University students deepen relationships with Christ during Easter
All campus ministers hope that the students they serve will grow closer to Christ and the Church. This Easter season, that desire was abundantly fulfilled as nine university students from around the Archdiocese of Newark received the sacraments of initiation.
- During the Easter Vigil Mass, a Kean University student received the Sacrament of Confirmation and his First Holy Communion.
- Three students from Montclair State University were confirmed at the April 27 Divine Mercy Sunday Mass by Bishop Manuel A. Cruz, D.D., auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Newark. One of those students also received her First Communion alongside a fourth student.
- On May 4, four students from Ramapo College of New Jersey were initiated into the Church at a Mass celebrated by Bishop Michael A. Saporito, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Newark. Two young women were confirmed, while another student received Confirmation and First Holy Communion. Another student received the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and First Holy Communion.
Each of these students has followed a unique spiritual path, but they also share something in common: the support they have received from their campus ministries and the faith communities at their schools.
For Ezekiel, a freshman at Kean, the campus ministry was essential to his journey. “I didn’t have many friends who were Catholic, because I grew up in the Pentecostal tradition,” he told Jersey Catholic earlier this spring. Participating in campus ministry provided him with much-needed support for his faith journey. “It allowed me to meet people of like-minded faith and to delve more into His Word, and helped me grow spiritually. It’s been a blessing,” Ezekiel said.
At the Easter Vigil, some students from the Kean Catholics community came to Mass to pray and rejoice with Ezekiel as he received the Sacrament of Confirmation. Campus minister Lucia Pasternak was his Confirmation sponsor.
Laying a strong foundation
“Several of our students, including one alum, have served as sponsors for those coming into full initiation into the Church,” said David Donohoe, a campus minister at Ramapo College of New Jersey. “They have accompanied them not only as brothers and sisters, but as friends.”
Sebastian Perez, a campus minister at Montclair State University, said that the Archdiocese of Newark’s campus ministries are a “vital source of support” for students seeking to grow in the faith. He said he is struck by “the faces of freshmen and transfer students upon discovering the Newman Center, the friendships formed through Bible studies, and the renewed confidence gained by students that helps them live out their faith boldly. These things are all powerful fruits of a ministry rooted in authentic community, sacramental formation, and sound doctrine.”
Perez believes that the work of the ministry will continue to bear fruit long after students leave the university. “By providing a spiritual haven, we not only support students in their sacramental journeys, but help lay a strong foundation for a lifelong faith,” he said. “It’s a privilege to be part of that mission.”
You can find more images from the students’ sacramental celebrations here.
Featured image: Ezekiel, a Kean University student, receives the Sacrament of Confirmation during the Easter Vigil Mass. (Photo courtesy of Ezekiel)
