University Ministry: For and With Others
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Dear Community,
Welcome to the beginning of a new semester! May this time be one of celebration, joy, and gratitude, as well as deep reflection, unity, and commitment to social justice.
During this journey, let us remember that our Ignatian tradition encourages us to actively contemplate the different political and socio-economic realities that converge in our society so that we may join in a collective response to transform the structures that have fractured the social fabric and the common good of our communities, including the environment.
To achieve this objective at University Ministry, we are convinced that encountering other communities, crossing borders, listening attentively, pursuing dialogue, and building bridges are crucial elements to advance to more just and supportive spaces that center our action on human dignity.
We all are called to be people for and with others. And we can respond in many ways. A group of USF students just returned from an Arrupe Immersion in the Ecuadorian rainforest where they learned more about Indigenous ecologies, culture and education following the invitation of Pope Francis in the Laudato Si encyclical to take care of our common home. In addition, two of our resident ministers and graduate students at USF, Jesús (MIMS) and Ana Karen (CEL), traveled to Central America along with Professor Amy Argenal EdD, and Faith Williams (MIMS student) last December to visit and listen to communities in El Salvador and Honduras.
We encourage you to read some of the student testimonies in A Faith that Does Justice or Arrupe Immersions sections to learn more and get involved to walk with these communities who are enduring amidst human rights and environmental rights crackdowns!
- Ana Karen Barragan and Jesús Maria de la Torre Cañadilla (Resident Ministers)
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| University Ministry Events
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Monday, Feb. 6 | 12:30–1:15 p.m. | Zoom
Join us for a guided meditation to start the week right. Guided meditation can help reduce stress, increase patience, improve focus, and more! Open to all students, faculty, and staff!
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| | The Jews of Iran
Sunday, March 5 | 6:30–8 p.m. | Fromm Hall, Maraschi Room
Acclaimed scholar Lior B. Sternfeld will offer an interactive presentation on the Jews of contemporary Iran, the largest population of Jews in a Muslim-majority country in the world. A professor of history and Jewish studies at Pennsylvania State University, Sternfeld is the author of Between Iran and Zion: Jewish Histories of Twentieth Century Iran (2018) and co-author of Jews of Iran: A Photographic Chronicle (2022), along with Hassan Sarbakhshian and Parvaneh Vahidmanesh.
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Sunday Night Student Liturgies
Sundays | 7 p.m. | Saint Ignatius Church
Join our weekly liturgy and engage in prayer and deep reflection with other students! All are welcome. Jan. 29 was our first student liturgy for the semester.
Would you like to be a lector, acolyte, Eucharistic minister, altar server, greeter, or choir member for any of these liturgies? If interested, please contact Ana Karen Barragán.
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| | Breaking Bread and the Binary
Thursdays | 11:45 a.m.–12:45 p.m. | University Ministry – Romero Room (Toler 122)
Join us every Thursday as we explore the intersectionality between our unique spiritual traditions and our LGBTQIA+ identities.
For more information or if you’d like to meet with Rabbi Angel, please contact csangel@usfca.edu.
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| | Zen Mindfulness
Wednesdays beginning Feb. 1 | 4:45–6:15 p.m. | Pedro Arrupe Room
Ever notice how your mind can race at 1,000 m.p.h.? We are often so busy reviewing the past, or rehearsing the future. Sometimes, we never seem to keep our appointment with life; here and now.
This free course will introduce you to mindfulness and its energy of awakening to life.
It’s the art of returning to the present moment, with open attention and deep concentration. The clarity of intelligent alertness, this creative awareness, is our birthright.
Whether a newbie or adept, faculty, student, or neighbor – all are welcome. This is a weekly, recurrent event beginning Feb.1. For more information, email Professor Gary Gach.
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A Faith that Does Justice
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| | A Fight for a Better Tomorrow
Two of our Resident Ministers, Ana Karen Barragán and Jesús de la Torre, traveled to Central America last December as part of a delegation with the SHARE Foundation and the Leadership Conference of Women Religious to learn more about the communities they serve and their enduring fight for a better future for El Salvador and Honduras.
“Visiting the Universidad Centroamericana José Simeón Cañas (Jesuit University) is to find
oneself walking on fertile ground; it is to know that we are surrounded by a type of academic,
theological, and philosophical thought capable of granting life, even after death. It is to know
that the educational community has been infused with a spirit of truth and justice that touched the lives of the martyrs but did not stop there; it remained present in its hallways, in its gardens, in its professors, administrators, and students. (...) But there is also the hardness and agony of a bullet aimed at silence, another at the academy, one more at a liberating theology, and countless bullets aimed at a community committed to justice and, in that community, at the Salvadoran people.”
