Spring, 2009   

Drury University - Missouri State University - Ozarks Technical Community College

Alternative Spring Break in Chicago     by Rebecca Roman

Spring Break often brings to mind thoughts of fun on the beach.  Twelve students from Catholic Campus Ministry (CCM) chose to spend their spring break in inner-city Chicago to work with the Claretian Volunteers in service to the poor.

“I’ve done volunteer work for spring break ‘07 and ‘08, and I loved it, so I figured why  not,”  said  Ty Sanders,  a  senior  at Missouri State University.

While in Chicago, the students worked at various places throughout the day.

“In the mornings, we worked at one of two schools, Our Lady of Guadalupe or St. Paul’s.  Both schools were in need of a lot of help,” Sanders said.  “In the afternoons we worked at Villa Guadalupe, a retirement community.”

Michelle Hobein, CCM Student Council President, also took part in the spring break mission trip.

“We worked at People’s Park doing park beautification,” Hobein said, “as well as assisting the residents of Villa Guadalupe in improving the general appearance of the building.”

Other jobs included painting, stuffing envelopes, hanging pictures, scrubbing walls, dusting, rearranging storage rooms, moving brick piles and anything else that was asked of them.

“In the evenings, we went sight seeing, went out to eat, or just stayed in and discussed the events of the day,” Sanders said.

Father Bruce Wellems, a Claretian and founder of Boys Town of Chicago, Inc. invited the students to tour Boys Town.  He also took them on a walk through the neighborhood and introduced them to several gang members.  The students were then shown a DVD that detailed the ministry of Father Bruce.  The Marimba Ensemble from Holy Cross-Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish, Father Bruce’s parish, performed for the students.

“We held fundraisers for the trip because it was the desire of the students to go and help those in need.  We also paid a large portion ourselves to go on the trip,” said Maddie Sellers, a freshman at Missouri State University. 

 Sellers said the CCM group stayed at the Claretian Volunteer House, and their lunch was provided daily by the organizations they worked for.

 CCM held two fundraisers for the mission trip.  The first was a concert which brought about 130 people out for the event.  The second was a “Panera Night.”  Panera, a bakery and restaurant, partnered with CCM and agreed to donate 10% of their profits from 5 to 7 P.M. to the trip.  Both events were a huge success, and the money left over went to purchase new materials for the CCM student library, a donation to the CCM Relay for Life team and to the 2010 Chicago Trip fund. 

The Claretian Volunteer Mission Statement, in part, reads, “Claretian Volunteers seek to both empower and journey with all people, always aware that they learn while they are leading, that they are served while they are serving.” 

“It was truly an awesome experience, and we were able to help so many people.  It was also a great benefit for all of us who participated,” Sellers said. 

A Letter from Fr. Tom McGann

Dear Friends of CCM,

Easter Sunday is past, but Easter joy still fills our lives in these days following  the six long weeks of Lent.  Listening to the students hanging around CCM, many did something special to observe the penitential season. Some gave up candy, some soda. Others took no desserts. Still others tried to get to daily Mass three or more times a week. Of course, there were occasions when some of these students might have excused themselves from observing their self-imposed practices, but they didn’t. In fact, while on the Spring Break Mission Trip to Chicago, I noted those students who chose to abstain from a food item continued to do so over our several days out of Missouri.  

In 1993, while on a trip with my parents to Ireland to visit family, a cousin dared me to go to Lough Derg and said I “would never survive” because I was an American. Lough Derg is a site of traditional Celtic penitential practice in County Donegal. Pilgrims visit from all over Ireland and beyond. Well, I went with two cousins and, I admit, it was rough, but I did survive. One of the island’s priests told us Lough Derg was a place to give God time, to give God something of ourselves.  

Please keep CCM in prayer that it will always be a place where students’ faith is nurtured and grown. Pray that what is done, is always done for God and his people. The students who come here are the future of our Church and our people.

God Bless you for your prayers and your support.

Fr. Tom

Michelle’s Meanderings:
Student Council President Recaps Recent Events at CCM.

It has been a busy and exciting semester  around Catholic Campus Ministry! During the month of February, Bishop James V. Johnston became a staple around the ministry. He joined the students at an Escape and Unwind, a weekly activity, for “Stump the Bishop.”

     The students submitted personal and faith based questions to the Bishop who answered for nearly two hours! Two weeks later, Bishop Johnston was back again to celebrate the 7:30 p.m. Ash Wednesday Mass. The very next Wednesday was the most exciting of them all…our own Deacon Ferdinand was ordained a priest. We have lovingly nicknamed him ‘Pope Ferdie’!

     Over Spring Break CCM took 12 students along with Fathers Tom and Ferdie to Chicago for a week long mission trip. They worked at schools and churches sponsored by the Claretian Missionaries. To help fund the trip, the students organized a concert featuring Kris Green, The Mariners, Cloud City, As Of Now, ACubBella, and the Beartones. We had a great turnout! We were also able to have a Panera Night, and if we brought in 50 people from CCM Panera would donate 10 percent from their profits for the night. Thank you to Panera and all who came to these great events!

    Other exciting activities were the “Awakening” retreat, a women’s retreat, the Table of Plenty food drive, and hosting the juniors and seniors from Springfield Catholic for their annual retreats.

    Whoa! That’s a lot, but wait we still have a Relay for Life team participating in the MSU Relay for Life and a Greek Mass in conjunction with a Midnight Buffet sponsored by Subway. We are also holding a clothing drive to benefit the local shelters and service agencies.

