Stations of the Cross

Stations of the Cross were celebrated each Tuesday, Thursday and Friday of Lent.  We had a good number of people who shared in this devotion, both from the community and the Campus.  We especially appreciated Abbey stepping in to lead the Stations of the Cross one afternoon!

Palm Sunday Mass

Our Palm Sunday liturgical team involved six of our students!  Thank you to Nicholas (whose picture was missed!), Buay, Abbey, Olivia, Stephen and Levi for all of the extras needed for that Mass.  Our special thanks to Father Denny, our presider for the Mass

  

                                       

March Saturday Retreat

 We have had a lot going on again, and not a lot of desk time!  There will be a number of posts to get caught up on the updates over the next several days!

On Saturday, March 16, we held our monthly retreat morning.  This month, we focused on the Eucharist.  It was a beautiful morning filled with Sacraments, good food, better conversation, and time in prayer individually, together and in front of the Blessed Sacrament!

Pancakes and Eggs for FREE!

 One of our annual Lenten outreach opportunities is our FREE pancakes and eggs one Friday.  This year, we changed from a supper to a mid-day meal.  We served 20 faculty and staff cheesy eggs and pancakes with syrup, peanut butter, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips and whipped cream as their topping choices.  We also had juice and applesauce.

This has been an annual event, spearheaded by the Men of Newman!  Thank you for Levi for handling the pancakes, Olivia for cooking the eggs, Sioux Council and Dave for the donations, Doreen for the extra hands, and Abbey, Elaina and Stephen who helped bring it all together.  Special thanks to Gerry, the Newman Club Advisor from Campus, who joined us for today's event.

                                        

Catholicism 101: Plenary Indulgences and Father Tony's Journey

This past Sunday, we had our March Catholicism 101.  The question that had been asked was what is a plenary indulgence, and what does that mean for us?  To understand a plenary indulgence, we need to have an awareness of life after death.  There are two options, heaven and hell.  There are two paths to heaven, though.  We may go directly to heaven or we may need a period of purification.  Purgatory is a place that exists outside of time where we are prepared for our entry into heaven.  Once a soul has reached purgatory, they will not go to hell, they will go to heaven once the purification has been completed.

A plenary indulgence is when God indulges us with mercy through reconciliation for acts of prayer we offer for ourselves or for the souls in purgatory.  The requirements to "earn" a plenary indulgence are usually tied to prayer, repenentance, worthy reception of Communion and inviting Jesus into your life.

Plenary indulgences, unlike other forms of prayer, may only be offered for one person at a time.

Father Tony did, briefly, discuss the problems in the middle ages with the sale of indulgences.  This is something that fell out of practice.  When it came back into practice, it was with a better understanding that God's mercy could not be for sale.

Sunday was the first time since Father Tony received the news he only had three months to live that he was able to have direct time with our students.  He shared his witness of faith and living in hope for the eternal life that God has promised those who believe.  It was a beautifully emotional evening spent in community with the ones he has walked in faith with throughout their college careers.

                                        

New Rosary Leader!

 Thank you to Buay for joining our Rosary team!  It was a beatiful sharing of the rosary with Buay and Abbey alternating the mysteries.  This is different from how we have prayed the Rosary in the past.  It is fantastic to see our student leaders doing what they feel led to do instead of just what has always been done!

Cabrini Night

For our Corporal Works of Mercy Night for March, some of the Catholic Stangs chose to attend the movie "Cabrini."  Based on the true story of Mother Francesa Cabrini, the movie shows, as one student said, "She was a boss!" in the work she did to care for the immigrants in New York City.  Because of the length of the movie, and the study schedule for a number of our students, only four were able to attend.  We hope to be able to access this through a streaming service later to offer this movie to all of our students at a time that works better in the school year.

Thank you to our generous donor who paid for all of the tickets!