Updates on the website

Hey guys,

Drew here. Just updating you all on how the website is going. We've added a lot of new great pages to the website. I think one of the features that I'm most excited about is giving a little section to each of the Newman clubs. It can be their own little section of the internet and use it how they see fit. Should be pretty exciting.

Check out the website here at: www.ecatholicchurches.com/trial/1055
(don't worry that's not going to be the final web address)

The summer has been going great (a little rainy), but we've been enjoying every day.
God bless and keep praying!

Up and Running

Sorry for the extremely long time since the last update. Much has happened in the past months that I will review as the summer goes on.

As for Campus Ministry. Things are looking fantastic. The Campus Ministry team is closely working, in the Diocesan Office in Rockville Centre, with the new Director of Campus Ministry, Tom Smith, in order to streamline the transition as we hire new employees to work on the campuses.

Over the summer, please check often as we will report progress on summer time projects, and ideas for next year. Furthermore, we will be finding, writing and posting reflections at least weekly, and will have all the weekly readings listed.

If you have any ideas of ways in which to make this blog more useful to you, email us at catholic@hofstra.edu

God Bless,

James Crawford

Oh Fat Tuesday, you are a cruel mistress...

Happy Mardi Gras everyone!

Growing up, I was always a big fan of Fat Tuesday. I never really understood the meaning behind it as a tiny-one, even though I'm sure my parents explained it to me -- I pretty much just knew it as ten pounds of bacon, sausage, and pancakes for dinner day, which was followed very shortly after by a food coma and early bed time.

Shout out to my moms (send me money if you're reading this) for sending me this little snippet about the ever so delicious King Cake. If you are unfamiliar with the King Cake, it is the cake that has a baby inside. If that confuses you even more then that's awesome, because that's what I was trying to do. Read on.



"History behind the King Cake...

As part of our Christian faith, the coming of the wise men bearing gifts to the Christ Child is celebrated twelve days after Christmas. We refer to this as the Feast of the Epiphany or Little Christmas on the Twelfth Night. This is a time of celebration, exchanging gifts and feasting.

Today, the tradition continues as people all over the world gather for festive Twelfth Night celebrations. A popular custom was and still is the baking of a special cake in honor of the three kings called "A King's Cake." Inside every cake is a tiny baby (generally plastic now, but sometimes this baby might be made of porcelain or even gold).
The tradition of having King Cake Parties has evolved through time, and the person who receives the slice of cake with the baby is asked to continue the festivities by hosting the next King Cake party. Originally, King Cakes were a simple ring of dough with a small amount of decoration. Today's King Cakes are much more festive. After the rich Danish dough is braided and baked, the "baby" is inserted.

The top of the ring or oval cake is then covered with delicious sugar toppings in the traditional Mardi Gras colors of purple, green and gold. January 6, the Twelfth Night after Christmas, is also the day our Mardi Gras season begins. Mardi Gras Day is always 47 days prior to Easter Sunday (Fat Tuesday is always the day before Ash Wednesday)"

James

So its not about eating a ton of food?

Todd Lemieux pointed out a great article to us about the real meaning behind Fat Tuesday. I always thought Fat Tuesday was about eating (read: gorging) as much food as you can in as quick of a time as possible. :)

"The day after Fat Tuesday begins with suffering and self-sacrifice for many people…suffering from a hangover and a sacrificing of much needed sleep in order to make it to work on time. Somehow, I think many of us might be missing the point. For many, Fat Tuesday (English for Mardi Gras) seems to be just another reason to stay out late, drink heavily, expose ourselves, and commit all types of RAI (Random Acts of Immorality). And somehow it’s all excused because hey… it’s Mardi Gras!

Nobody likes to poop on a party, but it is quite obvious that we have lost sight of the true meaning of the festivities. If I thought that this next point would be contested by many, I might actually do a survey to verify it. But if we were to ask the average crowd on Bourbon Street during a Mardi Gras celebration, “What day is tomorrow?” I am willing to bet that many of them would not really have a clue what we were really asking. Midnight on Fat Tuesday is not just the end of the party, it’s the beginning of something much more significant and much more important. It’s the beginning of Lent. The day after Fat Tuesday is Ash Wednesday .

The whole purpose of Fat Tuesday is to feast in order to prepare for the fast of the 40 days of Lent. Traditionally, the feast consisted of fattened calves, dairy, eggs, fat, etc. that all had to be used up before Lent because the fast of Lent required abstaining from those things. This was back when the observed fast was generally stricter than just the “no meat on Fridays, etc.” that it is currently in the United States today. Fat Tuesday also marks the final day of the Carnivalfestivities, which comes from the words “Carne Vale,” meaning “farewell to the flesh.”

So the spirit of Fat Tuesday is one of preparation for the Lenten season to come. It is a farewell to the flesh. It is about preparing ourselves to die a little more to ourselves during Lent through fasting and abstinence in order to prepare for Good Friday and Easter, the remembrance of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And since Easter is the climax of the Christian calendar, it deserves preparation. It is the Easter event that we celebrate most as Christians and, as Catholics, on a smaller scale every Sunday at Mass. So it is only appropriate that we prepare ourselves physically, mentally, and spiritually to participate fully in the sacrifice and redemption of the cross. And we should do this for the celebration of the Mass each and every Sunday, but most especially for the Easter Mass. This Easter preparation is what the Church calls Lent.

