Message from the Director

Recently I had the opportunity to attend my first pilgrimage to Rome and Assisi with some graduating seniors. Perhaps not all the students arrived with that “pilgrimage” idea in their heads, but there was a conversion of heart on this trip, which affected each of us deeply and brought our pilgrimage to life.

The power for this conversion took form for me the first evening when we were in Assisi and our group went to visit the tomb of Francis. I and one student from our pilgrimage got separated from the rest of the group. They had gone ahead and were leaving just as we ducked in. As this student and I entered the crowded area of the tomb, we made our way to seats in one of the four side chapels. Here we began to pray quietly to ourselves. As I prayed, I looked up to see this student, a person who I never imaged had much depth of faith, walk forward to Francis’ tomb. There he kneeled, reached out his hand, put it through the bars, and gently rested it on the stone protecting Francis’ coffin. He lowered his head and prayed for several minutes before rising and leaving the crypt.

Pilgrimage does that. It brings out that deep-seated faith which lies beneath outward appearances. It connects one’s faith to a physical reality of place, of location, and ties us back to the larger faith of the Church itself. The geographic reality bears witness to the faith that preceded us, and which we can strive to achieve. It is a powerful thing to be open to the movements of God in that particular way which is made real on pilgrimage. Maybe we who live in the New World are disconnected in some way to the power of time and place, of location itself, that the Old World seems to have in abundance. It only took one young man to make that manifest, to make pilgrimage come alive in my heart and soul.

But that is also what Campus Ministry is all about, to provide the opportunities to our students here at Cathedral to have a conversion of heart, to let in the Lord. Perhaps it will be at an all school liturgy, Morning Prayer, food drive, on a class retreat, or as part of their Christian Service Program.

We are always instituting new programs to make this possible for our community. As each student is a unique and beautiful creation of God’s own hand, so too does each respond in a unique way to God’s call. It is hoped through varied opportunities CCHS students will come in contact with some aspect of God’s call for them in the life they live here and in the broader communities of which we are a part.

We as part of the campus ministry team dedicate ourselves to provided the student body at CCHS with as many opportunities as possible for our members to grow in their spiritual development as healthy and mature Christians, recognizing their gifts God has given them and the call to use them to build His Kingdom. Under each student there is a spirituality looking for a way to express itself. We aim to bring out that deep-seated faith which lies beneath the outward appearances. In this sense we are all travelers, pilgrims, and campus ministry hopes to provide assistance along the way.

Yours in Christ,

Joseph F. Cannon
Director of Campus Ministry