- Ana Karen Barragan, LME Resident Minister
“Joy, when coupled with resistance and the defense of dignity, challenges the very structures of the systems of oppression and unleashes the anger of those who dominate them. 42 years ago, this anger was turned against the sisters Ita, Dorothy, Maura and Jean and transformed the El Salvador airport into a place of death and desolation, just as it is for deported persons and so many others today. But it wasn’t the end. These sisters now live in the memory of Rosa, who fled during the war. They live in the action of social organizations. They live in women united for their rights, health, and water. They live in the youth that is not afraid to raise its voice. They live in rural communities. They live in the people who, ultimately, transform joy into their form of resistance and their voice into their strongest instrument against the injustice of a government that admires a past of death. The strength of dignity and faith rooted in the community always breaks through. Therefore, if you want an example of hope, look at the people, and especially the women, of El Salvador.”
- Jesús de la Torre, Hayes-Healy Resident Minister
PC: Mark Coplan, SHARE Communications
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| | Laudato Si Immersion
Over winter break a group of fourteen students traveled to Quito, Ecuador as part of the Laudato Sí Immersion. The immersion, inspired by Pope Francis’ Laudato Si’ encyclical on the care of our common home, immersed students in the forestry at Yasuní National Park to explore the interconnection of Indigenous ecologies, education, and culture.
Together with the Pontifical University of Ecuador, the Yasuní Scientific Station community, and the Indigenous Waorani community, students learned about critical perspectives on education as a factor of change, innovative ways of teaching children in Indigenous communities, and practices that protect our planet and its species.
What our students had to say:
“My main takeaways are that everything is connected and all actions and intentions have an impact. My understanding of spirituality has grown from listening to others and witnessing interconnectedness between people and nature.”
- Miya Stephanoff, Environmental Studies, Laudato Si’ Immersion Participant
“During the immersion in Ecuador, I think what stood out to me the most was the relationship between the Waorani people, the oil companies, and the science station in Yasuni National Park. The Waorani and the science station seem to have a mutually beneficial relationship, which is expected given the science station's role in preserving the rainforest and the culture of indigenous peoples. (...) The oil companies are negatively affecting the water supply and biodiversity, but also provide essential resources for the Waorani people. (...) Overall, I think this displays an interesting dichotomy between what people initially think about oil companies in the Amazon and the actual reality of the situation there. (...) I think being in Ecuador made me reflect on Pope Francis’s Laudato Si and reinforced my thoughts on community-based change. I think caring for our common home and making a real change is something that has to be done by reaching out to others and forming a community. (...) I hope that people continue to talk about and support indigenous peoples, whilst also understanding the importance of preserving culture and language.”
- Ingrid McEachen, Biology, Laudato Si’ Immersion participant
For 2023, Arrupe Immersions has a couple of spaces available for Leap of Faith. To learn more about this immersion, feel free to email, Adrian Laudani or Jesús de la Torre.
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| | #APPLYGOTEAM
GO Team Orientation leaders play an essential role in the facilitation of Orientation by providing new students and their family members with an engaging and authentic introductory experience to campus life and all its resources. Applications for GO Team will go live on Wednesday, Feb. 1, and close on Sunday, Feb. 19. Students can learn more and apply here. Nominate your peers by using the online form.
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| | Community Group Bible Discussions
Monday, Feb. 6 | 7–8:30 p.m. | UC 415
These weekly spaces are a great place to build friendships and discuss questions about faith. Each week we look at a short section of the Bible together and base our discussion on the questions of the group. It's open-ended and all faith backgrounds are welcome!
These groups meet every week at 3 different times:
- Mondays from 7–8:30 p.m. in KA 165
- Tuesdays from 7–8:30 p.m. in UC 415
- Thursdays from 11:40 a.m.–12:30 p.m. in UC 415
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| | Worship and Prayer Night
Wednesday, Feb. 15 | 7–8:30 p.m. | McLaren 252
Join for a student-led time of musical worship, prayer, and sharing. This space will be informal and spiritually supportive, welcoming the participation of all attendees. For more information, email Jacqueline Tisthammer.
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| | Spring Scavenger Hunt
Saturday, Feb. 18 | 10:45 a.m. | Golden Gate Park
We are hosting a photo scavenger hunt on Saturday, Feb 18th and would love to have you join us! We will meet in front of the cafeteria at 10:45 a.m. Details aren't quite in place yet, but you can email Jacqueline Tisthammer if you are interested in participating.
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| | Father Donal Godfrey, S.J. in AP News
"We have to learn to live with this tension."
AP News recently featured Father Donal Godfrey, S.J. in an article recognizing the struggles LGBTQ face at Christian Colleges.
Father Donal is the current chaplain of the university and an advocate for LGBTQ rights.
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