Davidson CCM Bulletin Part one: week of Sept 8

Happy feast day of St. Peter Claver! (Sept 9)

Peter Claver was born in Spain in 1581. He went to Cartagena (Columbia) to be a missionary, and focused on working with the thousands of slaves brought to the New World from West Africa. As soon as a slave ship would arrive in port, he went aboard with food and medicine, and continued to visit them and offer them instruction and consolation while they were in captivity. It's estimated he taught and baptized some 300,000 slaves. He also worked among the sailors and traders of the region, and died in 1654 after a lengthy illness. His idea of being a missionary began with meeting people's concrete needs: "We must speak with our hands before we try to speak with our lips"--or, actions speak louder than words.

EUCHARISTIC CONGRESS

Friday, Sep 21 and Sat, Sep 22. Every fall, Catholics from around the diocese gather in Charlotte for a weekend of speakers, Catholic shopping, Adoration and mass. On Friday night there’s a gathering of Catholic college students from across the diocese. We’ll have pizza, live music, a chance to meet some new people (and maybe the bishop!) and a procession to Adoration at St Peter’s. The college program begins after the keynote speaker, His Eminence, Edwin F. Cardinal O’Brien, Grandmaster of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre, speaking on “The Holy Eucharist: Making All Things New from the Upper Room to the New Jerusalem.” CCM will provide rides, but you must register on line. For registration, go to www.catholiconcampus.com/eucharistic-congress. 

FAQ….Why do you ask us for money at church?

• Welcome to the world of stewardship!—an essential (if often grudging) part of Christian discipleship. No campus ministry program or parish can be sustained without the support of its members, including ours.
• Part of that support comes in the form of service: as Eucharistic Ministers, Lectors, Sacristans, Musicians, cross-bearers, collection-takers, gift-bearers, Renew cooks, group leaders, Leadership Team members, …I say thank you! I most certainly could not do all of that by myself.
• Part of your support comes from your prayers and moral support. To all of you who take your relationship with God seriously enough to engage in prayer and prayerful conversation and reflection on your faith…I say thank you! To all of you who express your support of CCM with a kind word, an idea for doing things differently, a pep talk to a prospie, positive PR back home, encouragement to a fellow student to attend CCM events…I say thank you!
• And of course, part of your support comes from your financial contributions. Just like your parents drop something in the collection basket each week at your home parish, I rely on you to support YOUR parish, CCM.
• CCM is generously supported by the Diocese of Charlotte and the College. However, we must still fundraise about $15,000 each year through appeal letters, fundraising, and raffle ticket sales. With the Sunday collection we try to raise about $1,000 each year. If every person who came to mass put $1 every Sunday, we’d have no problem…but alas, that doesn’t happen.
• I invite you to reflect on what you can give to maintain a Catholic institutional presence and programming on campus—giving not out of your ‘leftover change’ but out of your discretionary funds. Can you give $2 each week? Can you pull $10 out of the ATM the first Sunday of every month? Or maybe $30-50 as a lump sum for the whole semester?
• In addition, we always give a portion of our weekly collection to our neighbors in need, as we Christians have been doing since we started gathering together for worship 2000 years ago. We often give to places like Ada Jenkins and the Urban Ministry Center, where many of you volunteer, as well as Catholic Relief Services if there’s been a major disaster somewhere in the world.

Whatever you decide, thanks for your support in the many ways you give it!

___________________

Karen Soos
Associate Chaplain and Catholic Campus Minister
Davidson College
Campus Box 7196
Davidson NC 28035
704. 894. 2423