Spring/Summer 2023 Newsletter

FROM THE DESK OF THE PASTOR

Dear Friends,

Exactly one year ago, amid a whirlwind of sudden and unexpected change, I arrived at Saint John XXIII as the new Pastor. For the next several months, the winds of change continued at a gale force, and I felt like I was drinking from a fire hose as I attempted to get oriented. By the time the students left for summer, along with the Campus Ministry team and our FOCUS Missionaries, all of us were ready for a breather.

The spring and summer months provided rest, but more importantly, God made it a time for clarity and unity around the mission of Saint John XXIII Church, which is the catechizing of the souls of students and staff at Colorado State University and the larger academic community in Fort Collins.

Beginning in April, we initiated a parish-wide strategic planning process in which we focused on the collective spiritual health of all the church members and brainstormed ideas for folding interested permanent parishioners into the mission of campus ministry. The strategic planning process culminated in a highly successful involvement fair after all the Masses during a weekend in July.

At the involvement fair, many of you graciously signed up to help in various ways, such as special event support, student mentoring, leading Bible studies, meal preparation, adopting a student prayer partner, Mass greeters, and Eucharistic Adoration to achieve perpetual adoration. Each of these apostolates is critical to the success of campus ministry, and now that we have caught our breath and the students are back, it’s time for the rubber to hit the road!

So, let’s get busy, and may the Holy Spirit pour out God’s grace upon us so that during the 2023-2024 academic year, countless students encounter God’s healing love and mercy through the work of your holy hands and the vitality of the Ram Catholic ministry.

Sincerely,

Fr Joseph Lajoie

Every year, FOCUS puts on one of the largest Catholic young adult conferences, SEEK. This year, SEEK was attended by about 17,000 FOCUS campus students and other young adult attendees. The wonderful part of SEEK is that now it is no longer just college students. This year, a record number of non-college aged people also attended SEEK. The goal of SEEK hasn’t changed, though, even if the people who attend has slightly.

B y E liza BE th h E nsl E y

SEEK is still a conference to allow people to learn about the Gospel and our given mission, find community and strength in others, and be sent out into the world rejuvenated and motivated to “set the world on fire”. It allows attendees, especially students in areas where they may be the minority and experience push back, to see that there are people supporting them and out in the world doing good through Mission Way, the area of the conference where you can learn about various religious orders and Catholic companies making changes in the world.

There are keynote speakers who concentrate on specific ways we are called to live in the world and small break out talks over various topics like how to pray and how to have a conversation with those

who are against you. Mass is held every day and there is a whole conference adoration service at the height of the conference.

This year was my third year attending SEEK. My first year was online during COVID, and last year was a small, in person conference only for Colorado schools. So, I was decently nervous going this year as I had a small idea of what to expect. But I am very glad I did. Not only was I able to receive knowledge and motivation, I truly saw the Body of Christ. Attending Mass everyday and seeing how many people were going to confession and the perpetual adoration offered gave me motivation to give more time to God. Mostly, though, I felt genuine love.

As an introvert, big conferences like this can be difficult sometimes. And it was tiring. But when everyone was let in to get seats for keynotes, there was a little “party” before hand with the band playing music and all the schools waving their flags so the students can sit together. The first day, this fun little dance party was a bit intimidating. But by the second day, I had talked with so many new people and had so much fun at the conference in general that I stepped out of my comfort zone and joined in. And I was accepted. People saw me dancing and waving the CSU flag and even complete strangers would stop and have fun with me. I put myself out there and was vulnerable in a semi-familiar environment and gained confidence that was much needed to step outside my comfort zone in everyday life and share the faith. And while it is still hard back here at home, I know I have a wonderful community around the world to fall back onto for support.

Sisters of Life

Every month or so Ram Catholic gets the great opportunity of having the Sisters of Life come to St. John XXIII and the CSU campus.

