STARR students create service family at Marian

This has been a stellar semester for our STARR service program. Not only have some 86 students served 800 hours in the Indianapolis community, but bonds have been made amongst students! The study break hosted by Campus Ministry last Friday was evidence of the STARR "family," which has formed throughout the semester. Students gathered to help a fellow student make yarn bracelets for chlidren in Haiti while enjoying Christmas music and holiday treats. There were not enough seats to hold all the students who came to share in the spirit of giving and being! I am grateful to be a part of this amazing energy and spirit of love and service. It gives me hope for our world to experience students who are willing to give their time in order to serve others and to be open to their own transformation!! Come and check out this awesome opportunity next semester! The doors are open to all!! Peace and happy new year!

Saints Who Served: Part 2

Blessed Miguel Pro

Born on January 13, 1891 in Guadalupe, Mexico, Miguel Agustin Pro Juarez was the eldest son of Miguel Pro and Josefa Juarez.

Miguelito, as his doting family called him, was, from an early age, intensely spiritual and equally intense in hi mischievousness, frequently exasperating his family with his humor and practical jokes. As a child, he had a daring precociouness that sometimes went too far, tossing him into near-death accidents and illnesses. On regaining consciousness after one of these episodes, young Miguel opened his eyes and blurted out to his frantic parents, "I want some cocol" (a colloquial term for his favorite sweet bread). "Cocol" became his nickname, which he would later adopt as a code name during this clandestine ministry.

Opportunity for Charity

Hello! Hope everyone's semesters are ending well!

If you are like me and you still have some Knight Bucks left, but you don't want to waste them, then I'd love to encourage you to donate them to the Cathedral Pantry/Kitchen downtown. It is really easy to donate, and the donations will provide a lot of food and product for the Cathedral pantry to help them provide for the economically underpriveledged during the cold, winter months. The Cathedral Kitchen has at least one free meal every day of the year and our donations will help them to continue doing their amazing work! Even if you only have $5 left it can still make a lasting impact when combined with other donations. If 40 people gave $5 in Knight Bucks, that would be an amazing $200 in food/product!

If you are interested in donating, please just email me, Jeff Stegbauer, your name at jstegbauer816@marian.edu by MONDAY, the 12TH of DECEMBER.

Then, I will forward your name onto Shannon Smith, who will then drain your account (**If you do not want your account drained entirely please include the specific ammount you want to donate in your email**) at the end of the semester and use the collected money to go out and purchase goods to bring down to the Cathedral Pantry. So, to ensure that your Knight Bucks don't go to waste, all you have to do is email me your name!

Thanks and God Bless! My prayers are with all of you as you study for your finals and write all those papers!

FREE SHIRT FRIDAY

Did someone say FREE T-SHIRT?

Campus Events Committee is working with Goodwill Industries to collect clothes for our service project.  If you bring 5 articles of clothing to theStudent Government office (RLSC 205) TOMORROW (Friday December 2) from 1 - 3 p.m., CEC will give you a free "I'm a MUK" t-shirt!  They are awesome.  You should get one.

Simplify your life. Donate to help others. Be part of the community.

*via SGMU campus events

FINAL 2011 STARR!

It's our final STARR for 2011! Come join us as we head into Indianapolis one final time this Friday at 3:00pm.

Image source

Urban Ministry internship available with Rebuilding the Wall

Rebuilding the Wall is currently seeking to fill a non-profit student intern position for our Community Development Ministry. Rebuilding the Wall exists to stabilize families, combat social injustice, and stabilize communities. Rtw has been part of the fabric of our inner-city community for over a decade and continues to be a grass-roots social justice organization.
Here are some details of the internship:
-One year commitment
-Will work closely with Executive Director
-Manage a variety of projects to include: grant reimbursements, office organization, event coordination, volunteer relations.

For more information, inquiries, contact Shelley at shelley@rebuildingthewall.org. Check us out on Facebook!

Saints Who Served: Part I

In standing with our Catholic Identity at Marian University, I decided to share the stories of some of the great heroes of our faith, Saints who excelled in service of others.  The first installment:  St. Damien of Molokai.

When Joseph de Veuster was born in Tremelo, Belgium, in 1840, few people in Europe had any firsthand knowledge of leprosy (Hansen's disease). By the time he died at the age of 49, people all over the world knew about this disease because of him. They knew that human compassion could soften the ravages of this disease.
Forced to quit school at age 13 to work on the family farm, Joseph entered the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary six years later, taking the name of a fourth-century physician and martyr. When his brother Pamphile, a priest in the same congregation, fell ill and was unable to go to the Hawaiian Islands as assigned, Damien quickly volunteered in his place. In May 1864, two months after arriving in his new mission, Damien was ordained a priest in Honolulu and assigned to the island of Hawaii.
In 1873, he went to the Hawaiian government's leper colony on the island of Molokai, set up seven years earlier. Part of a team of four chaplains taking that assignment for three months each year, Damien soon volunteered to remain permanently, caring for the people's physical, medical and spiritual needs. In time, he became their most effective advocate to obtain promised government support.
Soon the settlement had new houses and a new church, school and orphanage. Morale improved considerably. A few years later he succeeded in getting the Franciscan Sisters of Syracuse, led by Mother Marianne Cope (January 23), to help staff this colony in Kalaupapa.
Damien contracted Hansen's disease and died of its complications. As requested, he was buried in Kalaupapa, but in 1936 the Belgian government succeeded in having his body moved to Belgium. Part of Damien's body was returned to his beloved Hawaiian brothers and sisters after his beatification in 1995.

Source: americancatholic.org