Campus Ministry Week was a week of faith, fun, and community with several events spanning the entire week. It was a week dedicated to growing in faith with God and in community with each other, led and planned by the Campus Ministry Team. This year the Campus Ministry Team arranged several events to get people excited about Campus Ministry and what it has to offer.
To kick off Campus Ministry Week, there was an all-school mass on Tuesday. With music led by Mr. Kowalczyk and the Frontenac Voices, the mass was a wonderful way to begin the week.
Next, one of the most highly anticipated parts of the week is Finding Francis, in which a life-size cardboard cutout of Pope Francis is hidden around the school, and people have to find him. Sophomore Bridgit Wilke enjoyed deciphering these daily hints to find Pope Francis.
“I liked Finding Francis because it was so much fun trying to figure out the clues and hints that were given to be able to find him,” Bridget said.
A mysterious clue is sent out daily, and people have to decode it, trying to be the first to find and take a selfie with Pope Francis. Each day, the winners received a prize. Another part of the week that students enjoyed was affirmation clips. Affirmation clips are clothespins with an affirmation on them. People clip them on someone secretly to compliment them. Sophomore Lizzy Kastner enjoyed the Campus Ministry Week events, especially the affirmation clips.
“My favorite part of the Campus Ministry Week was the affirmation clips. I liked how we could compliment each other because it brought everyone closer together as a St. Joe community,” Lizzy said.
Affirmation clips are a fun and easy way to brighten someone’s day. Clips would be passed around often, so it was easy for everyone to participate in this activity.
Before school on Thursday, Angels in Prayer hosted Desmet in Prayer for a time of growing in community with each other. During Angels in Prayer, people played a Kahoot with a chance to win a gift card. There was time to get to know each other and talk to one another. The successful Angels and Prayer and Desmet in Prayer collaboration ended with donuts in the commons. Later, at dropoff, there were students from the Campus Ministry Team passing out donuts for the entire school. It was an exciting way to start our late start on Thursday.
Friday was filled with many activities put on by our Campus Ministry Team. During the first LACE family meeting, there was an activity focused on gratitude for everyone to participate in. Everyone received an autumn-colored leaf on which to write something they were grateful for. These leaves were then hung outside the chapel for everyone to see. Every time someone walks by the chapel, they can see what people from St. Joe are grateful for. Campus Minister Ms. Niedringhaus-Hill thought the LACE family project was an excellent student-run activity.
“I thought that it was a great way to kick off our LACE families and it was a great way to be together. It was really nice how it was student-led, and one of the sophomores came up with and planned the activity for everyone,” Ms. Niedringhaus-Hill said.
The activity was a great way to meet our LACE families for the first time and practice gratitude, which is important for everyone to practice together.
To end the week, some of the Sisters of St. Joseph came to St. Joe for lunch. The three sisters were very excited to join people for lunch. They were in Campus Ministry during both lunch periods, so people could visit and talk to them. All the sisters had so much fun talking and getting to know some of the students at St. Joe.
Campus Ministry Week was a successful week dedicated to growing in faith and community with each other. With a multitude of events organized and led by the Campus Ministry Team, everyone was able to participate in this fun week.
