by Fr. Ryan Kaup
A few weeks ago, we hosted our annual Forty Hours devotion at the Newman Center (check out the Feb. 2 issue of the Southern Nebraska Register). The Lord is never outdone in generosity, and as we spent 40 continual hours with Him in Eucharistic Adoration, He poured out abundant graces on our community.
My take-away grace came from one line that Father Kevin Dyer shared during his Saturday evening conference. He said he once asked a few Catholic UNL alumni, “What happened to make the Newman Center in Lincoln such a special place? How did it grow to one of the biggest college campus ministry programs in the country?” Their response: “Well, I think at a certain point there was a big enough group of us that committed to living the abundant life together – to living differently – and other people wanted to be a part of it, and it just grew from there.”
While the behind-the-scenes work and the years of laying the foundation may be more complicated and nuanced, I believe that answer cuts to the heart of what makes the Newman Center the community that it is. In fact, all our fundraising efforts, strategic planning, and administrative work aim to make the abundant life of the Gospel accessible to our students. I firmly believe this is happening here for two reasons: I’ve lived it and I’ve seen it.
I was one of those UNL students who witnessed people living differently and wanted it for myself. I discovered it was possible to live a life that was full, exciting, and holy. And this isn’t just a reality for 20-year-old me. I’m still living the abundant life at Newman. Now I just have a different role (and a little less hair). I often think to myself, “Who gets to live like this?” I get to work with, live with, and do life with a whole slew of people who know Jesus – a crew who is committed to daily prayer and knows that the Lord has everything in His hands. This is the recipe for an abundant life in Jesus. As I carry out my mission as pastor, I continually ask myself the guiding question, “How can we invite every student into this life?”
Jesus often answers that question through concrete experiences and reminds me that He has it all under control. Over Christmas break, some of our students, including many student athletes, went on a mission trip in Mexico City to work with Hope of the Poor. I wasn’t able to go on the trip (and boy, was I bummed! It was a week of intense FOMO), but the stories I heard after were beautiful. The group encountered the poor, prayed with the tilma of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and spent time with Jesus in the Eucharist. When the students returned, it was evident they had been changed.
Yes, individual hearts and lives were transformed on that trip, and if that’s all that had happened, it would have been worth it. Yet, the beauty didn’t just stay entrapped in individual souls, but spilled out into community. The abundant life in its truest form is something that is shared consciously and unconsciously.
When we’ve found the pearl of great price, we can’t help but tell others about it and we begin selling everything, little by little, to obtain it. We don’t do this in silos, but with others. The students who went on mission together are a perfect example of this: They found Jesus in a deeper way, and now they are living life together and striving for holiness. As a pastor, it’s edifying to witness. I’ve seen it in the sublime: when they are praying in Eucharistic adoration and attending daily Mass. I’ve seen it in the human: in game nights and Super Bowl parties. And most of all I’ve see it in their newfound joy: in laughter and in hope – daring to believe that life can be lived differently.
In college, the encounter with Jesus often comes through friendship with others. Everyone wants to have fun in college amidst the studies and the other commitments. Can this fun be had in ways that are genuine, lasting, and holy? The answer is YES. In fact, living for Christ produces a joy that is more enduring than any fleeting happiness found at the bottom of a bottle or in a one-night stand. This is true for college students, and it’s true for all of us. Our college years have some unique aspects, but living the joy of Christ is a universal call. Dare to believe it is possible for you.
How do we invite more people into the abundant life of the Gospel? We just have to live it.
