Happy Feast Day Irish!  It is the Feast of St. Vincent de Paul, today, September 27. He is the Patron Saint of all charitable organizations, and volunteers.  You can learn more about our incredible name Saint Patron here.  WON'T YOU PLEASE CONSIDER SENDING IN AT LEAST 3 CANNED GOODS for us to give to the St. Vincent de Paul Society? 

Happy Homecoming Weekend! Let us all pray together for the care and safety of all of our students!  It is incredible but we will be entering the month of October on Tuesday!  October is a beautiful month in the Church. October is known as the Month of the Rosary. In this month of October, our Blessed Mother, who is the perfect model of discipleship, reminds us that we need to go to her Son, Jesus, and give everything to Him.

Please see below in the Marianist Moment, what this beautiful meditative prayer is all about.  Please know that when we don't have First Friday Mass, Marianist LIFE Leaders lead the Rosary on Fridays in our Chapel at 7:25. All students are alwasy welcome to join us. We will also be sharing in a whole-school Rosary on October 10.  Since Jesus always points us to Mary, we will be ending our Rosary with a brief time of Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.  We will be explaining everything to our students in the coming days. 

October is also Respect Life Month. Pope Francis encourages us, to "...enter fully into the fabric of society, sharing the lives of all, listening to their concerns, helping them materially and spiritually in their needs, rejoicing with those who rejoice, weeping with those who weep," so that we all work together to bring about a culture of life through radical, sacrificial, Christ-like love. Please pray for the respect for life from womb to tomb.

Please continue to read on for some updates, including some new information on service.  

IMPORTANT ITEMS/NEWLY UPDATED 9/27/24

1. We will have 1st Friday Mass on Friday October 4, in our Chapel. Fr. Cameron Popick will be our celebrant.  Since we had Adoration this Friday (Sept. 27), our days of Adoration for October will the 11th and the 25th. The Sign-Up Genius for those will be sent to students and families the Friday before Adoration.  Please remember parents are welcome to come Adore Jesus with us.    

2. SERVICE UPDATE from Mr. Larlham:

Students have asked about how to log our service hours. 

Here is what students should do:

• Log into MobileServe.com using your STVM/Google credentials. Freshman have an email in their inbox from TeamMobileServe that will help them claim their account.

• If it is your first time logging in (transfers and freshmen), the website will ask you for a School Code, but you can just "skip this" step.

• Similarly, MobileServe wants your phone number as a way to verify your identity.

• On the home screen, there is a big blue button that will lead you to a few questions about any service hours you do.

• It is important that you provide an email address for whomever is supervising your service. Again, MobileServe will ask you for that as you log your service hours.

Lastly, we are making an important change to our service hour classification this year for Sophomores and Freshman. All students are expected to complete 25 service hours this year. For Juniors and Seniors, you are still expected to complete at least 15 of those hours off campus at local non-profit organizations. Sophomores, you are expected to complete at least 10 hours off campus, and Freshmen are expected to complete at least five hours off campus.

  Please email or find Mr. Larlham in room 231 on Green Days or room 234 on Gold Days if you have any questions.  Please also see the list of sites you can complete your service below under the service section of this newsletter. 

3. Kairos applications are available for seniors. I have emailed seniors the information, and peer Kairos leaders are sharing and inviting them during Theology classes. Slots are filling up fast for the November 10-13 date.  The due date for Applications for the Fall Kairos is October 25.  Please don't delay if this is the Kairos you/your senior want to attend. Please see the Kairos section below for information and also to print the application.

4. Please see below and talk with your student about the Matt Maher & Sarah Kroger Catherdral Concert on December 8.  An email with a google form of interest will be sent next week to students. 

5. There are a few new opportunities for faith formation and experiences around our community and diocese. Immaculee Ilibigiza is coming to St. Mary's Hudson and the ITE Young Adult Group is hosting for any age a Faith and Science Worshop.  Please check out in our Faith Experiences outside STVM below.  

May Mary's Mantle Cover You,

Mrs. Goshe

Director of Campus Ministry

STVM Campus Ministry has learned that Matt Maher and Sarah Kroger will be coming to St. John's Cathedral on December 8, 2024.  Tickets are limited and The Diocesan Youth Ministry Office is willing to give us free reserved tickets for our students and chaperones.  An email will be sent to all students to sign up on a google form if interested.  If you are willing to be a parent Chaperone and to carpool students to the Cathedral, please email Mrs. Goshe. 

Kairos Retreat is a retreat that truly celebrates and culminates our seniors' time here at STVM. It is an experience that many of our past seniors have shared was their best experience at STVM. Kairos means "God's Time" and is a retreat led by students for students. The talks and exercises of this retreat center around the revelation of God's love as we experience it in our lives. Adults participate as co-workers with the student team that is built from previous attendees of a Kairos retreat. These 4 day/3 night retreats are held at Loyola Retreat House in Clinton, OH.

The dates for Kairos Retreats this year are:

November 10 -13 (deadline for application and payment: Oct. 25)

January 19 - 22 (deadline for application and payment: Dec. 18)

March 23 - 26 (deadline for application and payment: Feb. 28)

Kairos Applications and Retreat Forms are available to print here and are also available to pick up in the Campus Ministry office. Kairos Leaders will be speaking in Theology classes and answer questions, but If you have any questions, please reach out to Mrs. Goshe.

Jesus, in his three years of public ministry, picked the 12 apostles to accompany him. Marianist Founder, Blessed William Joseph Chaminade, knew that new times called for new measures and worked to form small groups, or sodalities, of lay people to accompany and support each other in their journey of faith. The most current research in Youth Ministry states that relationship and authentic accompaniment are an incredible means to help grow a disciple of Christ for life.

In light of this, Campus Ministry will be seeking students interested in forming small faith sharing groups. The groups will be single-sex groups of 5 to no more than 8. The groups will commit to meeting for one hour, once per week. A Catholic mentor from outside the STVM community will, after receiving both ministry training and VIRTUS (the Diocesan program, Protecting God's Children) training, journey in faith with the small group. Groups will do an initial study and then, working with their mentor, determine the next faith step activity.

Students interested in learning more or becoming a member of a Sodality Small Faith Sharing Group should complete this google form. If any students or parents have any questions about this new endeavor, please email Mrs. Goshe.

Campus Ministry would like to continue to increase the amount opportunities offered to pray together. We will be trying the following schedule during the 1st Quarter. If you are interested in learning more about any of these opportunities, please email Mrs. Goshe.

Monday - Pray the Litany for Students (together or alone and wherever you are)

Tuesday - Divine Mercy Chaplet - 3pm - Pray it using Hallow App

Wednesday - 5 Minute Prayer in the LRC immediately after school

Thursday - 15 Minute Lectio Divina/Scripture Study during lunches in Campus Ministry Office

Friday - First Friday Masses at 7:15, every other Friday Rosary at 7:25am. All day Adoration 1st and 3rd Fridays of the month (parents welcome).

Did you know the STVM family prayed over 5,000 prayers with the Hallow App last school year? Students and staff alike shared how they are praying the daily reflection, playing Catholic Trivia, praying the rosary, listening to the Bible in a Year, completing prayer challenges, listening to scripture stories and music, and more. Thanks to a very generous donor, we are blessed to have the Hallow App again for the 24-25 school year. Any current student with a STVM email will be able to download the app through Google when the school year begins. Information, instructions on downloading, and time to download will be provided in Theology classes next week. Parents, please stay tuned to how you can also have a free three month trial of Hallow.