    It has been a busy semester, but we’ve all had a lot of fun! Thank you to everyone who has supported us this year.

    God Bless.
    Michelle

Semester at a Glance

With 262 runners and walkers, the 20th Annual Jack Frost Run set a record for the largest number of runners, volunteers and sponsors.

Janie Newton, Carol Nowatzke (secretary), Megan Donnelly, Brett Heischmidt, Michelle Hobein (president), Lauren Kohler (vice president), Danielle Jones, Kristina Green

“It was something different to involve CCM students as well as people in the community.” 
-Danielle Jones, MSU student

“It was an awesome experience to see him 
make his total gift of self at CCM.”  
-Kyle Meadors,  Drury University student

Moira Anderson calls donors for Spring Ring.   CCM’s generous friends pledged a new record of $32,200.

Benefit for the Alternative Spring Break.
“It was good for CCM to be seen in the community.”
- Sara Griffith, MSU Student.

A night of spiritual growth and activities at CCM

And the Cardinals won 8-6

    
“Some of it was really beneficial and the other projects were also needed. 
If we weren’t there these projects probably wouldn’t have been completed.” 
-Megan Donnelly - MSU student 

The Chapel of the Blessed Claretian Martyrs at Catholic Campus Ministry reached its capacity on Wednesday, March 4, when Deacon Ferdinand Okorie was ordained a priest.

 “I am very happy for him because I know he has been looking forward to this event for so long,” said Fr. Tom McGann, CCM Director. “Everyone who chooses to respond to this particular invitation of the Lord feels much joy and anticipation as they look forward to exercising the ministry among God’s people.”

Responding to this call to become a priest began long before coming to the casual atmosphere of CCM. Initially, Fr. Ferdie entered a seminary in Nigeria, but later the steps included intense spiritual and academic growth.

  Fr. Ferdie, unless celebrating daily Mass, can be seen working at his desk on most days at CCM. It is also likely that a student or staff member will stop by the open door to talk, and if the name “Ferdie!” is called out, it is probably a student that saw him.

Fr. Ferdie received his theological degree in May of 2007 from the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. Later that year, he came to CCM and was ordained a deacon that fall. As a deacon, Fr. Ferdie assisted Fr. Tom in proclaiming the Word and serving God’s people.

Before receiving his theology degree, Fr. Ferdie first thought of becoming a priest by observing the priest at his home in Nigeria. 

“I saw the way he did his work, and I felt the call to service. I was 19,” Fr. Ferdie said.

Fr. Ferdie’s choice to enter the priesthood is a first for his family. “They were very supportive and I’m thankful.”

Since becoming a priest, Fr. Ferdie and Fr. Tom share celebrating the Masses at CCM.

“Because I am also the pastor of Sacred Heart on the north end of Springfield, I also assign Fr. Ferdie to Masses at the parish on weekdays and weekends,” Fr. Tom said. “This slight exposure to parish ministry is helpful because it allows Father Ferdie to minister to a greater variety of people than he experiences at CCM.”

Ambitions for traveling to other cities as a priest aren’t in Fr. Ferdie’s near future.  “As long as I’m here, I’m in Springfield doing my work,” Fr. Ferdie said. 

 Ted and Katie (Welker) Alfermann live in Springfield but will be moving to Mississippi where Ted will begin grad school at Mississippi State.

     Steven Bueg lives in St. Louis and works at Wells Fargo Advisors.  He recently purchased a home next door to Hogan and Danelle (Boeckmann) Haik and their sons.

Colin Keller is a Senior Account Coordinator for Kelly Services in Maritz.  He lives in St. Louis.

Fr. Eddie DeLeón, C.M.F., former Director of CCM, is now a Doctor of Ministry in Preaching.  Congratulations, Fr. Eddie!

     Carol Burkard is living in St. Louis and teaching 6th, 7th & 8th grades at Immaculata Catholic School. 

Kelly (Wickman) Turk lives in Springfield with husband, Mike, and four children.  Kelly is a Regional Vice President of Programs for Presbyterian Children Services.

Dale & Theresa Breshears live in Springfield with their family of  “3 pug babies.”

Tim and Missy (Carmody) Goodwin have four children and live in St. Louis.  They are busy parents and are very active in their parish.  

David & Julie Straus live in Springfield with their three children (and 1 on the way). They  are owners of 11 Subway Sandwich Shops.  A special thanks to them for always providing the subs for our Midnight Buffets.

Tom Rankin and wife, Paige, have two  daughters, Abbi and Avery, and two sons, Jack and Hunter.  Tom is the owner of Sperry Van Ness, Rankin Company, in Springfield.  Tom provides his offices and long distance service for CCM’s Annual Spring Ring every year.  (Thank you soooo much!)

       

Granite Brick Pavers on Student Center Porch

The front porch of the O'Reilly Catholic Student Center is lined with granite brick pavers engraved with the names of current and former students, parents, organizations and other friends of the ministry who support our mission.

The granite brick pavers cost $250.00 each, with payment made at the time of purchase or over a one-year period.  Funds will go to the Endowment Fund, the interest from which helps maintain the student center.

The granite brick paver campaign is a wonderful opportunity to honor the memory of a loved one by purchasing a brick in his/her name.  Memorial bricks also make great gifts for students, family members and friends.

Be a part of the dream for the new Catholic Student Center and help support the "Students of Today and Leaders of Tomorrow" . . . one brick at a time.

To purchase a Granite Brick Paver, click on any one of these bricks: