“What do you seek?” (John 1:38). Jesus once asked this question to some of His first disciples, and the Church, through her saints, has responded to this question time and time again throughout history. Today, the Church celebrates the feast of one of her most famous intellectuals, St. Thomas Aquinas. St. Thomas is perhaps most well known for his contribution to theology in his Summa Theologiae. However, great mind though he was, he was first and foremost a son of God by his baptism. St. Thomas knew that everything throughout his life was entirely secondary to fostering this relationship and growing in deeper love for the Lord. As a student in college, it can be very easy to lose sight of this. There is a real temptation to put academics, extracurriculars, and friends before God and the relationship that I am called to have with Him. When I find myself putting God second, I turn to the example of St. Thomas Aquinas to see how things should be properly ordered. He could never have written his great Summa, or anything for that matter, if he did not first have prayer. For St. Thomas, time spent before the Lord in the Eucharist was of infinitely greater value than time spent writing or studying within his cell, because everything first had to flow out of prayer. From St. Thomas, I know that if I am going to be a better student, or a better man at all, I must first begin with prayer; I must first adore the Lord. Here again the example of St. Thomas Aquinas shines forth. As much as he was a great theologian, he was also a great poet, composing great the Eucharistic hymns which the Church still treasures. At adoration, when the Holy Hour begins and ends, I know that the O Salutaris Hostia and the Tantum Ergo are from St. Thomas. And like St. Thomas, I know that I should remain focused on the Eucharistic Lord, more than the words I sing. God is the end that we must pursue, not only in worship, but in all areas of our lives. Apart from God, nothing really seems important at all. While his great Summa was still unfinished, St. Thomas Aquinas had a vision, a great mystical experience. Afterwards, he refused to write anything further, and he claimed that all of his writings were now only straw. This does not mean that his theology was bad or of no use to the Church, but rather that everything he wrote and accomplished was entirely insignificant to the full glory of God. The idea that the things we work for in life, everything we love, is insignificant when compared to God can seem paralyzing. After all, what is the point of all our work if it is just straw? On the contrary, rather than paralyzing, I find this to be extremely motivating. Knowing where everything in our lives stands in relation to God makes us realize how everything we do can be a means to greater sanctification and holiness, pursuing the ultimate goal of God Himself in heaven. Once St. Thomas Aquinas had gotten a glorious taste of that end in this life, how could everything not seem like straw? This life of prayer, adoration, sacred study, and growth in holiness can be perfectly summed up in the words of St. Thomas Aquinas himself. In another vision, it is recorded that he saw the crucified Christ and heard him say “You have written well of me, Thomas. What reward will you receive from me for your labor?” And St. Thomas simply responded, “Lord, nothing but you.” My devotion to St. Thomas Aquinas has grown greatly during my time in college, not only because I attribute my philosophy papers to his intercession, but also because his whole life was focused solely on nothing but the Lord. And this life was lived to the fullest. Many still speak of his virtue, thousands across the world pray for his intercession every day, and the Church still rejoices in the fruits of his labor. With such an example to celebrate today, we can only wonder about what fruits can come from all of us seeking nothing but the Lord.
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"Journeying is precisely the art of looking toward the horizon, thinking where I want to go but also enduring the fatigue of the journey, which is sometimes difficult. … There are dark days, even days when we fail, even days when we fall … but always think of this: Don't be afraid of failures. Don't be afraid of falling . . . This is working every day, this is journeying as humans. But also, it's bad walking alone: It's bad and boring. Walking in community, with friends, with those who love us, that helps us. It helps us to arrive precisely at that goal, that 'there where' we're supposed to arrive.”--Pope Francis
College years are some of the most formative times in a young person’s life. One not only learns the skills they need to succeed in their future career, they also learn professionalism, time management, and make friends that can last a lifetime. One’s faith can also dramatically shift and change in college. As a cradle Catholic, it is hard for me to point to one moment of surrender, acceptance, or conversion to Christ Jesus as my Lord and Savior. Instead, I characterize my faith journey as a slow metanoia, a more methodical reorienting of my heart and mind to Christ through formation and acceptance over time. It was through gradual engagement in The Catholic University of America’s Campus Ministry and communal life that my personal faith began to be transformed and deepened as I grew in relationship with Christ. As I reflect upon my undergraduate faith journey, what stands out to me as transformative experiences that led me closer to Christ have been moments where I have been accompanied by peer and ordained ministers and when I was trusted to accompany others along their faith journeys. In my experience at CUA, I had countless individuals willing to journey with me as I learned and grew in the Faith. Specifically, I had peer ministers who were fellow students that grabbed coffee with me, answered my questions about college and the Church, and even commiserated with me over bad professors or annoying classes. My minister was only a year above me, and being able to ask someone who was so relatable about living one’s Catholic faith in college helped me see how to practically follow Christ’s teachings in my four years at CUA. This accompaniment made me realize that Christ calls the members of the Church to care for each other genuinely and authentically, instead of from a place of authority or condescension. Similarly, I was also introduced to spiritual direction early in my sophomore year, and experiences with my spiritual director allowed me to more fully enter into a relationship with Christ that is comfortable with the highs and lows of the Christian life. My spiritual director wanted to understand my faith journey in all of its facets. He helped me chart a course of discipleship that facilitated an encounter with Jesus Christ both sacramentally and in those around me. This relationship also kept me grounded when I had questions and when hard decisions of life rocked the boat that is my personal faith. The relationships with my Student Minister and spiritual director brought me into the Church’s relational mission that was somewhat absent in my faith life before I arrived at college, and the accompaniment I experienced from these individuals led me to get involved in college ministry. Eventually, I became the proverbial accompanier for first-year students at CUA. Just as being accompanied helped me become more mindful of Christ’s presence in those around me, being the one who accompanies helped me grow closer to Christ as well. I was privileged to be a retreat leader as well as a Student Minister in my time at CUA, and it is from walking with first-year students in these capacities that I have been exposed to new ways of prayer, thinking about God, and living the Christian life as best we can. What has been most impactful from my experience as a Student Minister was walking with my residents as we all made our way back to “in-person” faith throughout 2020 and 2021. Having been isolated from March to April of 2020, my residents and I walked together, helping each other unpack Scripture, become comfortable in Mass again, and encounter Christ differently throughout the pandemic. Even meeting for our weekly Bible study was incredibly transformative after our months of isolation, and our weekly group allowed us to relearn how to worship and reflect as a community again. Journeying with my peers as a lay ecclesial minister allowed me to more deeply encounter Christ in my peers and form a deeper relationship with Him as I was constantly leading or participating in Faith Formation. Throughout my experiences at college, accompaniment and community have been cornerstones of my faith development. I have come to realize that I am accompanied, I accompany others, and through it all, Jesus journeys with me. Jesus’s presence in the Eucharist and in others has helped me remain firmly rooted in His redemptive love that overcomes all human hardship. College years—especially during a pandemic—can be very isolating, but students can grow greatly in their personal faith with faithful accompaniment.
