杏MAP导航

by Antonella Palermo

Welcome to Flagstaff, Arizona. It鈥檚 in the Southwest, USA. About 150 thousand people live there. It鈥檚 located along famous Route 66 and is a convenient stop for the thousands of tourists attracted by famous sites in the area, such as Grand Canyon National Park.

It鈥檚 the off-season, so many shops are closed. Scattered groups of Amish people are gathered at the junctions near the gas stations. It鈥檚 Sunday and a surreal landscape lies before us.

My husband and I are trying to find a place nearby to attend Mass. Google Maps to the rescue! It points us in the direction of Northern Arizona University. After a bit, we head into the semi-deserted alleys of the Campus. 鈥淚s this the right way?鈥� we wonder. Meanwhile, vague memories of the chapel at the largest university in Europe (La Sapienza) where I used to go float in my head.

We arrive. Boys and girls welcome us warmly. Strains of musical instruments being tuned fill the air and give us an idea of the Eucharistic hymns we can look forward to. The space is small. Families and some senior citizens arrive. You can sense that each person has a specific role to carry out in this liturgical setting. The New Age atmosphere, which fills the surrounding region, has not penetrated this space. We have arrived at Northern Arizona University鈥檚 Newman Center.

A large community

Gabriel Matthews, an Exercise Science major, tells us about his involvement at the Newman Center. He explains that it鈥檚 鈥渓ike a home away from home鈥�, a place where he can meet friends. One of the things he loves the most about the Newman Center are the 鈥淣ewman Nights鈥�. If Gilbert loves the , it means he鈥檚 a serious Truth Seeker. That鈥檚 exactly what a Newman Night is 鈥� an opportunity to 鈥渟eek truth in the university鈥�. The NAU Newman Center has one Newman Night a week and about 100 students attend it regularly.

We also meet Jazzy Zaleski, who studies Business Marketing and Spanish. She鈥檚 enthusiastic about the fruitful and mature friendships she鈥檚 made at the Newman Center which has helped her strengthen her faith. The need for a solid, healthy, joyful social network is evident. According to Maria Yanez, everyone shares the desire to create a strong sense of community. 

Cardinal Newman鈥檚 legacy on University campuses in the United States

Cardinal John Henry Newman pursued truth with such tenacity that he opened himself up to rejection and put his reputation on the line when he entered into communion with the Catholic Church in 1843. It was in Ireland in 1852 that he expounded his thoughts on the fundamentals of and advantages of a university education. Later, these lectures were integrated into a work that is synonymous with Newman: The Idea of a University. Two years later, he became rector of the newly founded Catholic University of Ireland in Dublin (now University College Dublin).

Cardinal Newman鈥檚 presence on the university campus endured even after his death in 1890. Only three years later, the first Newman Club was founded on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania. Just after the turn of the century, many American Catholic university clubs formed a formal association. This later led to the formation of the National Newman Club Federation.

Currently, the lists 1,486 Newman Centers in the United States alone. These Centers have provided and continue to provide pastoral care to Catholic university students and to the communities in their area. As the of the Newman Center at Northern Arizona University (NAU) makes clear, these centers are places were 鈥淐atholic Jacks鈥� are welcome.

Place to call home

Due to this network that takes its name from the recently canonized English cardinal, Cardinal Newman is perhaps more well-known in the United States than in his native country. These centers are present in contexts that are not specifically Catholic. They are a catalyst in a reality where students run a high risk of isolation and risky behavior as they take their first steps away from their families. 鈥淪ometimes they can feel really alone and isolated on the college campus鈥�, Fr Matt Lowry, the Newman Center Chaplain, tells us. 鈥淎nd so, to have a place that they can call their home, where they can be safe and learn and grow.鈥� Fr Lowry鈥檚 style is open, dynamic, creative and conversational.

Synod on Young People encourages young adult ministry

Fr Lowry praises 杏MAP导航 Francis鈥� style in that he encourages the Church to listen to young people. He recalls the experience of the Synod and says it is a great encouragement for the Church. It鈥檚 this style that can be found in the Newman Centers: 鈥淲e love questions as we seek the truth鈥�, he tells us. 鈥淲e see [Newman] as a great intercessor for us. We want to have a presence here on this campus, and on every campus, so that the students will know that Jesus is walking with them鈥�. He even tells us a short story of a non-Catholic student who attended an event sponsored by the Newman Center. He enjoyed it so much that he went back to the Center and participated at Mass. That led him to undertake a journey of faith, much like Newman鈥檚. He was received into the community of faith and confirmed as well.

Being a FOCUS missionary

During our visit, we also discover FOCUS: Fellowship of Catholic University Students. FOCUS missionaries want to help students 鈥渃hoose Christ鈥� on campus, as FOCUS missionary Ashley Kilzer explains. She explains that they invite the students to 鈥済row deeper, invest in them[selves] and their spiritual life and in the relationship with the Lord鈥�. The Newman Center builds on the relationship that they already have鈥�. The college campus provides so many different decisions for college students to choose鈥�. The Newman Center, Ashley says, helps the students 鈥渃hoose Christ鈥� by being 鈥渟o accessible and having Mass, Adoration and all these different events available鈥�. It boils down to relationship, so important in young adults鈥� lives: 鈥淭he Newman Center offers them a relationship that is different, that satisfies and that brings them ultimate joy in life鈥�, Ashley explains.

Faith Stenle is from San Diego, California. She tells us that there is a 鈥渇amily-oriented鈥� atmosphere at the Newman Center. She goes to the Bible Study offered there and enjoys going to the events they organize. Faith is looking forward to going on a retreat. That would be the Lumberjack Awakening! The last one took place the last weekend of February. !

Cultivating the 鈥渃ulture of life鈥�

Micah Meehan comes from Phoenix and interns at the Newman Center. 鈥淚t can get very difficult at times with studies and going to the library and staying on top of course work鈥�, Micah confesses. 鈥淏ut,鈥� he continues, 鈥淚 make time for Christ鈥�. He speaks of the Newman Center as a true 鈥� 鈥榟ub鈥� of Catholicism here in Flagstaff鈥�, capable of 鈥渞eaching out鈥� to people who 鈥渕ay only really know the culture of death鈥�. 鈥淎nd so I think our mission here is to really cultivate the culture of life that Christ preaches in the Gospel.鈥�

That鈥檚 the best definition of a Newman Center that we heard.