Church

I am so excited about church here on campus that I have to write a whole separate post about it.

Two nights ago, I experienced church at St. John's for the first time. The first cool thing about it is the time it takes place: nine o' clock on Sunday nights. This is an awesome time to go to church because it's after all of the weekend activities and it's a great way to just unwind, reflect upon the week, and get ready for the week coming up.

We have Mass in the SJU Abbey, which is a beautiful old building with stained glass windows, wooden pews and kneelers, and a neat set up. The Abbey is very large, and it's also the bell tower on campus. These bells ring every fifteen minutes, and they can be heard all across campus.

At about 8:45, my friend Steve and I were walking across campus to go to Mass with a bunch of our friends, and the crazy thing was, so were a lot of other people. There were hundreds of CSB/SJU students moving towards the church. And it struck me. All of these people are going to Mass by choice. They weren't there because their families were going or because they felt obligated to go for whatever reason. They were there because they wanted to be there. That feeling, that knowledge, was overwhelming. I am so excited to be a part of such a large youth based parish community.

Mass was Mass. Not too exciting as far as Masses go, but it was good. The music was wonderful and the homily wasn't too bad either. When it was time for Communion, we all gathered around the alter, which is a new thing for me. I've decided that I like it a lot.

After Mass, there was a lot of greeting people that we knew and just talking about stuff. All of us first years have an opportunity to participate in FYRE, which stands for First Year Retreat Experience, and I think a lot of my group of friends is planning on going to that. It's a weekend long retreat in mid-October and it's an opportunity to grow in our faith with our classmates. I'm pretty pumped about it :o)

Since the stars were beautiful by the time we left the building, a group of us decided to go down to the beach and watch them for a while. Kayla, Merideth, Tony, Steve, and I laid on the dock for a good hour, just talking and watching the skies. We've decided to make this a weekly tradition... at least until it gets really cold out.

Next Sunday, Mass is outside, and we are all super excited about that. For me, I'm just excited that I've finally found that group of people that share my faith, are my age, and aren't afraid to let it show. Our group took up almost a whole entire pew, and in the Abbey, that's really saying something. It should be a fun journey!