuthe old, the unborn and the poor, are masterpieces of God’s
dents from Florida who were traveling to DC in Jancreation, made in his own image, destined to live forever, and uary for the March for Life.
deserving of the utmost reverence and respect.’” (Cardinal
O’Malley’s 2014 Pro-Life Statement)
When you think “Respect Life”, there’s a good chance your
mind automatically thinks of the Pro-Life Movement and antiabortion protests. However, the Respect Life Movement is even
larger than the issue of abortion. In the above list of weak and
vulnerable persons were included the “unborn” but also the
“sick” and the “old”. Our Catholic Church beautifully and unceasingly upholds the dignity of human life from “womb to
tomb”.
To learn more about the issues the pertain to the Respect Life
Movement, visit usccb.org and search “Respect Life Program.”
USCCB stands for the United States Council of Catholic Bishops
and they have provided us with many resources available for
our research.
A Movement of Love and Mercy
May we never allow our zeal for life to blind us to the pain
and struggles of our neighbors, especially the families who
have experienced abortions. May our arms always embrace
these people and show them the love and mercy of God!
A Counter-cultural
Movement
What are some of the values of modern
American society? Individualism. Productivity. Success. Progress. Change. Comfort. Mobility. These values are not inherently evil,
by any means, but it’s easy to see how they
can contribute to the mentality that makes
embracing the Pro-Life Movement difficult
in our country. Embracing the weak and vulnerable in our lives does not come without
heartbreak, challenges, and inconveniences.
Think of the sacrifices families you know
have made to raise an unplanned baby, to
give their developmentally delayed child
everything he or she deserves, or to care
for an elderly parent in their home. Let’s
pray for and support those who are making
these sacrifices to defend human dignity!
A Joyful Mystery
Your CYM Staff: Marie Denissen,
Katie Erskine, Maggie Fischer, Pat
Sprankle
Keep Up With
College Ministry:
NEW WEBSITE: stlouisparish.org/cym
Twitter: @SLCYAMinistry
Facebook Page: St. Louis College
Ministry or St. Louis Young Adults
Contact Information
Regular Office Hours: M-W, F
9:30am-4:30pm
Phone Number: 410-531-6668
Address: 12500 Clarksville Pike,
Clarksville, MD 21029
Katie’s Email:
[email protected]
Upcoming Local
Events
Oct 16 6:30-8:30pm Franciscan Feast at the
Shrine of St. Anthony: Come see what volunteer opportunities are available to young
adults in the area!
Oct 18 7-9pm Frassati Night at St. Philip and
James Church in Baltimore: A talk, Adoration, Confession, Praise & Worship, and a
Social
A close friend of mine had an unexpected pregnancy during her senior
year of college. Suddenly, the “normal” stresses of senior year– senior
thesis, graduation, applying for jobs– paled in comparison to the stress
of having a child. Always a pro-life advocate, my friend expressed how
things “got real” when she and her boyfriend were the ones faced with
the decision of whether or not to keep their own baby. If they had their
baby, everything would change. Young adulthood, as most people experience it, would be over before it even began. All of their time and
money would go towards raising this little boy or girl. What would people say? How would others react? What would the future hold for them?
When my friend first learned that she was pregnant, she didn’t take the
information as “joyful news.” It was terrifying. It was painful. It seemed
unfair. I’ve been thinking about how Mary must have felt when she was
told that she would bear the Son of God. The news of her pregnancy
was probably not easy news for Mary, either. Mary was betrothed to
Joseph, so she would somehow have to explain how she had become
pregnant and convince him that it was not through another man. Her life
was going to be put in danger as well, because women were put to
death for having sexual relations outside of marriage. Yet, this event,
where it was announced to Mary by an angel she was to be the Mother
of God– the Annunciation, it is called– is considered one of the 5 Joyful
Mysteries that we reflect upon when we pray the Rosary. The Annunciation is not part of the Sorrowful Mysteries or the Absolutely Terrifying
and Life-threatening Mysteries (they don’t actually exist) but the Joyful
Mysteries. What is our Church trying to say by this event?
My friend and her boyfriend decided to keep their child and have received overwhelming support from their family, friends, and the Church.
When I first saw my friend after she had given birth, she told me how
crazy it is that the same little person who had initially caused her so
much fear is now the greatest blessing in her life.
I have been reflecting on joy a lot over the past several months (it’s all
the rage, according to Pope Francis) and I heard a definition for joy at
a Theology on Tap presentation that has stuck with me: “Joy is knowing
the meaning in your life” (Dr. Pat Fosarelli). According to that definition
of joy, even very difficult, painful, frightening situations can be joyful
because they can be full of meaning. This mentality is reflected all
throughout our Christian faith: the Cross, a symbol of suffering, is beheld
as a symbol of joy.
Relating this idea of joy to Respect Life Month, I will say this: I know that
everyone reading this column may not agree with our Catholic stance on
abortion. However, my challenge is open to all: consider the hardships and the sufferings that can come with unexpected or unwanted
pregnancies. How can these pregnancies, and the lives that come
from them, be meaningful? How can they be joyful? Let us search
deeply to find the meaning and joy in all of our sufferings.
With Love, Katie