Walking into the Catholic University Career Fair in the Fall of 2019, I had no idea the impact that it would have on my life. I remember seeing all these scientific and engineering firms and feeling totally lost and defeated as a history major, when then, out of the corner of my eye I spotted a table for the Catholic Apostolate Center. I remembered the organization from a friend of mine who was working at the Center and I decided to go up and learn more. A few months after going to the Center’s table, I began as a marketing intern for the Center and I really enjoyed learning and collaborating with my fellow staff members. During my internship semester, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and everything was moved online. I was so anxious about my internship. I saw a lot of friends losing their jobs, positions, and internships due to the pandemic, but the Center was able to quickly adapt to remote work and I was able to keep my internship. I was thrilled! During a time of uncertainty, my work as an intern was one constant in an ever-changing world and it felt great to be able to rely on the Center during those difficult times. The staff would virtually gather weekly in prayer and in lighthearted conversation throughout the pandemic which allowed for some much needed interaction in a newly virtual world. I was so impressed with how the Center was able to not only adapt to the pandemic, but also grow and continue to put out amazing content for our audience. The Center provided thoughtful and helpful resources, podcasts, and webinars surrounding the pandemic such as adapting to telework, anxiety surrounding the pandemic, providing virtual mass links, and other spiritual resources to allow the Lord to guide us through these unforeseen circumstances. These not only were helpful to me as a staff member, but as a college senior who was struggling with the loss of my final semester of school, leaving my friends, and returning home to virtual classes. My time with the Center continued after graduation as I continued to work part time as a program associate throughout the summer and fall of 2020. It was wonderful to be able to rely on the support of the Center and be able to aid in the creation of new programs and resources. I would work my 9-5 job, eat dinner, and then complete my Center work at night. I still felt like I was part of something bigger than just myself and my work and that I was contributing to helping others. Now working full time for the Center, I have been even more blessed to continue working for such a wonderful organization. In my two years working for the Center, I have seen myself grow from a shy intern, to working part time, and now being able to embrace the Lord’s call in my work. Not only have I seen this growth in myself, but I have also seen this growth in the Center as an organization. From partnering with other organizations, to holding new and exciting webinars, creating and updating resource pages, growing our Ad Infintium blog, and an increased social media presence, the Center continues to be a place where all can grow spiritually. With this New Year, we have once again seen an uptick in the number of COVID cases throughout the world. I know that throughout these continued challenging times, the Catholic Apostolate Center will continue to be a source of fruitful conversation, evangelization, and growth throughout the pandemic, 2022, and for many years to come just as it has been for the past ten years. I am so thankful and grateful to be a part of this team and I cannot wait to see what the Lord has planned next for us. To visit our COVID-19 Resource Page, please click here.
St. Vincent Pallotti, the Missionary of Rome, was a Roman Diocesan priest of the 19th century whose life, works, ministry, and witness offer the best models for modern lay ecclesial ministers, especially lay college ministers. Pallotti was a theologian ahead of his time, founding the Union of Catholic Apostolate and Society of the Catholic Apostolate to propagate and revive the faith among practicing Catholics while fostering a more profound devotion of love by rekindling charity. The implementation of this ideal is still needed in today’s Church, and here is where lay ecclesial ministers come in. When ministers work for Pallotti’s goals of reviving faith and rekindling charity within a Cenacle or community-based mindset, countless people in the larger Church community can be touched and impacted. I have worked in college ministry for two years now as a peer minister, and Pallotti’s ideals have led to my ministerial community’s most fruitful work since we sought to help the needs of the greater college campus community through intentional accompaniment.