The early Church, in its wisdom, evolved many of the pagan festivals and holidays existing during that time and turned them into Christian celebrations instead. This was because it was more difficult to kill existing traditions and begin new ones than it was to just change the meaning of the existing traditions. So what it did was take something that had strayed from God’s desires and converted it to a new meaning that pointed it back to God. (Which is pretty neat because that’s exactly what Christ came to do for us; He didn’t come to condemn our hearts, He came to convert them.)

Similarly, Fat Tuesday has its roots in hedonistic pagan rituals and celebrations, but the Church came and gave deeper meaning to them. It said, yes, be thankful for all these things you have, celebrate those, but here is Who you should be thanking: Jesus. And go ahead, live it up and be silly and happy. Fill yourselves with all of this wonderful food tonight, because tomorrow… tomorrow we fast and abstain for 40 days. Tomorrow we prepare for the real and ultimate fulfillment, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ our Savior. Tomorrow we prepare to receive the eternal food, the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. And of course with this new Christian purpose, even with all of the feasting and merriment prior to Lent, it was not an excuse to sin. It was a call to conversion from sinful traditions. It was just as much a call to repentance.

Unfortunately, currently we find ourselves very much back in that same situation. Most Mardi Gras celebrations today are a closer resemblance of the ancient hedonistic festivals than the Christian preparation for Lent that they are supposed to be. As Catholics (and other Christians who practice Lent), we must partially blame ourselves for allowing this holy time of year to be overshadowed by a drunken, over-indulgent, high-jacking of our own celebration. Like the early Church Christians, we have to give it meaning again. We have to point it back in the right direction — toward God. We have to allow ourselves to be converted and then work for the conversion of others. We shouldn’t wake up the day after Fat Tuesday suffering from a hangover. We should wake up immersed in the suffering and self-sacrifice of Lent. And everyone should know what day comes after Fat Tuesday."

Source: Catholic Exchange » Today

Author: Matthew Warner
http://catholicexchange.com/2009/02/21/116108/

CCM featured in the Long Island Catholic

Joe Dujmovic, one of the students who attended the CCM service trip to Jamaica, wrote an amazing article that is featured in the Long Island Catholic. Read on..

Youth Voice: A winter break like no other: Mission Jamaica

We can dodge a wrench...only if middle schoolers aren't throwing it.

I always look forward to the Holy Hours at the seminary. The adoration is spectacular, well-done and meaningful -- it gives us all time to sit down, stop, and be in Christ's presence for a brief period of time during our usually hectic and fast paced weeks of school or work. Getting the chance to pray with so many from across the diocese, young and old, is both remarkable and spiritually encouraging. We are blessed to be able to witness faith in act by kids in middle school, high school and college.

I am inspired by the students I work with at Hofstra U. We all know that college can be a breeding ground for all kinds of awful things that can be more attractive on the surface than Christ, and for students to give up a Friday evening so that they can spend time in prayer brings me such a great joy. I can say in all sincerity, that the opportunity to pray with these awesome, young Catholics helps me to grow deeper in my own personal relationship with Christ, and for that I am ever grateful.

...Dodgeball is cool too...

Except when Hofstra's team, the Flying Dutchmen, got immediately trampled on by a youth group comprised of tiny, young teens. Adelphi and Stonybrook's team did not fare well either. Adelphi did give those little ones a run for their money though. But, of course, in the end those tiny tots won.

And Jesus wept...


...because he was laughing so hard at us.



I'm not holding a grudge though.


Okay, I lied, I am holding a grudge. If we do play dodgeball again, those kids are getting what they deserve. :)

All in all, it was an awesome night. I can't wait to get all the college students back together next month for what is proving to be our most popular event. I would like to thank Father Brian and Rose Sullivan for organizing the event, and all the youth ministers, campus ministers and those from the various other ministries in the diocese for showing up in great numbers to this evening of prayer, relaxation, and of course, epic dodgeball.

James

On a mission - Features

This is a lovely article written by one of our students who went on the CCM service trip to Jamaica this past January. God has blessed us by calling us to serve the Mustard Seed Community. As much of a struggle as it was at times, the passion for His work consumed us to such an extent that the discomforts and anxieties didn't matter.

Read on.

On a mission - Features


James

Officially on the blog-wagon

Sometimes its okay to do what everybody else is doing. It seems like everyone and their grandmother has a blog, and its about time that CCM of DRVC got one. This blog is meant for the Campus Ministers to document the epicness and awesomeness of the ministry in which we were called by Christ to perform. We will use this blog as a way to document the amazing things happening on the college campuses in Long Island, as an outlet for reflection on faith, and as a witness to the wonderful ways in which Christ is working through the youth...and maybe we might post some cool YouTube videos.

We ask for patience as we try and figure out how to actually use a blog, make it look pretty and all that jazz.

James