Campus Involvement: Celebrating Ignatian Week as a Resident Assistant

             One of my favorite parts about being a Resident Assistant at Fordham is getting to plan programs for my residents.  This week, I am hosting a talk given by Mrs. Carol Gibney, the Assistant Director of Campus Ministry for Faith Formation and Sacraments at Rose Hill.  Mrs. Gibney will be coming to my Residence Hall for dinner and a discussion about the life of Saint Ignatius.  She will also be leading a guided meditation and speaking about ways to live out Ignatian teaching as a college student.  This program is a timely event, since Ignatian week begins this Sunday, on October 30th, and lasts until November 7th.  

Fordham's Campus Ministry Staff

         As a Jesuit university, it is important to know about the history of Saint Ignatius of Loyola (founder of the Jesuits) in order to grow in our tradition and celebrate our history. 

Ignatian Week Schedule, Rose Hill, 2016

This Igatian week will be even more special, because this year is Fordham’s 175^th anniversary.  The weeklong celebration, held by the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities will include a students vs. Jesuits softball game, Opening Mass, Habitat for Humanity Build, and many dinners and discussions with members of the Fordham community, including Father McShane.  As a Resident Assistant and member of the Fordham community, I am excited to participate in the Ignatian Week activities, and teach my residents more about Fordham’s history and Jesuit heritage. 

Campus Involvement: The Liturgy at Fordham

My favorite activities on campus that I am involved in are Fordham's masses, held in the University Church at Rose Hill. The masses are primarily student run, and make up one part of Fordham's large and diverse Campus Ministry. Currently, I am an Altar Co-Chair on Fordham's Liturgy Board. This role gives me the opportunity to help run the masses at Fordham, train new campus ministers, and get involved with the many other interfaith and community service-based activities Fordham's Campus

Ministry has to offer. I have been involved with Fordham's liturgy since my freshman year, and it has been a very unique and rewarding campus experience for me.

Fordham's Liturgy celebrations are held in
the University Church on the Rose Hill campus

Fordham's liturgy offers masses every Saturday and Sunday, but some of the most exciting liturgy events are special masses that occur at different times during the semesters.  One exciting mass on Fordham's campus is the Mass of the Holy Spirit that occurs every September. This mass reminds students of Fordham's Jesuit values of education and service to others as the fall semester begins. Another one of the most popular liturgy events at Fordham's Rose Hill campus is the Gaudete Sunday mass to celebrate the holiday season. The mass is presided by the University's president, and is a great opportunity for Fordham students to gather together as a community near the end of the fall semester.

Although Fordham's liturgy is Catholic, students of all different faiths and beliefs enjoy attending the masses on campus. Since most Sunday masses and special masses are led by Jesuit priests and scholars, Fordham's liturgy has a very academic and practical tone that applies to students of all backgrounds. The inclusive environment of Fordham's liturgy is my favorite part about the masses on campus. The liturgy at Fordham welcomes and accepts every type of student, which makes mass at Fordham an event for all interested students to become involved in. 

A great outdoor view of the
University Church

The masses and liturgy at Fordham are only one part of Fordham's rich and diverse Campus Ministry! For more information about the liturgy as well as the wide variety of service projects, retreats, interfaith ministries, and other Campus Ministry opportunities, follow the link below!

http://www.fordham.edu/info/20094/campus_ministry

Getting to the COR: Fordham Retreats

The Whole Gang: A Final Group Picture from COR 7, Spring 2016

Earlier this month, Fordham Campus Ministry's Retreat Ministry sent a group of Fordham student's up to Goshen, NY for a weekend of food, camaraderie, and friendship. What is this magic, you ask? Enter COR 8, the eighth wonderful installment of Fordham's very own student directed retreat focused on the heart, love, and the spiritual exercises of Ignatius. So, in short, the best of the Jesuits for a whole weekend with some pretty cool Fordhamites.

When I first came to Fordham LC in Fall of 2014, the last thing on my mind was retreats. All throughout high school, I'd been a part of a youth ministry leadership team at my parish where a large part of my responsibilities came with leading Confirmation small groups and retreats. I thought I'd seen all there was to see, and closed that chapter of my life when I came to college. When I arrived, the experience was nothing like I expected. In my first week, sitting in a meeting with Dean Desciak, I explained feeling a little odd and out of place. Almost immediately, he recommended I register for the Fresh Vision Retreat: a Fordham retreat tailored specifically to freshman students and the transition to college life. Begrudgingly, I nodded, and filled out the handy Google Form to register for the retreat.

The Famous FV18 Photo on the Deck: Now on Various Campus Ministry Literature Near You!

The day I left for Fresh Vision 18, I learned I would be the only Lincoln Center student on this 30 person retreat. Anxiety filled me up almost immediately: I was going to be the outsider. Riding the Ram Van up to the retreat house in Goshen with a bunch of people I had no connection to was absolutely terrifying. Once the 30 of us got into the house and introduced ourselves, the stress started to melt away: we were all students from the same university just trying to get through the first semester of our freshman year, and we all ended up there, in the same living room. Ultimately, Fresh Vision was the absolute best experience of my freshman year. Fresh Vision gave me some of the most important and formative friendships I have at Fordham, even now. In spring, I decided to go on the Women's Retreat, then COR 7 in spring of the following year. Retreats became the place where I could take a break and be myself. On Women's Retreat, we had a late-night, 26 person Beyoncé dance party in the house kitchen while making milkshakes; we were totally free of homework, social media, and the stresses. 30 of us who had been complete strangers less than 2 days prior cooked a full dinner together on COR 7. These are just a few of the memories that have become so integral to my Fordham experience. I didn't have to be the leader anymore and be responsible on retreats like I had in high school: I could just be me and focus on my own journey rather than making sure all the events I'd planned went off without a hitch.

