It’s back-to-school time! While some won’t be going back until after Labor Day, others have. But those I would especially like this post communicated to, as well as those who support them, are all of the recent, Catholic High School Grads as well as those current, Catholic College Students headed back for at least another year.
College can be a challenging and exciting time. There can be opportunities for growth, independence, peer pressure, but also temptation – temptation not just to sin, but to lose your Catholic faith. Christopher Kaczor, a professor of philosophy at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, CA as well as the author of The Seven Big Myths About The Catholic Church and The Seven Big Myths About Marriage, authored a helpful, 17-page booklet entitled, How to Stay Catholic in College. I have read it, and highly recommend it to our young people. With all of the books that students will be expected to read, this is something that is easily and mentally digestible at the beginning of the school year before all of the heavy reading starts. This booklet is refreshing, something one can finish reading after dinner in about 15-20 minutes (or less if you are a fast reader :), and it’s an investment in one’s faith.
While I want to affirm the wonderful and talented professors at our Catholic Colleges and universities as well as our Catholic Professors who serve and teach at secular institutions, I also want to warn and caution our young people on two fronts:
1). Atheistic Professors – Unfortunately, there are many professors who are atheist – who don’t believe in God, and they want to influence and promote that godless ideology. Likewise, these professors and others are anti-Catholic and hostile to the faith. Be careful.
2). Negative Peer Influence – Another attack on your faith that is rampant on college campuses is under-age drinking, sexual promiscuity, and drug use. These things can affect your prayer life, drive you away from your faith slowly until you don’t practice it anymore, and therefore can affect your desire to attend Mass faithfully on weekends.
Here are some other ways to stay Catholic in college: 1). Stay close to Jesus through reading Sacred Scripture daily. 2). Join a Newman Center as found below in the “Resource” section. 3). Ask someone to go to church with you. 4). Receive the Eucharist. 5). Spend time in front of the Blessed Sacrament. 6). Go to confession. 7). Ask someone to pray with you, and lead them in prayer, and finally, 8). Do a corporal work of mercy (i.e. feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, shelter the homeless, clothe the naked, visit the sick, visit the imprisoned, or bury the dead).
Keep the faith, and read this booklet! 🙂
Have a blessed, fruitful, and memorable school year! +
– Fr. Jeff
Resources:
1. How to Stay Catholic in College, by Christopher Kaczor
2. Newman Center (or here) – Residences and Catholic Ministry Centers throughout the world. These centers provide pastoral services and ministries to their Catholic Communities, in particular to the Catholic student population. Newman Centers were named in honor of the late Cardinal John Henry Newman from the United Kingdom and were inspired by his writings. The first Newman Center was established at the University of Pennsylvania back in 1893. Cardinal Newman (soon-to-be St. John Henry Newman) is set to be canonized (declared a saint) on October 13th, 2019.
3. The Cardinal Newman Society
5 Works of Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman (1801 – 1890) or here:
- An Essay on The Development of Chrisitian Doctrine or here
- Apologia Pro Vita Sua (A Defense of One’s Life)
- Essay in Aid of Grammar of Assent
- On Consulting The Faithful in Matters of Doctrine
- The Idea of A University
"Speak The Truth with Love," A Catholic Blog by Fr. Jeff Allan 
Good information, Fr. Jeff!
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