Young adults receive a blessing from Father Jon Thomas, pastor of Christ the King Parish, Haddonfield, during a Mass in August. During the Mass, college students were given special blessings ahead of the new academic year. College students also served during the Mass in various ministries, including Domenica Rosati, third from right, a junior music education major in Rowan University, Glassboro.
The faith in the heart of 18 year-old Nikolas Greenberg Soyka can trace its roots back almost 50 years to the Czech Republic, when his maternal grandparents were looking to escape the communist country and its religious persecution. His grandmother’s uncle, a Catholic priest, had been killed.
The two made their way to Staten Island, and when their grandson was born, they began to impart him with the truth that sustained them through hardship.
“Their love of Jesus, and devotion to the faith, inspire me today,” Greenberg Soyka says.
The second-year biomedical engineering major at Rowan University, Glassboro, says he is eager to return to his “second family,” the college’s Catholic Campus Ministry. “[I] know that I have friends who I can share the faith with. I’m not alone.”
After the COVID-19 pandemic caused his first year of college to be spent mostly in virtual classrooms, and with online or outdoor meetings at the campus ministry center, Greenberg Soyka is ready to be rid of “Zoom University.” This year’s classes and ministry meetings will be in-person, albeit masked and socially distanced.
“I’m excited to see what a traditional college [experience] looks like,” he says. “This year can only get better.”
Greenberg Soyka is just one of many Catholic young adults in South Jersey looking forward to the new academic year – both in their college classes and engaging in the faith with peers.
In Galloway Township, 19-year-old Tara Misiura is ready to begin her co-chair position with Stockton University’s Catholic Campus Ministry, organizing service opportunities such as sandwich-making for the Atlantic City Rescue Mission and volunteering at the Father Benedict House, which servers the city’s homeless.
“I’m excited for what comes next: overnight retreats, coffee on campus with Father Philip Ramos [campus ministry chaplain], spending more time with my friends, inviting new ones to campus ministry,” she says, adding that besides the Sunday Masses at the center, all meetings are still virtual for the time being.
Still, Stockton’s Catholic Campus Ministry continues to bring “a sense of normalcy, in a world very much abnormal,” said Misiura, a sophomore who is double majoring in world languages and marine biology.
Her service co-chair, fifth-year nursing senior Justin Roa, 22, is also glad to be returning to the campus ministry community. Acknowledging what was lost during the pandemic, he says, “We would go to meetings, hang out, grab lunch. And then, it all stopped.”
He was grateful for the virtual visits, saying the “the Holy Spirit kept us connected.” At the same time, he says he is “excited to meet some people this year physically for the first time [at Mass], whom I only previously met on Zoom.”
Looking back at what has been, the students are thankful for a faith that has brought them through dark waters to the dawn of a new school year, ready to engage with and learn from each other.
“My Catholic beliefs are the foundation of my decision-making,” Misiura says. “What is helpful is having people to look up to [in the campus ministry] … wise, encouraging, open-hearted people. We have a lifeboat, our connection.”
Rowan’s Domenica Rosati, 20, a junior music education major transferring from the university’s Burlington campus, said her faith “has kept me positive and gotten me through” difficult moments. She also credits the priests she’s met who “keep me on the straight path.”
During the pandemic, Greenberg Soyka learned how to pray the Rosary, a habit he continues. “It’s guided me,” he says.
Roa, at his college journey’s end and with the professional world looming, says he finds strength in the past and confidence in what’s to come. “The group has grown the faith in my daily life. I’m spiritually fulfilled.”
Catholic Campus Ministries in South Jersey
Rowan University
Newman House, 1 Redmond Ave, Glassboro
Student meetings are held every Wednesday night at the Newman Center. Games and food from 6-7 p.m. followed by prayer and spiritual formation from 7-8 p.m. Student Mass is 4:30 p.m. Saturdays at Saint Bridget University Parish.
Along with semesterly retreats, students are also invited to join a Bible Study, a “Theology of the Body” book study, a men’s/women’s small group, or an RCIA class. For more information, contact Rebekah Hardy at rhardy@stbridegtup.org.
Rutgers University-Camden
Consider joining Sister Dorothy Giloley, SSJ, and the students who are making a difference on campus by living their faith and values through offering spiritual, educational, social and service activities, which are open to all students on campus.
For more information, contact Sister Dorothy at Sr.Dorothy.Giloley@camdendiocese.org or ccm.ruc@gmail.com
Stockton University
Newman Club, 235 S. Pomona Road, Pomona
Daily Masses, service opportunities, Bible Study, fellowship and more. Sunday Mass at 6 p.m. at the Catholic Campus Ministry Center.
For more information, contact Alison Filion at alison.filion@camdendiocese.org
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