St. Vincent Pallotti—much like saints Francis, Dominic, Thérèse—sought to help mend the gaps in the Church by giving all Catholics more ways of achieving holiness. Pallotti founded the Union to help Romans become better Catholics, and modern ecclesial ministers continue this. On college campuses today, many students who identify as Catholic can be lost in the cracks of campus life if they are not actively seeking faith formation and development. Pallotti and his contemporaries went out, looking to meet people where they were and teach them along the way. College ministers must do the same. Instead of forcing program after program (whether Bible studies of social events) onto their students, ministers should instead meet people one on one, learn about their unique qualities, and intentionally invite them to go deeper into their faith. Large-scale social events or small intimate groups like a Bible study allow for an initial contact with students, but these events are not ends in themselves. Instead, they should lead to more connection and discussion. These deeper conversations are what allow faith to be revived. Ministers and those they accompany collaborate to learn more and better live the Christian life of loving charity. However, ministers must look to each other for support and collaboration. Fruitful ministry cannot come from one person alone. Like Pallotti, ministers must work in a Cenaclespirituality, utilizing others’ gifts, talents, and observations to improve everyone’s individual and the overall community’s ministry. To teach a fellow priest how one’s smallest actions deeply affect others, Pallotti used the money he got from selling excess paper to help minister to a man on his deathbed. Pallotti then turned to Father Paul de Geslin and said, “Now you see the importance of even little scraps of paper.” College ministers must work with the same mindset. The way one lives their own life, interacts with community members, and participates in the greater campus community serves as a witness of Christ to the whole campus. Simple day-to-day interactions allow people to encounter Christ through their actions. Small acts like checking in on a stressed resident can enable them to feel cared for, reach out, and take the initiative to revive their own faith life. Too often lay ecclesial ministry, especially on the college level, boils down to how many people came to a specific event, leading to a discussion of whether resources were utilized well. While good stewardship is necessary in ministry, numbers cannot fully reflect how well the ministry was done. Event statistics show how well a ministry is reaching the community, but it does not account for the small interactions or the “scraps of paper” that make ministry fruitful one-on-one. Ministry must be viewed both on a large scale and on a small scale. The Sermon on the Mount and Jesus meeting the woman at the well are equally important, and both show good ministry. St. Vincent Pallotti’s dedication to reviving faith and rekindling charity makes him a model for all the Church’s ministers, especially college students. Pallotti worked to show people ways of living a charitable and faith-filled life by walking with them and living among them. This is why college peer-ministry is integral to young adult ministry. College students must see role models who live virtuous faith-filled lives on campus that engage with the greater community and campus culture. Ministers are not meant to live and work in a monastery of a perfect Christian life. Instead, they are meant to engage with others and live their lives with the community. Like Pallotti and his peers, ministers must also draw strength from each other and learn more about those they are ministering with by working collaboratively. This Cenacle spirituality allows for greater engagement in ministry by creating programs and fostering relationships of accompaniment aimed at developing faith for all involved. Finally, the Holy Spirit moves within pastoral communities at all levels of the Church to deepen the Cenacle Spirituality to strengthen its ministers to go out and serve others instead of being inwardly focused. The Holy Spirit inspires lay ecclesial ministers to embrace their individual charisms, recognize others’ gifts, and utilize shared talents to serve others and bring them the Good News. Through Pallotti’s example of ministry, one can “seek God in all things” and “find God in all things.” For more resources on St. Vincent Pallotti on our Feast Day site, click here. To view our Pallotti Portal, click here. For more resources on Lay Ecclesial Ministry, click here.
Throughout my studies at The Catholic University of America, I had the opportunity to witness and participate in the sacred traditions and rites of various religious orders I would never have encountered back at home. A great blessing of my place of study was the constant flux of various clergy, seminarians, and religious throughout campus who were undertaking a degree program or simply passing through campus in their respective ministries. God bless the Franciscans, Little Sisters of the Poor, Marians, Sisters of Life, Sisters Servants of Mary Immaculate, Pallottines, and the Missionaries of Charity, to name a few, who joyfully lived out their vocations—inspiring observers to get to know them and their spiritualties and facilitating an encounter with the Lord.
In God’s providence, I frequently found myself at the Dominican House of Studies at the far side of campus and was able to join the community of brothers and priests in their night prayers and certain liturgical celebrations which were open to the public. Personally, I found the house to be a commanding presence and a bit daunting on the inside: the intellectual prowess of the Order of Preachers and its faithful carrying out of its mandate to preach conveyed a certain spiritual seriousness which drew me in all the more. How striking were the resonating, unified, and almost haunting tones of the sacred chants of prayer, together with the corresponding gestures and postures and the dimmed lights! And yet, in wonderful moments of levity, the very same Dominicans could be found performing excellent bluegrass music as “The Hillbilly Thomists”! Before Dominic’s mother conceived him, she dreamt a dog leapt from her womb and set the world on fire. Dominic went on to become a priest and ultimately founded the Order of Preachers—the Dominicans. The Dominicans rose to the forefront of the intellectual life of the Middle Ages as they announced the Gospel, combatted heresy, gave quality spiritual and scholastic instructions, and contributed unmatched gifts to schools of theology and philosophy. They are lovingly nicknamed “the hounds of the Lord.” The Order has raised up many saints and conferees who ministered to every corner of the world, advocating for the rights of Native Americans, standardizing the liturgy of the Mass, compiling the Church’s canonical laws, composing timeless sacred hymns, caring for the poor, advancing the correlation of faith and science, and promoting the holy Rosary. Western civilization owes a debt of gratitude for the contributions of Dominicans such as Saints Thomas Aquinas, Albert the Great, Pope Pius V, Catherine of Siena, Rose of Lima, Louis de Montfort, and Martin de Porres. Participating from time to time in the life of that religious community gave me a lovely insight into the incredible mysticism of the Order and of the Church Universal. Such a powerful instrument of personal and theological devotion is not the closely held property of one religious order or vocation, but a gift available to anyone who seeks to enhance their personal spirituality with deeply historic and touching methods. This involves realizing the soul as something more sacred than just consciousness; the soul is able to love which helps to better relate to God, who is Love incarnate, emotionally and ecstatically rather than merely intellectually. And you don’t need the philosophical and theological background of a Dominican to similarly enhance your own prayer life! You can begin by quietly placing yourself in the holy presence of God and focusing on the love He offers and the ways He is being loved (or not) in return. Going deeper, it could be beneficial to read the thoughts and reflections of various Dominican saints who embraced a similar spirituality. How good God is to have called upon Saint Dominic hundreds of years ago to begin such an incredible religious order committed to promoting Truth and the mandate to praise, to bless, and to preach (In fact, that is one motto of the Order!).The work of the Dominicans is especially needed today in our society of moral relativism and secularism. Let us pray that many more answer God’s ongoing call for holy religious and priestly vocations. And may we, as lay people, continuously support the Church which offers so many varied spiritual treasures for our sanctification. Over the last two weekends, in the midst of an ongoing sexual abuse scandal in the Church in the United States and throughout the world, I have had the privilege of concelebrating at three Masses of ordination of men I have known since their first month of college at The Catholic University of America due to my pastoral work there. They were also instrumental in the growth and development of the Catholic Apostolate Center in its early years. Deacon Alex Boucher of the Diocese of Portland, Deacon Joseph Hubbard of the Archdiocese of Boston, and Father Andrew St. Hilaire of the Diocese of Harrisburg, along with another Catholic University alumnus and Center colleague, Father Brett Garland of the Diocese of Columbus, who was ordained last year, are men of steadfast prayer, selfless service, and great integrity. They strive to live lives of joyful holiness.
