New school year (and a new name) for Campus Ministry

The Marquette Tribune recently ran an article on official Catholic life here at Marquette, an issue obviously very near and dear to the St. Thomas More Society. It is reproduced here, in full, emphasis added.

"Campus Ministry widens its programs, offerings-
Campus Renew, Catholicism 101 added to selection
By Roger Lopez

The office formerly known as University Ministry has taken up its old name of Campus Ministry.

But the change in name has not changed the office's mission statement: to provide services that educate, to care pastorally for students of all faiths and to continue the work and spirituality of St. Ignatius of Loyola.

The office continues to offer its various programs, from worship to service.

Some programs include the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults and confirmation and marriage preparation. This school year, Campus Ministry will also be offering new programs like Campus Renew and Catholicism 101, according to Stephen Blaha, assistant director of Campus Ministry.

The name of the office was changed from Campus Ministry to University Ministry in the 1990s in order to reach out to the off-campus community. But the office found that "Campus Ministry" seemed more appropriate in order to encourage all students — from undergraduates to graduates — to take part in the programs offered.

"We are trying to be more accessible and more integrated into student life," Blaha said. "The door to the office has been and will be open to all Marquette students."

The marriage preparation program is for engaged couples wishing to be married in the Catholic faith. The couple takes part in a retreat together, fills out a premarital questionnaire, goes through counseling on natural family planning and organizes the liturgy for the wedding, Blaha said.

There's no set start and end time for the program, Blaha said."The time all depends on the couples," Blaha said. "They make the program what it is." According to Blaha, the program focuses on what it means to be married and what married life really is all about. Couples enter into a traditional Jesuit period of discernment. Blaha helps couples analyze their relationships, and they discuss issues that might come up later down the road.

"No relationship is perfect, but our participants want to have the best marriage possible," Blaha said. "They want to invest into the marriage."

There are other programs available for students at Campus Ministry. Martha Hurtado, a sophomore in the College of Arts & Sciences, participated in the confirmation preparation program last year. She said the program was beneficial, helping to develop her faith.

"During the program I learned to question my faith and I learned that's OK. And I will keep doing that," Hurtado said in an e-mail.The program allowed Hurtado to engage in serious debate about faith and religion with others, she said.

Students not only participate in programs, but also lead some of them.

Michael O'Sullivan, a junior in the College of Communication, has been a retreat and trip leader in the Marquette Action Program, a winter and spring service program.

"When students are open to new experiences and helping others, they experience something so powerful that it is not comparable to anything else, not even ministry programs in high school," O'Sullivan said.