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| October 15, 2008 |
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FSU Catholic Student Union Leaders
COURTESY PHOTO | BROTHER ALLEN MARQUEZ UWF Campus Ministry promotes fellowshipPENSACOLA —Catholic Campus Ministry maintains an active presence at the University of West Florida in Pensacola to encourage students’ participation in their faith. "We seek to provide students a refuge on and off campus where they can experience the freedom to explore their faith, ask questions and receive spiritual support," said Father John Licari, parochial vicar of Nativity of Our Lord Catholic Church and director of Catholic Campus Ministry. Nativity of Our Lord, just off University Parkway, invites both UWF and Pensacola Junior College students to attend a weekly 5 p.m. Sunday Mass. Following the service, the ministry hosts a social that has been known on occasion to include such activities as water balloon fights. In addition, Catholic Campus Ministry organizes another fellowship event on Tuesdays from 6 to 8:30 p.m. in the UWF Commons’ Olympia Room. Catholic Faith in Focus brings students together to take part in activities such as faith sharing, Bible studies and praise and worship. Father Licari also arranges guest speakers and encourages conversation about current faith-related issues. Service outside the church community is a significant element of Catholic Campus Ministry’s mission. Organizations such as Habitat for Humanity and Catholic Charities have benefited from the group’s participation and energy. Students have also spread their enthusiasm for good will by making trips to devastated areas along the Gulf Coast to provide needed hurricane relief. "It’s a place to meet other students who they can grow with in faith life and learn from and pray with,” said Father Licari. “(We) assist students in their continuing practice of education and in the Catholic faith." For more information on UWF’s Catholic Campus Ministry and Nativity of Our Lord Catholic Church, visit www.UWF.edu/ccm/ or e-mail Father Licari at jlicari@nativityofourlordcc.org. FAMU welcomes students with MassTALLAHASSEE — Bishop John H. Ricard, SSJ, began his homily at the Florida A&M University back-to-school Mass Sept. 2 at St. Eugene Chapel by saying "No word in English warms hearts more than a word of welcome." We need to remember, the bishop continued, that “God is always a God of surprise; God is a God of welcome. He always embraces those who need him, those who acknowledge that they need him.” As the service drew to a close, Missionary of St. Paul Father Ilesanmi Osasona, pastor of St. Eugene, extended his own personal welcome to the FAMU students present in the congregation. He urged their faithful participation in parish life, and asked that all present pray for his order, the Missionary Society of St. Paul, as it convened to elect new leadership. Following Mass, parishioners and students took the opportunity to catch up with old friends and make new ones. Carmen Agboton, 19, came to FAMU from Miami for its nationally recognized School of Pharmacy. A third-year student at FAMU, she is in her first professional year in the school. "We have a wonderful pharmacy program, one of the best in the nation." For Kierra Smith, a 21-year-old English major from Miami, the university is all about tradition. "It’s a family school," she said. "I have sisters and cousins who went here." A full scholarship provided the first step on the path to Tallahassee for Janelle Lee Chee, a freshman from Trinidad and Tobago. "I know that at 23 I am a bit old for a freshman, but FAMU didn’t care about that and they were the only one that didn’t care if I didn’t have any money," she said of the university’s scholarship offer. "They knew that I didn’t have any family (in Tallahassee) and they met me at the airport. My flight had been long and hard and they were there to welcome me." "FAMU is a historically black college," said Chee, who plans to major in biological and agrisystems engineering, "and I know that the world is not like that. But I made plans, and this is where God took me." |
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