Each of them, in their own way, has helped me to be a better priest and a better Pallottine. They and many young people who are devoted to Christ and his Church give me much hope, not only for the future, but now. I see it every day in ministry, especially with the Center team, many of whom witnessed along with me the ordinations of these men. Pope Francis has this hope as well when he says in his Apostolic Exhortation, Christus Vivit: “The Lord cannot fail in his promise to provide the Church with shepherds, for without them she would not be able to live and carry out her mission. If it is true that some priests do not give good witness, that does not mean that the Lord stops calling. On the contrary, he doubles the stakes, for he never ceases to care for his beloved Church” (275). Deacon Boucher and Deacon Hubbard will be ordained priests next year, God willing. Please keep them and Fathers Garland and St. Hilaire in your prayers as they minister to and with the People of God. May the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of Apostles and Mother of the Church, and St. Vincent Pallotti, zealous and faithful priest of the Diocese of Rome and Founder of the Union of Catholic Apostolate, intercede for them and for our Church! May the Charity of Christ urge them and us on! “I am the servant of the Lord, may it be done to me according to your Word.” (Luke 1:38)
This passage from Mary’s fiat was the theme of this year’s World Youth Day (WYD). World Youth Day 2019 took place from January 22-27 in Panama City, Panama, where it gathered hundreds of thousands of young people from all over the world to share in the faith, culture, and joy of the Catholic Church. WYD is a pilgrimage for young people that includes times of reflection and prayer that often results in lifelong shared experiences with other people. Many people, myself included, couldn’t make such an international pilgrimage this year. Instead, I joined over 1,500 young adults from 20 different dioceses in the US for Panama in the Capital at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. A stateside gathering like this is intended to carry the spirit of World Youth Day to people much closer to home, while also modeling the solidarity of the Catholic faith with those around the world who gather in God’s name. The Catholic Apostolate Center was asked to be a co-host and platinum sponsor of the event. Our role in Panama in the Capital helped the Center live out part of our mission of spreading the Gospel and increasing the awareness of the importance of young adults and their faith journeys within the Church. For us, it is as simple as Pope Francis said during the close of WYD: “You, dear young people, are not the future but the now of God. He invites you and calls you in your communities and cities to go out and find your grandparents, your elders; to stand up and with them to speak out and realize the dream that the Lord has dreamed for you.” For the Church, the importance of evangelization through the current generation of young people is critically important for the vitality of the Church in the present and for the cementing of the future of the Church. We were fortunate to have our Director, Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. give a presentation on how to lead as a Christian. Various staff were present to cover the event digitally for pilgrims. Our staff were asked to serve as Masters of Ceremonies during the event at the St. Vincent Pallotti Stage, and so Blog Editor Kate Fowler and Administrative Associate Brian Rhude volunteered their talents to welcoming presenters and musicians alike to the stage throughout the whole event. We were able to exhibit and provide resource materials for people in the area, as well as share in the general excitement of the event. Monica Thom Konschnik, the Center’s Assistant Director of Administration, had been working with the event’s planning team for 18 months when we finally all gathered together to celebrate. Fr. Frank was able to give some remarks to the gathered attendees for the Vigil Mass and also served as a concelebrant for the Mass. In the evening, staff were invited to assist in the candlelight Stations of the Cross in the Crypt Church in the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, with Archbishop William E. Lori, Archbishop of Baltimore, presiding. It was a wonderful event that was reminiscent of what happens at World Youth Day with the Holy Father. All in all, our young adult staff was present and contributed to this event with a sincere appreciation of the Church in its mission to evangelize. We were honored to make this international event more accessible to young people locally and pray that this experience helped many encounter Christ and celebrate the joy and wonder of World Youth Day. Questions for Reflection: What is your experience of World Youth Day? How can you show solidarity with those present at WYD within your local community? To learn more about WYD, please click here. 11/6/2018 The Synod in Action: Reflections from Mass and Dinner with Cardinal DiNardo and Bishop CaggianoRead NowOn Thursday October 25, 2018, the students of The Catholic University of America’s Rome Campus welcomed two of the US bishops present for the Synod, as well as USCCB and Archdiocese of Washington (ADW) staff, for the celebration of Mass and dinner. The Catholic Apostolate Center has given me many different and beautiful opportunities over my time on staff, and this evening with our Church leaders was no different. During my work in Rome for the Center, I was introduced to Mr. Paul Jarzembowski, the Assistant Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministry for the USCCB. Paul was here in Rome for the entire month with the Bishops. Over these past few weeks, we were present at many of the same events. After talking with Paul and explaining the group of diverse young people we have here on campus, we decided to invite some of the US Bishops to join the CUA students for Mass and dinner. Through God’s grace, Cardinal DiNardo from Galveston/Houston and Bishop Caggiano from Bridgeport graciously agreed to join us at our campus. Joining them were Paul, as well as his colleagues Dominic Lombardi and Connie Poulos from the USCCB, Jonathan Lewis from the ADW, who served as an auditor for the Synod, and Jonathan’s wife, Gina. We arranged for a special dinner in our dining room and I organized the liturgy and seating arrangements. The goal for the night was not just for the bishops and staff to pop in and pop out, but for them to join us as the Synod has invited us, in listening and accompaniment. When