Faith & Community

“Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.” (Matthew 25:40)

Even as a Catholic new to taking my faith seriously, I’ve heard this passage used  again and again, imploring us to serve the poor, or donate to a visiting missionary in my local parish, or volunteering at the local food pantry. That is not to make light of or dismiss this passage. The corporal works of mercy, listed right before this passage, are crucial components to living out our faith and loving God.

In isolation, this passage can take on another meaning, which may be even more powerful. The emphasis on “even to the least of them” brings images of the poor and vulnerable to mind. However, these are not Christ’s only brothers. We are all called to communion with Christ, and we must remember everything we do is done not just for Christ, but to Christ as well. Since we are called to serve God in all that we do, service to others, from the least to the greatest, becomes a constant in our lives.

 As a college student, I often find myself thinking and acting selfishly. I go to class to learn for myself. I write for the campus newspaper to hone my craft. I read or watch television to keep myself amused. None of these activities are inherently wrong; I’d argue they are all good things to do with my time. What troubles me is the “why”.  Am I serving God or only myself?

Campus ministry, however, is different. I do not go for myself, but to serve, to be reminded by the campus ministers and the community members of how to keep Christ at the center of my life. We come together to worship God. We come together to reach out to others.

Three years ago, I found myself returning to mass to accompany my grandma. I went to replace my grandpa, a daily mass guy whose dementia placed him in a nursing home, unable to continue his long-time habit. I wasn’t so much going for my own faith, but to go in my grandpa’s stead. When I moved an hour south from my Cleveland suburb to Ashland University, I found the Newman community to appease my grandma. It wasn’t about my personal faith, because I didn’t have much faith of my own on which to rely.

The campus ministers and the members slowly dragged me deeper and deeper into the community. Even as time commitments to class, work and the campus paper increased, my time spent in Lower Chapel, affectionately called God’s Basement, increased, in both quantity and quality. I went from helping out during our weekly Newman dinners to blocking off that time before I scheduled anything else. I became an alter server when no one else was available, despite my discomfort with facing the congregation I had so recently joined. It was finally becoming my faith.

Even as I become more involved in the ministry, what I do is not about me so much as it is about the group, about serving with and for others. I found myself on the leadership council, becoming a small group leader and flying halfway around the world with other Newman members on service trips. Traveling to Nicaragua to help out special-needs orphans taught me something about love, about a truly universal faith. Yet I never planned on doing something like this, nor was this something I particularly wanted to do. I didn’t think, I just did. I followed my gut instinct, confident I am serving God in whatever I do with this group. Campus ministry has afforded me opportunities to serve the least and the best of my brothers and sisters. As I’ve grown into the group, the group has grown into me. I hope and pray the humility and willingness to serve will infuse itself into my life, just as it has my days at Newman.

Zack Lemon is a student at Ashland University in Ashland,
Ohio and a student leader for the
Campus Ministry Leadership Institute 2014.