Lenten Appeal
12….a wonderful number here at the John Paul II Newman Center at the University of Illinois –Chicago right now. Ten represents the number of students taking an active role discerning the possibility of entering the priesthood or religious life—and the number is growing.
3,000… this number represents the hours of community service our students hope to achieve this calendar year. Service as a Big Brother / Big Sister, building homes in Appalachia and providing care packages at the Chicago Food Depository are only a few ways in which our students help those in need. Amidst studying and working, these students also give their time to those in need. In the process, they are learning what it means to spread the Good News and love your neighbor as yourself.
There are many more numbers I can share with you, but what is important today are the ways in which we form students during their college years, both inside and outside the classroom. This Lenten Season, we focus on conversion as a journey of return to God. We prepare to celebrate Christ’s death and resurrection, his passing over from death to life. It is also our passing over from sin to a closer life with God. Through Catholic campus ministry at UIC, students have many opportunities to grow closer to God, allowing the love of Christ to shape who they will become.
This Lenten Season, I pray that you too, will take time to reflect on conversion and the ways in which you might more fully embrace God’s tremendous love for you. I also ask that you reach out to the students here by supporting this vital ministry of the Church. You can and do make an impact at the John Paul II Newman Center! Emily, a recent graduate, is a perfect example. She is an alumnus of the Newman Center and UIC and now works for the Midwest Regional office of St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital. She saw that she could make a difference in the lives of others through our programming and wanted to make a career of it. Emily is a leader for tomorrow.
And there are so many more like her that walk through the doors of the Newman Center, seeking not simply knowledge, but knowledge rooted in faith.
will you support students like Emily by making a gift of $100, $250 or more to further ministry at the John Paul II Newman Center? I also ask that you please keep all of the students at UIC in your prayers this Lenten season, and know that you will be in ours.
In Christ,
Rev. Patrick M. Marshall
Chaplain and Executive Director