The college years can be a time when students seemingly can drift away from the Catholic faith of their upbringing, but that cannot be said to be true at Gettysburg College, where an ever-growing number of students are involved in Catholic Campus Ministry. More than 175 students came to Holy Mass celebrated by Bishop Timothy Senior on September 28 at Christ Chapel, located on Washington Street on the campus grounds.
Under the spiritual direction of Father Michael Pray, Parochial Vicar of St. Francis Xavier Church in Gettysburg and Catholic chaplain at the college, and Marie Hopkins, associate director of the Catholic Campus Ministry, the student participation in the spiritual activities of the ministry has been steadily growing in recent years.
Bishop Senior thanked all the students for being such an “inspiring witness to your faith, and it not only is a beautiful witness to the community in such troubled times, it personally very much inspires me.” In his homily, he urged the more than 400 faithful in the chapel dappled by autumn’s setting sun to not be complacent in their faith. “We tend to see the sins of others but do not look on our own lives where we may become complacent; where we do not love each other the way Jesus loves us…. Jesus knows our hearts, our every desire. We need to let the Lord be visible in us.”
After Mass, the students and faithful of the community gathered in the chapel hall for a buffet styled taco dinner and fellowship time, where laughter and smiles were evident.
To learn more about campus ministry in the Diocese, visit https://www.hbgdiocese.org/clev/youth-and-young-adult/campus-ministry.
By Chris Heisey, The Catholic Witness