we, as Christians, join for the celebration of the Mass, we are gathered around the Eucharist, or as Lumen Gentium described it, the “source and summit of the Christian life.” The dinner that followed offered a great opportunity for our Church leaders, who were not only present for the Synod but who also work with young people on a daily basis, to listen to young people, to engage them in conversation and dialogue as the Synod and Pope Francis have prompted. In his homily, Cardinal DiNardo implored the young people in attendance to continue to pursue excellence in their studies, personal lives, and most importantly, in their spiritual lives. The small chapel on our campus was full with the sounds of praise and the beauty of silence that so fittingly belong in the celebration of the Mass. When Mass finished we proceeded to the dining room. At each table sat a Church leader and a large group of our students, ready to talk and to listen. It was a pleasure to talk with Cardinal DiNardo. I felt that he was intent on listening to each one of us. As the evening came to a close, Bishop Caggiano and Cardinal DiNardo went table to table to talk with each of our students and to thank them for a beautiful evening. Thursday was the Synod in action. As a young person, I can only hope that our bishops will continue to do things like this within their own dioceses. The joy this evening brought our students, the bishops, and other staff present was obvious from the expressions on their faces. This was an evening that I will never forget, and one that I hope will continue in parishes and schools around the world for a very long time to come. Question for Reflection: What can the “Synod in action” look like in your community or parish? For more resources on the Synod on Young People, the Faith, and Vocational Discernment, please click here. “Dear young people, let yourselves be taken over by the light of Christ, and spread that light wherever you are.” Pope St. John Paul II’s words to the participants of World Youth Day 2002 in Toronto are as true now as they were over fifteen years ago. As the Church prepares for a Synod of Bishops to discuss Young People, the Faith, and Vocational Discernment, Pope St. John Paul II’s words are a great call to prayer. The Synod of Bishops was established in 1965 by Bl. Pope Pius VI (who will be canonized during this year’s Synod) to meet whenever the current pope deemed it necessary or opportune to gather the world’s bishops to discuss important matters within the Church. Before the October 2018 Synod, the most recent synod will have been the 2014 Extraordinary Synod that was called to discuss the topics of family and evangelization, out of which came Pope Francis’ exhortation Amoris Laetitia, the Joy of Love. This Synod has been called by Pope Francis and is the 15th Ordinary Synod of Bishops. The Instrumentum Laboris, or the working document for the Synod (available here) was created after listening to groups of young people from all backgrounds, ethnicities, and geographic regions. It discusses important topics, like what it means to be a young person today, accompaniment, vocational discernment, evangelization and our universal call to follow Jesus. Even after the publishing of the Instrumentum Laboris, Church leaders will continue to gather young people across the world to listen to them on these important issues to decide how best the Church can move forward. These are serious matters facing the Church, especially our Church here in the US, as vocations to the priestly and religious life seem to continue to decline and Church attendance dwindles. As a student at The Catholic University of America (CUA), I feel that there is great hope in this generation. You need not look further than the on-campus Masses and weekly Adorations to see that the Holy Spirit is moving within our youth. Yes, the small student body of CUA is surely not indicative of the entirety of young people in our country—but if you look to other Catholic institutions and talk with high school ministers, youth ministers, and religion teachers, there’s reason for optimism. This summer, I was a counselor for Light the World, a summer institute organized by CUA’s School of Theology and Religious Studies. I was blessed to minister to about fifty high schoolers from across the country. While fifty might not seem like that big of a number, it was a sampling of the young people who are looking for Christ in their lives, a sampling that gets bigger and bigger when you add programs like the Steubenville Conferences, Life Teen camps and events, and other independent conferences and events (not to mention World Youth Day!). It is through the witness of young men and women like the ones at Light the World that we can find hope in times so desperately in need of it. In my experience, I have seen that this is a generation being moved by the Holy Spirit. We are grateful that the Church is inviting young people to share their thoughts, ideas and experiences, and pray that she will use what she learns to create a stronger and more unified Church moving forward. The optimism of our young people is a call to prayer and action, both on the part of our Bishops and clergy and that of the laity. Let us look to our great saints who had devotion to young people, like Pope St. John Paul II and St. Vincent Pallotti, as our guides in order to see the Church grow and flourish in the good works that Christ has called her to. Our youth can also look to young saints such as Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati and St. Maria Goretti as inspirations of holiness to help guide them closer to Christ. This Synod will be a good first step in figuring out how the Church can better accompany and encourage its young people to be saints, but it cannot be the final step. In the coming months, more writings and documents will come out of the Synod, pastoral plans and diocesan initiatives will emerge, and new ways of ministry and accompaniment will come. It is through prayer that the Synod and the resulting actions will bear good fruit; and it is in Christ alone that we will find our hope. During this momentous time in our Church, let us pray for our young people, for an increase in holy vocations, and for the will of God to be done. For more information on the upcoming Synod, please click here. My name is Jackie Markisz and I was very fortunate to have interned at the Catholic Apostolate Center during my spring semester of freshman year. I am a student at The Catholic University of America located in Washington, D.C. , and I am pursuing a degree in Marketing with a minor in Media Studies.
