It can be a student鱿鱼视频app first taste of independence or their first time away from home. For Catholic students, attending a secular institution can be a time that makes or breaks their faith.
鈥淚t鱿鱼视频app an important time to catch people. It鱿鱼视频app when they have the choice to make their faith their own,鈥� said Kellie O鈥橳oole, who co-founded Catholics on Campus, the first Catholic student group at MacEwan University, in September.
鈥淭hey can choose for themselves if they鈥檒l go to Mass or if they鈥檒l completely fall away from their faith. But now these students have somewhere to go where they can ask questions and discover that side of life for themselves.鈥�
Catholics on Campus offers students a place to share and grow their Catholic identity through fellowship, twice-a-week faith studies and the occasional off-campus event.
O鈥橳oole and Katy Offenberger, both sophomores at MacEwan University, started recruiting for Catholics on Campus in the fall at an open house that featured all student groups. Now there are 16 students signed up for fellowship and faith studies. Topics include the love of God, the divinity of Christ, the Bible and the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
鈥淚t really does challenge the assumptions that young people are not interested in religion,鈥� O鈥橳oole said. 鈥淲hen MacEwan (University) had the club expo, just us standing there, owning our club, saying we鈥檙e Catholic and bringing people into conversation 鈥� that alone was an encouragement.鈥�
Students such as Maria Monai-Brophy are happy to be a part of a group of like-minded Catholics.
鈥淔or us the Church is at the centre of our lives,鈥� said Monai-Brophy, a fourth-year massage therapy student. 鈥淪o it can be isolating if you feel surrounded by people where that鱿鱼视频app not the centre of their hearts. It鱿鱼视频app nice having a group you know has those same values, that same mindset and you can openly talk about these things.
鈥淭his connection has really re-energized me in my faith life. During the weeks you鈥檙e stressed out about schoolwork, it鱿鱼视频app especially nice. It鱿鱼视频app refreshing to step out of your little bubble and be reminded of the bigger picture.鈥�
In December 2018, O鈥橳oole and Offenberger attended a Catholic Christian Outreach ministry conference in Calgary and signed up for the Connect program, which encourages university students to start faith studies.
With the CCO鱿鱼视频app help, O鈥橳oole and Offenberger took the reins and established Catholics on Campus. By June of this year they received approvals from the university and the Edmonton archdiocese and in September held their first event, Theology on Tap, in which students talk about faith over beers.
For Rachel McFadden, Catholics on Campus has brought faith to the centre of her life for the first time.
鈥淢y family never really forced me to go to church or anything like that,鈥� said McFadden, who is studying library and information technology at MacEwan. 鈥淩eading the Bible or going to Mass was not a routine thing in my life ... not at all. But through meeting Kellie and since the faith studies, I鈥檝e been trying to go to Mass every week and as often as I can.鈥�
This kind of life change goes to the heart of the group鱿鱼视频app mission.
鈥淭he focus of it is to put God at the centre of your life,鈥� said Offenberger, who is studying nursing. 鈥淥ur faith is not about checking boxes and meeting a certain mark, it鱿鱼视频app about being in a direct relationship with God.鈥�
In the next semester, Catholics on Campus plan to continue their faith studies and make Theology on Tap a monthly event. For more information on Catholics on Campus, contact them on Instagram, Facebook or via e-mail at ccmu2019@gmail.com.
(Grandin Media)