Anyone who knows me knows that I can't stay quiet about Fordham Retreats and the community they've created for me over these past couple of years. My advice to anyone would be to just GO. Fordham Retreats are about more than spirituality; they're really a picture of the Jesuit ideals at work. Care for the whole person (cura personalis) includes the self care of taking time out to be reflective and focus on ourselves, and that's exactly what these weekends provide. All of the retreats have different focuses and themes: from Fresh Vision, to Second Wind (a Sophomore retreat), to the Interfaith Retreat, to the Charis Senior Retreat in the spring, just to name a few, there's truly something for everyone. They are also not limited to students of the Catholic faith tradition: these are open, accepting communities that allow you to participate at your own speed, in your own way. There's almost 20 retreats happening this academic year from start to finish, so take a chance, fill out the Google Form, and see what you'll find.

(See the link for more info! http://www.fordham.edu/info/26121/retreat_ministry/145/retreat_registration)

Lent at Fordham

Catholic Relief Services (CRS) Rice Bowl

Campus Ministry is always planning different programs and events, especially now that Lent is upon us!  Last week they hosted a Mardi Gras party for Fat Tuesday, where everyone was invited to gather together.  This annual celebration included food, music, and even king cakes from New Orleans.  The next day, there were a variety of Ash Wednesday services available at the Rose Hill, Lincoln Center, and Westchester campuses, making it convenient for all Fordham students to participate.  They also distributed Catholic Relief Services Rice Bowls, used to collect monetary donations for the organization throughout the Lenten season.

Fordham University Church

Next week there will be Ignatian Lenten Candlelight Yoga in Our Lady’s Chapel, located in the lower level of the University Church.  This prayerful yoga session will give students the opportunity to pray with body, mind, and spirit in the Ignatian tradition.  As for service, the Pedro Arrupe Faith and Justice Community has plenty of opportunities to help throughout the season of Lent.  They just hosted Soup Kitchen Saturday this past weekend, and will have another one this week.  Students can also help prepare the meals to be distributed on Midnight Runs.  There are countless ways to get involved and help out during Lent at Fordham!

GO! Set the World On Fire

One of the greatest ways to get involved in Fordham's campus community is through a program called Global Outreach, or GO!. Associated with the Office of Mission and Ministry, the Global Outreach program organizes short-term service and cultural immersion projects for Fordham students at both international and domestic locations. Usually about ten days in length, GO! projects are offered over winter break, spring break, and in the beginning of the summer term. Founded in the four pillars of community, social justice, simple living, and spirituality, GO! projects are meant to expose students to issues of social, economic, political, and environmental injustice, while living in solidarity with the communities they serve.

Half of my team - throughout the semester we go on GOcials, to get to know the members of our team!

 This semester, I have the privilege of participating in the GO! NYC project. While most trips involve a decent amount of travel (other project sites include India, El Salvador, and New Orleans, to name a few), this project is unique in that it allows students to implement the GO! mission in our very own New York. This January, we will be spending ten days working with partner organizations at various sites throughout the city, learning about issues facing the people with HIV/AIDs, working families, and the homeless. In preparation, our team has weekly meetings, socials (called GOcials, of course!), and fundraisers to help offset the cost of our trip. Already, we are building our own miniature community, and I cannot wait to get going on our project! I couldn't be happier that I decided to apply to Global Outreach, and encourage all Fordham students to do so as well! For more information about GO! and its projects, visit the Global Outreach website.

To offset the cost of the trip, we organize fundraisers throughout the semester. Last week, we organized a quesadilla delivery...sadly, guac was extra!

Popeapalooza: Fordham Edition

Flat Francis & Fordham bracelet giveaways

Fordham is always bustling with opportunities for students to get involved and immerse themselves in the school community.  The past few weeks have been no exception.  Leading up to Pope Francis’s visit to the United States, there was much planning and excitement around campus.  On Sunday, September 20^th, we had a Mass of Anticipation, centered on his arrival in New York.  There was a social on the University Church plaza afterwards, where Campus Ministry distributed ice cream and a variety of Pope-related handouts.  They gave out “Flat Francis” cutouts, just like the Flat Stanley project many students do in elementary school.  This was a fun idea encouraging students to take pictures and share their experiences on social media.  Students also received Fordham bracelets coining the phrase “Faith, Pope & Love.”

The exciting news

There was a packed schedule of events planned to help us experience Pope Francis’s visit to the fullest.  Programs included live streaming of his Address to Congress and to the United Nations, as well as prayer and reflection sessions.  There was also a Pope Francis House Build with Habitat for Humanity in Yonkers, NY.  As a Jesuit university, Fordham was allotted several tickets for students to see the Pope in person.  They held a lottery for his Mass at Madison Square Garden, and for his procession down 5^th Avenue prior to the Mass.  The Office of University Mission and Ministry also sent out an email informing us that New York City was running a sponsored program to give away tickets for the Central Park Papal Procession.  Fortunately I won the raffle, along with many other Fordham students!

My view of Pope Francis

On Friday, September 25^th, we headed down to the city on the Ram Van, Fordham’s intercampus shuttle service.  Our assigned entrance to Central Park was the “Green Zone,” which was conveniently right down the block from Fordham’s Lincoln Center campus.  We got in line among the thousands of other ticket-holders, surrounded by flags of Vatican City flying everywhere.  Eventually we got through security and entered the park, anticipation building with every minute.  Just standing in this massive crowd of people, you could sense the overwhelming excitement for what was to come.  The procession began around 5pm, and the next thing I knew Pope Francis was riding in the popemobile right before my eyes.  It was such an incredible and moving experience, and I am so grateful to have been given this opportunity.