My time interning at the Catholic Apostolate Center has been an enriching experience. I learned new editing techniques and how to use different applications, such as Adobe Premiere and Canva, to create flyers for the Center’s various conferences. I was very fortunate to work with Alex Cranstoun, the Center’s Production Coordinator, every week. He allowed me to have creative freedom whenever I edited videos for the Center’s website or created flyers, and he invited me to give my own feedback on how to enhance the Center’s website and YouTube page. He also made sure every project that I worked on was something that taught me a new skill. This helped to enhance my skill set as a student who wants to pursue a career in Digital Marketing and Editing. Every staff member that I worked with and met at the Catholic Apostolate Center was friendly and allowed me to have the firsthand experience to learn skills that I not only wanted to learn, but that also expanded my video editing knowledge. During my time interning at the Catholic Apostolate Center, I helped edit various videos for the Center’s website, created flyers for their various conferences, and helped edit the Center’s YouTube page and website. I highly recommend interning at the Catholic Apostolate Center. Not only will you be able to work with a great staff, but you will be able to explore your various interests and further your skills and your knowledge for your specific vocation. Jackie Markisz is a student at The Catholic University of America pursuing a degree in Marketing with a minor in Media Studies. It’s Holy Saturday. Jesus is dead; a boulder is in front of the tomb, and it is sealed. He is gone. So now what? What next? On Holy Saturday, my thoughts are with the apostles. Although Jesus foretold of his death, I’m not sure that they actually believed him or that they imagined it would consist of the sacrifice on the Cross. But Holy Saturday is when the reality hits them. Just imagine the millions of questions that they must have had. I imagine that they were similar to the ones above. “Now what? What next?” Imagining the disciples left with these unsolved questions, I start to realize that I too have had some questions when the going got tough or when I faced challenges, like on a recent mission trip. A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of accompanying 18 students from The Catholic University of America and two other staff members to the island nation of Jamaica for an alternative spring break cultural immersion trip. While in Jamaica, we visited several sites run by organizations like the Missionaries of Charity, the Missionaries of the Poor, and the St. Patrick’s Foundation. The most impactful day for me was the one I spent at Bethlehem House. Bethlehem House is a home for children with severe mental and physical disabilities. Of the eighty children who live there, only about twenty receive the occasional visit from their families. The rest of the children likely never see their families again. Most of them will also never be able to live on their own without significant medical assistance. The missionary in charge of the home asked if I would work with the older children, telling me that these children get the fewest visitors either by family members or by outside groups. “They need your love more than anyone else here,” he told me as he dropped me off in the room. It was just me, a caretaker (who only spoke Patois, a native language of Jamaica that is a mix of Scots and Creole) and the children. For the first hour, I didn’t know what to do. I was dumbfounded, heartbroken, and depressed by their situation. I could barely even crack a smile, let alone laugh. I didn’t understand the joy that others had talked about working with this group of children. I was aimlessly walking around the room, wondering, “What next?”. As one hour turned into two, one of the children woke up from a nap. He shouted from across the room “Hey! Hey you!” I looked at him and he said, “Come here and pick me up!” Still dumbfounded, I walked over to his crib and picked him up. He quickly told me that his name was Ashanti. Ashanti was one of the few children who was able to have a full conversation. He had such severe scoliosis that he was paralyzed from the waist down and had a lump in his back. Ashanti also had an enlarged, misshapen head. After about five minutes of walking around and talking with me, he grabbed my beard and declared that I was his best friend. He smiled and let out the most infectious laugh I have ever heard! In that moment, I knew that I was not looking just at Ashanti’s face, but at the very face of Jesus laughing and expressing joy. I learned more about love in those five minutes then I had learned in years. The rest of my day at Bethlehem House was full of joy, even in the midst of such extraordinarily difficult circumstances. In reflecting about that day, I think about the apostles on Holy Saturday who had locked themselves away in the Upper Room, unsure of what was next. They wondered and waited. But Easter did come, and their joy returned. The face of Jesus did appear again, just as it had for me in my experience with Ashanti. After Easter and with that joy, the apostles went out into the world proclaiming the Gospel. We too are called to encounter Christ in the joy of Easter and spread the Gospel message. More often than not, our days are like Holy Saturday. We experience days when all seems lost and hope seems foolish. But we must resist that temptation, resist the idea that hope will not return, that joy is lost forever. We know that Easter is coming and will always come. Joy will have its triumph. And it can be shared and experienced by all those we encounter. So on this Holy Saturday, let us be like the apostles and go out into this world after experiencing the joy that awaits us on Easter Sunday! For more Lenten and Easter resources, please click here. Two weeks ago, I was walking from my cozy warm apartment in the Northeast part of Washington, D.C. to Union Station to meet up with a friend for dinner. It was 18*F (-7*C) outside and the wind was just starting to pick up. There were forecasts of snow in the next few days. I was bundled up with a wool sweater, socks, jacket, scarf, and gloves. About ten minutes into my walk, I started to regret my decision to walk and wondered if I should’ve called a cab. As I approached Union Station, I could see the Capitol building lit up in the distance. It was there that I saw 8 people lying on the streets completely covered with layers and layers of