“He is Risen Indeed”

For 40 years the highlight of our life and mission together has been Holy Week and Easter. It has been a special time where the life of the Church and our life as religious brothers joins together in a deep and powerful way. 

In our early years, before we were given leadership of the Church’s mission on college campuses, our participation in the Church’s celebration of our Lord’s passion and resurrection was mostly with the Brothers and close friends. These early years would prove to be very important for the future of our college missions. What we began to experience was a profound recognition of the transformational spiritual graces of Holy Week and Easter. Every year we would experience in a deeper way the truth of what St Paul preached, “It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives within me....” 

It was at Florida State University in the early 90s that we were first given the opportunity to bring together our personal experience and convictions in regards to Holy Week and Easter at a large public state university. It was like what fuel injectors do for a car engine...they blast fuel into the engine and create explosive power. A good parish Easter Vigil joined together with a newly converted student population that had for the first time really walked, prayed, fasted and died into Christ. It was nothing less than explosive! 

When students were baptized their friends literally started cheering and banging on the pews! The Bishop was so astounded that he asked, is this a Catholic Church!!! From this foundation, Florida State has what we call a “student Holy Week Culture.” This week
is for Jesus and His Church and the students pour themselves into every aspect of this most holy of weeks. 

Well, that was about 25 years ago. We are now at five major universities, and the place you want to be for Holy Week would be at any one of these campuses. At Rutgers in NJ, many families have shifted from attending St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City because of how compellingly alive the Triduum is at Rutgers. We have been at the University of Minnesota for seven years. Before we arrived, the parish rarely had new people joining the Church. This spring we have 22 students and adults in our RCIA program! 

And God’s grace continues to bless our Brotherhood. Br. Logan and Br. Ray will profess perpetual vows in July, which will bring the total number of perpetually professed Brothers to 20! 

So, as the title of this article states, on the campuses where we, our fellow missionaries and staff serve, “Christ is Risen. He is Risen Indeed.”