Peace Prayer in honor of the Feast Day of St. Francis of Assisi, celebrated Oct. 4
“Our love for others, for who they are, moves us to seek the best for their lives.”
by Steve Blaha, Assistant Director of Campus Ministry
You are loved by God – beyond measure! This simple truth may be said about every single one of us. In his recent letter, Fratelli Tutti, Pope Francis encourages all of us to embrace one another in love, similar to how God has first embraced us. Francis recalls the story of the Good Samaritan to illustrate the depth of love God has for us and to respond to the question of whether we are our sisters and brothers’ keepers. Short answer: We are!
October marks a number of ways to support and care for one another in profoundly important ways; it is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Down Syndrome Awareness Month, and LGBT History Month. October is also Respect Life Month, which focuses on the fundamental dignity of each human person from conception to natural death. In the Catholic worldview, the beauty and gift of God’s love, expressed in human life, is meant to be reverenced, protected, and cared for at all stages, especially when it is small, aged, weakened, and threatened. Unfortunately, one can easily identify many threats to human life and flourishing in our neighborhood, city, country, and world.
Respect Life Month invites us to reflect upon God’s tender love that gives us every breath and find ways to help others breathe with greater ease. Pope Francis reminds us: “Our love for others, for who they are, moves us to seek the best for their lives.”
This October, we find ourselves as a country in the midst of a heavily polarized build up to November elections. Coupled with the COVID pandemic, it can seem an overwhelming time. Respect Life Month is not a time to battle or build walls in our hearts over causes; it is a time to build bridges and take more compassionate steps over bridges already made – a time to see life’s inter-connectedness and to actively work on seeing the person next to us as someone who has a claim on our time. Take some time for prayer and time to dream about a world with more joy, hope, and love. How might this dream become a reality? Dreaming about the common good and a better world can do wonders for your heart. This dreaming becomes great when we take concrete steps with and on behalf of others.
There’s so many persons and important areas to which we can devote our time: caring for women, unborn and born children, working for racial justice and an end to white supremacy, immigration reform and care for refugees, and care for the earth. What are you passionate about? Where do you see neighbors in need?
We’ve asked a number of students: What particular area of need within the human family are you passionate about and why? How does it contribute to the common good?"
Read these responses of classmates and peers. Pray. Reflect. Be inspired. And let’s band together for and with one another.
"What particular area of need within the human family are you passionate about and why? How does it contribute to the common good?"
Caring for the Family Jason Beugnet, Biomedical Sciences '22
I believe that God blessed humanity with the family unit for our benefit. The family unit is precious in its radical love and support through all seasons that our lives have, all without expecting any sort of return. Therefore, maintaining the family unit is absolutely crucial for personal and communal growth. I feel that our world tends to forget or take this blessing we have received for granted. Thus, I am passionate about protecting the growth of families, namely through protecting the unborn and supporting those parents who are developing families in unknown circumstances.
The birth of a child is a reminder of how special the family unit is; it is truly amazing to think about how families are created, sustained, and result in radical love. Therefore, I believe that every child is a testimony to this love; furthermore, every child has the potential to be a source of radical love in a world that so desperately needs it. I desire to protect the unborn, so that world might understand how important the continuance of family unit is for making this world a more loving place. As for the parents, it takes great courage to take on the responsibility of fostering this special family unit amidst unknowns, such as economic or social concerns. These parents understand that the family unit is extremely special and worth weathering these worldly unknowns to develop.
Therefore, I am passionate about making sure the parents are supported as well, so they may worry less about the unknowns. This allows them to focus on the blessing that this family is and will be for themselves, as well as for the whole world.
Caring for our Earth Joseph Miscimarra, Arts & Sciences '21
Living the Catholic value of being pro-life means acknowledging the collective human responsibility to care for the planet and its precious inhabitants. Our species hasn’t been the kindest to our environment, and as a result, marginalized groups are facing the most dire consequences.
The simple truth is that to protect plant, animal, and human life, we need to change our way of living, both on an individual level and a societal one. Part of that shift includes an equitable transition to renewable energy. For guidance, look no further than Pope Francis, who earlier this month, encouraged “excluding from investments those companies that do not meet the parameters of integral ecology, while rewarding those that work concretely, during this transitional phase, to put, at the center of their activities, sustainability, social justice and the promotion of the common good.”
Large-scale changes like this might seem overwhelming for just one person to promote, but there are countless groups working hard to advocate for environmental justice—even at Marquette! Therefore, as Catholics, or even people of good will, we are called to protect those most vulnerable to environmental calamity, and to prevent further degradation of our common home.
Caring for Black Lives Breanna Flowers and Lazabia Jackson, president and vice president of Marquette's Black Student Council (BSC)
Breanna and Lazabia shared their work on and off campus regarding racial inequality at Soup with Substance on 10/14. Check out their answer to how efforts can be supported by the Marquette community, in particular in caring for Black students by looking to "Recognize Injustice and Support Justice Efforts." Here is what the BSC suggested, and you can watch the presentation in its entirety in the video below:
How can you help us?
Continue to check in with the President’s Office
Check in with Black students and staff on campus
Write emails to businesses and people in the community about the efforts that are taking place
Be actively engaged on how you can help be a leader
Imagine life in a liberated state – offer advice on how to get there and what that looks like
Invest time and resources to Black students on campus.
Understand we are stronger together
View the the Soup with Substance presentation from 10/14
Congratulations on receiving the Sacraments
Congratulations Madison PerkinsCommunications ‘21 and Christopher Fischer Arts & Sciences ‘20 (pictured above) on receiving the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist after going through the Campus Ministry RCIA program, on Sunday, Oct. 11 at the 6 p.m. Mass at Gesu.
Additionally, Congratulations to the following students who were confirmed at the 6 p.m. Mass at Gesu on Sunday, Oct. 18:
Maria Baltazar, Arts & Sciences '21 Emily Chiavola, Arts & Sciences '23 Devon Cowan, Communications '23 Gabrielle Gavina, Graduate Student Amalia Lisser, Education '23 Emily Sass, Business '23
Wednesday, Oct. 28 | Ignite “Confronting White Privilege” featuring Gloria Purvis, host of EWTN’s Morning Glory | Chapel of the Holy Family & Live on @ignitemarquette | 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. | Sign Up
Thursday, Oct. 29 | Rosary Prayer for Dignity and Care of All Life | Marian Grotto (@mucampusmin Instagram if raining) | 9 p.m. | Sign Up
Wednesday, Nov. 4 | Ignite "Pursuing Truth: Science & Technology" | Chapel of the Holy Family & Live on @ignitemarquette | 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. | Sign Up
Wednesday, Nov. 11 I Ignite "Service in Milwaukee amidst the pandemic" | Chapel of the Holy Family & Live on @ignitemarquette | 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. | Sign Up