The Sisters of Life are a group of Roman Catholic religious sisters who not only practice chastity, poverty, and obedience, but also vow to protect and enhance the sacredness of every life. This is done through serving people as they acknowledge the good in each person, along with sharing how we have new life in Jesus through God’s incredible love for each person. While here the sisters spend their time connecting with students whether it be over a meal, playing a game, evangelizing on campus, or during spiritual accompaniment.

When the Sisters of Life come to campus, it’s always a treat. I myself am always amazed that they remember my name, especially when I rarely remember their names (I think it’s because they all wear the same outfit) and they meet and serve so many more other people than I do. One memory I have of the sisters took place last February on a snowy Wednesday afternoon. After the on campus Mass that day the sisters, some students, the Focus missionaries, and I ate lunch together. Afterwards the sisters invited me to go sledding with them on a hill at CSU. We walked up the

hill and began sliding down the snow on our stomachs, similar to penguins going down an iceberg. It began snowing again as the sun shone on us.

I remember taking the moment in and realizing how perfect and pure it was: the sisters and I sledding down a hill as the glittery, white snow enveloped us. I think it was a gift from God. We finished sledding, took a selfie, and walked back to the church.

On the walk back I was asked questions with genuine interest and care, it was as if I was the only person in the world. I also got to learn about them and their lives, including that Sister Tierza was from Louisiana and had seen alligators in the wild. We then got back to the church where I soon departed to head to my apartment.

When not on campus the sisters spend their time serving women who are vulnerable to abortion and giving them support and resources to choose and live life well. They also host retreats and help women who have suffered from abortion to heal with Jesus. Given all that they do, the other students and I are very fortunate that they come to our campus and spend time with us in a way that truly emulates Jesus and his unimaginable love!

Life especially as a college student has felt like a juggling act, between classes, work, maintaining a social life and giving time to grow deeper in my faith, rest was the last thing on my mind. Let alone holy rest. I know that I’m not the only one performing this juggling act. The best part about entering into senior year is knowing that (as long as you’re not pursuing a medical, law or graduate degree) the world is pretty much your oyster. Well, that can also be the scariest thing ever.

Taking time away to reflect upon my college experience at Senior Cabin Weekend was the holy rest I needed all throughout college. Since it was such a unique and rare experience I have grown to appreciate it and I am sure that it will only become a fonder memory as I step into what the Lord is calling me to.

Leading up to the weekend I felt much like a burden. Like Saint James

Senior Cabin WEEKEND

By angEliKa cwiKlEwsKi

the Lesser, I doubted Jesus’ love and healing power in this overwhelming time in the semester. “A burden?” Jesus said to Little James; isn’t this how many of us feel? Like what we’re carrying, the weight of it all, makes us the burden to everyone? That’s not the case at all. So, I did my best and traded His daily bread with my daily duties and struggles and said yes to a weekend in the mountains.

Senior Cabin Weekend was full of freedom and a brief but needed time of rest. Rest is productive and that is something I have failed to tell myself throughout college. On top of that, I was able to grow in a deeper relationship with some amazing girls and have so many Oreos that it’s embarrassing to even admit. Reflecting upon what the Lord has done and remembering how He has brought me through the past couple of years in college has set me up to receive whatever He has planned with open arms.

STUDENT TESTIMONY

Augie Horton

CSU JUNIOR

I want to preface this with the fact that I really don’t know where to start when it comes to writing about myself. Regardless, I hope I can share my story in a way that inspires others, or, at the very least, allows them to meditate on how infinitely merciful, understanding, and loving God truly is.

