The Message photo by John Rohlf
By John Rohlf, The Message assistant editor
Over 50 college-aged young adults gathered at the Catholic Center Sept. 5 for the Diocese of Evansville’s third annual College Night.
Diocese of Evansville Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministry Jeremy Goebel said College Night began three years ago with the hope of uniting their college-aged ministries, especially through the Newman Centers at the University of Evansville, University of Southern Indiana and Vincennes University.
“The goal of the event is to build community, share information on upcoming events and to pray together as our college ministries kick off the academic year,” he said.
Noah Kurz, a freshman at the University of Southern Indiana, attended College Night.
“I decided to go to the College Night so I could meet other Catholics outside of USI,” Kurz said.
College Night featured Mass with Bishop Joseph M. Siegel, a dinner provided by the Holy Redeemer Men’s Club, a bonfire and social in the courtyard and night prayer in the chapel to close the evening.
Goebel said College Night is important because it gives college students a chance to meet new people, to pray with Bishop Siegel and the college ministry teams and learn more about all of the different opportunities offered for community and prayer on the college campuses.
“My hope is that through this event, college students will feel supported by the Diocese and will become more engaged in ministry opportunities that we offer,” Goebel said.
The next college-aged ministry event is the first-ever Kerygma Fall Retreat Sept. 26-28 at Gasper River in Kentucky. Young adults ages 18-24 can register for the retreat at eaglecatholic.com/retreat.
Bishop Siegel: Following Christ demands an integrity of life
During his homily at the Mass, Bishop Siegel said following Christ demands integrity of life, a commitment of our whole self to the gospel. There has to be an intimate connection between what we do in church each Sunday and what we do for the rest of the week in the world, or we run the risk of hypocrisy, for which Jesus so often criticized the scribes and Pharisees, Bishop Siegel said.
Bishop Siegel said the gospel from Luke 5:33-39 invites all of us to examine our lives and see where we need to change. He said part of true conversion to Christ is something painful, a painful process of examining our lives in light of his teaching. A measure of our Christian commitment is based on the decisions that we make day by day.
Bishop Siegel said in his homily that we are in a constant process of conversion, learning and deepening our love of God for others. He said this process of positive change should not end until we breathe our last breath. The power of the Holy Spirit constantly challenges us to grow more deeply in our faith, to run away from sin and be formed ever more intimately into the image of Jesus, he said.
Bishop Siegel said this means more than just trying to apply superficial patches over sins or squeeze our faith into our old way of life. Bishop Siegel said he prayed that God will allow his grace to open your whole heart to the Lord Jesus, who can make all things new with age old love. Then we will truly go forth as a new people, bringing new life, new vigor, new hope and joy to those we encounter on our path in life, Bishop Siegel said.