clothing and blankets. I immediately forgot my own brief and temporary plight. It was a stark and chilling reminder of the great poverty that still exists not only in other countries, but right here in the United States in our capital city. Each January, the Church in the United States recognizes Poverty Awareness Month and takes up Pope Francis' challenge “to live in solidarity with the poor.” Last year, Pope Francis called for the observance of the very first World Day of the Poor. This call was not just for faithful Catholics, but for people of all nationalities, creeds, and socioeconomic backgrounds. As he said in his message for the first World Day of the Poor, “Love has no alibi. Whenever we set out to love as Jesus loved, we have to take the Lord as our example; especially when it comes to loving the poor.” The church and world responded with countless acts of charity and kindness to the poor. Poverty is a massive issue with far too many heartbreaking statistics for us to consider it on only one day each year. It is a concern that needs constant attention and awareness that we can cultivate on a daily basis. Poverty does not simply come in the form of homelessness, but can manifest itself in many different ways. It can be manifested in our neighbor who has to choose between buying prescriptions or groceries, or in the child who cannot focus on school because they have not eaten the proper food they need. It can be manifested in the single mother who cannot afford childcare while she works. Each of us can work towards helping to alleviate poverty. Here at The Catholic University of America, we run a large number of different programs throughout the year that highlight various forms of poverty and ways to help. Twice a year we have massive service days during which we send nearly 900 students to help local organizations that serve the poor. Every week we have twenty opportunities for students to serve the poor across seven different service sites. Some of these include going to soup kitchens or after-school centers and volunteering with the Missionaries of Charity. One of the most highly attended opportunities is a recurring homeless food run in which students take food and supplies to areas of D.C. with large homeless populations. The students do not simply pass out food, but sit and talk with the homeless. They get to know poverty on the most human level possible. They offer their resources, time, and love to those in need. These types of efforts enable us not only to give the poor material goods and the gift of our time, but also help us personally grow. Walking in solidarity with our brothers and sisters and encountering them leaves us transformed. As Pope Francis wrote in Evangelii Gaudium, “This is why I want a Church which is poor and for the poor. They have much to teach us. Not only do they share in the sensus fidei, but in their difficulties they know the suffering Christ. We need to let ourselves be evangelized by them…” Throughout the year, I encourage you to consider participating in or making your own outreach to help those in need—and to bring a friend. Let us allow ourselves to be evangelized by the poor, live in solidarity with them, and work to alleviate their suffering. As St. Vincent Pallotti, the patron of the Catholic Apostolate Center, reminds us, “Remember that the Christian life is one of action; not of speech and daydreams. Let there be few words and many deeds, and let them be done well.” Questions for Reflection: What are some concrete ways you can help alleviate poverty? Has a personal encounter with the poverty of another ever impacted your spiritual life? The Church celebrates National Vocation Awareness Week this year from November 5-11. According to the USCCB, it is “an annual week-long celebration of the Catholic Church in the United States dedicated to promote vocations to the priesthood, diaconate and consecrated life through prayer and education, and to renew our prayers and support for those who are considering one of these particular vocations.” In order to learn more about vocations and discernment, the Catholic Apostolate Center reached out to men currently in formation and asked them the following three questions: What were you doing before formation? What are you doing now? And what has this transition been like? Below are their answers about the transition from the collegiate atmosphere into formation for the priesthood and/or Consecrated life. What were you doing before formation? Before I entered seminary, I attended The Catholic University of America for two years, where I majored in Philosophy. I like to think that I was your average college student. I was a Resident Assistant my sophomore year; I was involved in the Knights of Columbus; I held a few on-campus jobs. I had a close group of friends who would go to daily Mass together, as well pray the rosary and spend time in Washington, D.C. I tried to be as active in college as I could. What are you doing now? I am in “College IV,” which is the equivalent to being a senior, at the Saint John Fisher Seminary program for the Diocese of Bridgeport. This is currently my second year in formation. I am working towards my Bachelor of Arts Degree in Philosophy from Sacred Heart University (SHU). I live with seven other men in the diocesan formation program. Our daily schedule begins with a Holy Hour in the morning, followed by Holy Mass and breakfast. We have classes throughout the day, some at SHU, some at the seminary. In the evening we gather for prayer and dinner. After graduation in May, I will be going to a Major Seminary to begin my four years of Theology Studies. What has this transition been like? Like any major life change, the transition into seminary formation has had its challenges. It was very hard to leave the community I was involved in at CUA. However, seminary is not something you do on your own. I learned the importance of fraternity through my involvement with the CUA Knights, and seminary formation deepened this fraternity. After adjusting to the daily schedule, and better understanding what it really means to give my life for Christ, the transition into seminary became less challenging. I have had no regrets from transferring into seminary in the middle of my undergraduate career. The transition from college into seminary, as hard as it was, taught me how important it is to trust in God’s plan, and how much joy and peace listening to Him will bring to our lives. To learn more about Vocational Discernment, please visit our Vocational Discernment Resource Page.