I was raised a nondenominational Christian, with both my parents strongly encouraging my sister and I to live our lives with protestant Christian values, but never forcing us to believe anything. Beyond this kind of strong moral encouragement, my parents didn’t push my sister and I towards faith, though we both, fortunately, ended up with it anyways. My family almost never went to church, and until I found the Catholic Church, I don’t think I had ever attended church by my own free will. My parents didn’t want to force us into the faith, they wanted us to grow into it on our own. Unfortunately, I took this well-meaning freedom in the wrong direction and ended up an atheist for a good portion of high school, which also happened to be the most depressed I have ever been. Later in high school, I would find some vague form of faith again in which I began to read the Bible and appreciate Christian values. But that vague faith was more like Christian-adjacent agnosticism. I greatly appreciated the teachings of Christ and His apostles, but I didn’t really believe in the divine nature of all of it, even if I told people I did.

This shaky Christian-adjacent agnosticism remained with me, and I began my college career with heavy amounts of drinking, lust, addiction, and pride. It was very easy to ignore the morals I claimed to adhere to when I didn’t believe that there was anything greater than myself worth serving. This lifestyle would persist into my second year of college as my depravity and depression worsened from growing reliance on temporary pleasure from things like drinking and partying. I was beginning to fall fully into habitual hedonism, trying my best to fill the emptiness I felt with more spiritually

empty activities. But just as I began to truly spiral out of control, I met Josh Ray, a man who I now consider to be a best friend and brother.

Josh sat next to me in a Chemistry class that we had together, and, to make a long story short, convinced me to eventually attend ADORE Night at Saint John XXIII. I went into it very skeptical, understanding nearly nothing about the Catholic faith or adoration. When I entered the sanctuary, the beauty of everyone praying in silence instantly struck me. As I knelt in a pew and looked upon the Eucharist, I realized that I was completely awestruck. For the first time in my entire life, I felt a completely overwhelming feeling of awe and had no explanation for it at all. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been in awe plenty of times in my life, I’ve experienced beauty, but never like this. Every other time, I’ve been able to attribute my awe to something I understood to be beautiful in a worldly way, whether that be a sunset, a mountain range, a wonderful family, etc.—there was always a worldly explanation. But this was completely different. I was incapable of explaining the awe I felt with worldly reasoning, at the time I assumed that what I was looking at was nothing more than a piece of bread in a fancy glass case, and yet this view drew out of me a level of emotion I hadn’t felt in years.

It hadn’t yet occurred to me that it wasn’t what I was looking at that was important, it was Whom I was looking at that made this inexplicable awe possible. It occurred to me that night that this awe, which I had no real grasp on or understanding of, would become the center of my life. What I was in awe of was the true Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Christ—the literal presence and essence of God Himself—and I didn’t even realize it. God, through His infinite mercy and love, found a way to get the attention of a prideful and arrogant soul like mine. He did so by revealing only a tiny fraction of His beauty to me. Even the tiniest glimpse of the Lord’s beauty can soften the hardness of your heart if only you’d just open your eyes. Simply looking upon the Eucharist drew me into the faith and brought me countless graces, and now that I’ve taken first communion, I can only begin to imagine the graces yet to come.

Thank you to everyone at Saint John XXIII, and God bless you all.

EASTER VIGIL

This year has been the first year I have served at Mass and it has been a profound experience where I have grown closer to Christ and have gained the opportunity to be closer to him every Mass I serve. My name is Adrian, I am a sophomore engineering student at CSU, and I have been involved in Ram Catholic for two years.

I was first called to alter serve by my friend and discipleship buddy, James. Last year, many of the regular student servers had graduated leaving many positions to be filled at the Mass. I had never served before, so I was anxious to start, but I said yes; that ‘yes’ was the start of a more intimate life with Christ in the Mass. When I serve, I am given the opportunity to be physically closer to the Eucharist and be a greater part of the reverence shown in the Mass.

When preparing for the Easter Vigil Mass, James and I wanted

this event to reflect the beauty and glory reflected by the Easter season, so we began to plan to employ as many servers for the Mass as possible. After a week of organizing and some coordinating, we had sixteen servers for the Vigil Mass. As you can imagine, organizing that many servers between the ages of 10 and 21 was a bit challenging and required setup and forethought of roles, logistics, and other considerations. During the Vigil itself, we were all able to participate in the Mass, all working in tandem to celebrate the feast of the risen Christ.

