Bishop to college students: ‘Let’s raise a Lenten toast’

Photos by James A. McBride

Bishop Dennis Sullivan sits with college students at a breakout session during the “Open My Eyes” conference March 29 at Rowan University in Glassboro. Next to Bishop Sullivan is Father Robert Sinatra, chaplain of Rowan’s Catholic Campus Ministry. Right, keynote speaker Ennie Hickman, a domestic missionary from Houston, Texas, shares humorous stories and inspiring faith.

GLASSBORO – “Here’s mud in your eye.”
With these words, Bishop Dennis Sullivan began his sermon to the college students gathered here at St. Bridget Church March 29.
The liturgy capped a day-long conference for college students, called “Open My Eyes.” Sponsored by the Camden Diocesan Office of Youth, Young Adult, and Campus Ministries, the participants heard keynote speaker Ennie Hickman and participated in breakout talks, stations of the cross, and Mass with Bishop Sullivan.
Bishop Sullivan explained that the phrase “here’s mud in your eye,” much like the Spanish word “Salud,” or Gaelic “Slainte,” can be used to express a toast to one’s health, much like the English word “cheers.”
However, he stressed, its origins could well come from Sunday’s Gospel reading from the Book of John, 9:1-41, where Jesus literally puts mud in the eye of a blind man and restores his sight.
Much like the blind man, Bishop Sullivan said, all people can be devoid of sight, suffering from a “spiritual darkness that prevents us from seeing what is right in front of our eyes; it is the failure to use the faith that Jesus provides.”
We can be blind to Jesus’ light by today’s culture and prejudice, which bring “darknesses and shadows,” he said, but, if we “let Christ wash” us, we can “see with the eyes of faith, and find green pastures and the right path.”
“The light of the world is in our midst,” he concluded. “Let’s raise a Lenten toast; here’s mud in your eyes.”
Sixty college students from Rowan University; Rutgers-Camden; Stockton College; Rider College; Seton Hall University; Camden and Gloucester County community colleges; and high school seniors converged at Rowan University on Saturday morning for the conference.
Keynote speaker Ennie Hickman, from Houston, Texas, serves with his wife, Cana, in Adore Ministries, which provides outreach to underserved youth and young adults in the United States. In a humorous and energetic message, Hickman shared personal stories of his life and his faith.
As a youth, Hickman recalled, like many in the audience, he had many questions as to his purpose in life; “What am I supposed to do in this world?”
God, though, “opened my eyes” and helped him realize that “he has everything under control. I have nothing to fear in Christ.”
Hickman learned that in his work, God asked him to “zoom in on my own heart,” examine it, and form “a heart for God.”
He also urged students to be “hungry for God.” Instead of “snacking on other food,” fulfilling our desires from the worldly culture, we must desire God, “who wants, today, to open our eyes.”
For the students, the day “was a great experience, with amazing presentations,” said Rowan freshman Kasey O’Leary, a chemical engineering major who is currently the service committee chairperson of Rowan’s Catholic Campus Ministry, and vice president-elect.
She enjoyed the “great witness” and speakers, and, particularly in the Stations of the Cross, “getting closer to God during to Lent.”