The Church celebrates National Vocation Awareness Week this year from November 5-11. According to the USCCB, it is “an annual week-long celebration of the Catholic Church in the United States dedicated to promote vocations to the priesthood, diaconate and consecrated life through prayer and education, and to renew our prayers and support for those who are considering one of these particular vocations.” In order to learn more about vocations and discernment, the Catholic Apostolate Center reached out to men currently in formation and asked them the following three questions: What were you doing before formation? What are you doing now? And what has this transition been like? Below are their answers about the transition from the collegiate atmosphere into formation for the priesthood and/or Consecrated life. What were you doing before formation? Besides delaying the inevitable and drinking too much coffee, I was studying Philosophy and Theology as an undergraduate student at The Catholic University of America before entering into formation. I was a Resident Assistant for three years and was involved with the Knights of Columbus Council on campus. I also had a part-time job working in the Liturgy Office at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in D.C. This experience strengthened my desire to serve as a parish priest, and ultimately led me from my status as professional discerner to full-time seminarian. What are you doing now? I am currently studying for my home Diocese of Rockville Centre at Saint Joseph’s Seminary in Yonkers, New York (about 30 minutes north of New York City). It is the major seminary for the Archdiocese of New York and the Dioceses of Brooklyn and Rockville Centre. I am in my first year of Theology studies, which is the beginning of a four-year academic track. What has this transition been like? I have had a very smooth transition into my first year of seminary. Having no background in college seminary or pre-theology has had its own set of challenges, but my undergraduate career at Catholic University proved to be very formative. Life in seminary is a structured vocational program, though it is designed for your benefit. It is a consolation knowing that where the formation faculty leads me will result in spiritual progress and preparedness for priestly ministry. There is amazing freedom that comes in submitting to God’s will and allowing him to supply each day with new excitement and joy. To learn more about Vocational Discernment, please visit our Vocational Discernment Resource Page.
I recently had the opportunity to attend a marvelous performance of the Sistine Chapel Choir in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. This was the first visit of the choir, one of the oldest in the world, to the United States in over thirty years, and was sponsored in part by the National Shrine, The Catholic University of America, and the latter’s new Catholic Arts Council. After I arrived, I noticed that it was not long before the nave of the Basilica was filled to capacity. The time before the performance afforded me the opportunity for private prayer and reflection. As I looked around the church, I was awed by the works of art surrounding me and, despite the growing crowd, could sense the spiritual beauty and ambient serenity characteristic of God’s House.
The concert itself was no less awe-inspiring. While the choir’s reputation and skill preceded it, from the very first note, I found myself enraptured by a beauty like no other. The sacred notes were uplifting yet never overpowering, as if they were directing our focus away to something greater. Listening to the notes being individually pronounced captivated the congregation and invited the audience to be placed in a calming yet spiritually-driven mindset. Each work called our attention to God, His works, and His eternal presence. The Catholic Church recognizes music’s beautiful and historic role in the liturgy as an invitation to participate in the mystery of God Himself. As Pope Francis said in his Address to Participants in the International Conference on Sacred Music, “Sacred music and liturgical chant have the task of giving us a sense of the glory of God, of his beauty, of his holiness which wraps us in a ‘luminous cloud.’” Think about the psalms prayed at Mass each day. They are ancient prayers the Church has preserved in Her liturgies! In the psalms, the people of God are able to express the full range of their emotions to Him, such as their joys (like Psalms 98 and 100), sorrows (like Psalms 69 and 88), exhaustion (like Psalm 6), uncertainty (like Psalm 23), and even abandonment (like Psalm 22). The psalms are not simply performances; they convey, guide, and evoke an emotional response from the people of God back to Him Who is the focus of the entire liturgy. By extension, the other hymns we sing at Mass should move us to participate more fully in the liturgy rather than passively watch the processions and preparation of the altar—the Mass is not meant to be watched like a secular performance! Pope Francis expands upon this, saying, [Sacred Music] is therefore firstly a matter of intense participation in the Mystery of God, in the “theophany” that occurs in each Eucharistic celebration, in which the Lord manifests himself in the midst of his people... Active and conscious participation consists, therefore, in knowing how to enter profoundly into this mystery, in knowing how to contemplate, adore and welcome it, in grasping its sense, thanks in particular to religious silence and to the ‘musicality of the language with which the Lord speaks to us.’ Hymns have also been recognized by the Church as an effective means of catechizing the faithful, including the youth. Pope Francis continued, “The various key figures in this sphere, musicians, composers, conductors and choristers of the scholae cantorum, with liturgical coordinators, can make a precious contribution to the renewal, especially in qualitative terms, of sacred music and of liturgical chant.” The works that are crafted by their hands can indeed be a beautiful means of engaging those whose ears the notes fall upon. But in order to be truly esteemed as noble and sacred, they must be holy. “In order to foster this development,” Pope Francis said, “an appropriate musical formation must be promoted, even of those who are preparing to become priests, in a dialogue with the musical trends of our time, with the inclusion of different cultural areas and with an ecumenical approach.” The next time you hear music at Mass, I suggest uniting your voice with the cantor as a prayer to God. The act of doing so invites us to offer to God a part of ourselves that we may regularly try to keep private. Done reverently, it becomes an offering of love to our Lord, as Pope Benedict XVI observed: The singing of the Church comes ultimately out of love. It is the utter depth of love that produces the singing. “Cantare amantis est”, says St. Augustine, singing is a lover’s thing. In so saying, we come again to the trinitarian interpretation of Church music. The Holy Spirit is love, and it is he who produces the singing. He is the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit who draws us into love for Christ and so leads to the Father. Questions for Reflection: How can music impact your experience of the liturgy or of God? Can you remember a time when music helped deepen your faith? |
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