What was so important to me personally during the Easter Vigil Mass wasn’t necessarily the atmosphere or how many servers we could get to line up behind the priests, but that sixteen men were able to be brought closer to Christ to celebrate His resurrection by being active in the Mass.

RAM FOOTBALL MEETS RAM CATHOLIC

On May 24, 2023, Colorado State University (CSU) Football Coach Jay Norvell hosted Father Joseph, Father Michael, and Deacon Greg, at the CSU Football Facility. Coach Norvell was accompanied by two of his Assistant Coaches, Tim Cassidy and Colton Bosnos.

The visit was made unforgettable by the gracious reception of Coach Norvell and his assistants. While meeting in his office, Coach Norvell described to the clergy the values of the CSU Football program, which are:

• Players who are respectful gentlemen

• Players who are 100-percent accountable for their actions, and

• Players must hustle, problem solve, and overcome obstacles.

After the meeting in his office which overlooks the Canvas Football Field, Coach Norvell led a tour of the entire football facility which was awe-inspiring. The facility reflected the genuine class of Coach Norvell and his staff.

At the conclusion of of the visit, the clergy hudled up with Coach’s Norvell, Cassidy, and Bosnos, to pray for the Holy Spirit to descend upon the Coach, his staff, his players, and the entire CSU Football program.

The Fort Collins community is blessed that God chose a faithful Catholic man in Coach Norvell to lead and mold the young men the Colorado State University Footballl Team.

To Our Benefactors:

THANK YOU

A day does not go by that we do not thank Almighty God for the many blessings He has bestowed upon our community. We would not be able to serve the students without your generous support. May the Lord coninually bless and keep you close to His heart.

CHURCH REVENUE

• Development (Ram Catholic): $493.835

• Offertory: $718,127

• Ministries Fees/ Fundraising: $4,473

• Other Income: $164,893

Total: $1,381,328

RAM CATHOLIC SPENDING

• Campus Ministry- Worship, Service, Education, Fellowship- $51,532

• Development- Fundraising for Campus Ministry- $46,891

• FOCUS Support- Missionary Support-$83,426

• Ministry team -Salaries and Benefits- $249,863

Total: $431,712

Ram Catholic Endowment at the Catholic Foundation of Northern Colorado

Total: $351,104

64 RAM CATHOLIC GIVING CLUB MEMBERS

Benefactors who give $1000 or more per year. Total $296,860

131 RAM CATHOLIC SOCIETY MEMBERS

Benefactors who make a gift every month. Total $53,040

289 MINISTRY PARTNER MEMBERS

Benefactors who make a gift of $1-$999 per year. Total $143,935

Your gift to Ram Catholic makes a difference in thousands of students’ lives by giving them an opportunity to encounter Christ. Through these encounters students discern God’s plan for their life and enter into their vocations radically alive for Christ. Please consider a gift to Ram Catholic today and together we can bring souls to Christ.

Saint John XXIII Catholic Church

Ram Catholic

1220 University Ave

Fort Collins, CO 80521

MASS SCHEDULE

TUESDAY // 8am, 5:30pm

WEDNESDAY // 8am, 5:30pm

THURSDAY // 8am, 8pm (During school year)

FRIDAY // 8am

SATURDAY // 9am Vigil: 4pm, 6pm (Byzantine)

SUNDAY // 8am, 10am, 11:30am (Latin), 5pm

RECONCILIATION

TUESDAY // 8:30am, 4pm

WEDNESDAY // 8:30am, 4pm

THURSDAY // 8:30am, 7-7:50pm

FRIDAY // 8:30am

SATURDAY // 8-8:50am, 2:30-3:30pm

What’s Inside?

Sisters of Life

SEEK23 Financials

Easter Vigil Ram Football Much More...