“ For you were called for freedom, brothers. But do not use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh; rather, serve one another through love.” (Galatians 5:13)

Many Catholic Campus Ministry students involve themselves with service for Spring Break, and this year they were offered two options:

Alternative Spring Break
or
FOCUS Missions.

For the annual Alternative Spring Break trip, we stayed in Memphis and spent our days serving St. Mary’s Soup Kitchen, St. Anne Highland and Catholic Charities, while our evenings were spent as a pilgrimage around the city in reflection and fellowship. At St. Mary’s Soup Kitchen, we sorted donations to the clothing closet, and each of us had the opportunity to serve guests of the soup kitchen. Fr. Joey Kaump asked us to clear out areas of overgrowth around the property at St. Anne Highland. We worked together at Catholic Charities to organize Christmas donations. In between our work, we learned about and discussed different systemic issues, prayed together, and attended Mass at St. Mary’s downtown, St. Michael, and Sacred Heart. Breanna Parker says, “It felt really good to give back to the community and do something for someone else rather than for myself this spring break.” Students built relationships not only with each other, but also with the ministries where we served.
Meanwhile other students travelled with FOCUS Missions to St. Lucia to spend the week serving others and living the joy of the Gospel. The students spent the mornings of the week talking with students in local schools about Jesus and the Gospel. Their afternoons of the week were spent in a home for elderly people and a homeless shelter, including one run by the Missionaries of Charity, continuing to spread the Gospel and give of their time. While they weren’t working, much of their time was spent in prayer, Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and distributing Communion to locals who are homebound. Participant Rebecca Longoria had this to say about her time in St. Lucia, “Not only did I encounter Jesus in a deep way in every single person I met in St. Lucia, but it also opened my eyes and heart to be able to encounter Jesus in every single person I encounter in my day to day life. Throughout the week I was filled with an immense sense of gratitude and my heart was overfilled with the beauty and mercy of God’s love that He has for all his people. It truly was a life changing week.”