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College students ready for spring break service
archived from: 2013-03-01
by: John Franko

Bishop commissions 100 to be visual sign of Christ

Bishop David Zubik commissioned some 100 college students who will spend their spring breaks participating in service activities during a Feb. 10 Mass at St. Paul Cathedral.

“What a blessing and joy you are,” said Father Peter Horton, director of the diocesan Office for Campus Ministry and head of campus ministry and community service at La Roche College. “Thank you for saying yes to Christ in your heart and in your life.”

Students from Duquesne University, Carlow University, La Roche College, California University of Pennsylvania, the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University were commissioned at the liturgy.

Bishop Zubik told the students that they were an inspiration to him because they were putting aside a week of fun and parties to be servants to others.

“My prayer is that you be servants of Jesus Christ,” he said. “That what you do is more than a visual presence, but a visual sign of Jesus Christ.”

The bishop said that they were able to say yes to God because they were able to put aside pre-conceived notions of the Lord and see him as he really is — a God who is on a mission and filled with mercy and compassion.

Father Horton pointed out that the students are embracing the Gospel message not only in their hearts, but by carrying it to others by their acts of service.

Several colleges and universities have waiting lists for spring break service, he noted, and thousands of service hours are being accumulated throughout the year.

“I can’t say enough about their commitment to the church, their commitment to mission and their joy in carrying out that mission,” he said.

Father Horton said the whole goal of campus ministry is to create parish leaders for the future, and the witness of those committed to service gives him hope for a great future for the church.

As part of the commissioning, Bishop Zubik presented wooden crosses to each of the students.

Gary Roney, director of the Department for Youth and Young Adult Ministry, said the commissioning highlights the fact that the students are taking their spring break to another level, to be missionaries and go forth as people called. It is another sign of the spirit of service that students are embracing throughout the year.

“This is just an opportunity to celebrate it,” he said. “The kids serve more than ever with their service works.” The service projects will take place throughout the United States and in other countries.

Almost 60 students from Carlow will participate in service activities. Some two dozen will travel to Laredo, Texas, for a Habitat for Humanity project, while 18 will go to Hattiesburg, Miss., for a Habitat project in an area devastated by tornadoes a few weeks ago.

Seven students will work at the Women’s Intercultural Center in Anthony, N.M., and eight will build handicapped ramps in a school as they study environmental issues in Costa Rica.

In addition, two students will serve at local projects. “The corporal and spiritual works of mercy are not just Scripture verses on the wall in all of our buildings, but for these students they are a call to action and a tangible way to live out their faith,” said Siobhan De Witt, campus minister at Carlow.

Some 70 Duquesne students will take part in four Cross-Cultural Mission Experiences during spring break and in the summer. They will repair flood-damaged homes in the southern coalfields region of Appalachia, work with migrant farmworkers in Immokalee, Fla., and help in a Habitat for Humanity project in New Orleans during their break. In the summer, they will run a children’s day camp in San Juan de la Maguana, Dominican Republic.

Kate Lecci, a campus minister at Duquesne, said the students come from a wide variety of backgrounds and offer a wonderful witness of living out their faith experience. The students, she noted, are encouraged to engage in issues when they return home and share their experiences with the wider Duquesne community.

“Following the example of Jesus, the students enter into authentic Gospel-inspired relationships in the community as they go to those on the margins, break bread, share stories, walk with and learn from members in the community where we work,” she said.

The journey of the Duquesne students can be followed on blogs. They can be accessed through the Spiritan Campus Ministry beginning March 3 at www.duq.edu/life-at-duquesne/spiritan-campus-ministry.

La Roche will send some students to Guatemala to work in an orphanage, while others will travel to the New Jersey shore to help in rebuilding efforts following superstorm Sandy. As part of the Mass, Bishop Zubik took the opportunity to recognize couples who were observing World Marriage Day. He offered a special blessing to them following Communion.

Afterward, the bishop joined the students in the cathedral’s parish hall as they discussed the corporal works of mercy and how they grow in their relationship with God by serving others.

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