For a long time, public universities have been the place where students have lost their Faith. The pressure of secular professors, sexual promiscuity and liberal ideas were enough to cause impressionable youth to question their beliefs.
Living outside traditional influences, independent students were encouraged to discard religion as restrictive and old-fashioned.
In addition, Catholic campus ministries often supported social justice warriors, bad liturgy and liberal causes. The crisis in the Church spread confusion and uncertainty.
Everything seems to conspire against maintaining the Faith on campus. Thus, it has almost become a rite of passage that countless Catholic students lose their Faith at the university.
However, there are encouraging signs of change in this regard. Two very telling events happened during Easter in the area where I live.
The first was at St. Isidore’s Catholic Center, which serves Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas. On Holy Saturday, 46 individuals became Roman Catholics.
Eternal and Natural Law: The Foundation of Morals and Law
The second event was at the Newman Center of the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. In its beautiful St. Thomas Aquinas Chapel, 41 young people entered the Catholic Church.
In many cases, these cases are of those who went in search of the Faith with little Christian background. These are fabulous miracles of grace! The number of converts has increased significantly from the past.
Both Kansas State University and the University of Nebraska continue to promote a secular culture that violates so many Christian morals. Much more work is needed to change the culture.
However, the events make me wonder why university students are converting to the Catholic Church. My experience with them suggests that many students are searching for the Truth. They sense the emptiness of today’s postmodern world of uncertainties and distractions. They long for something beyond the screens and Facebook worlds surrounding them.
Despite so many seemingly unsurmountable obstacles, God’s grace penetrated and touched the hearts of these souls who corresponded and decided to become Roman Catholics.
Events like these are probably taking place on other campuses and locations. This should give us hope and increase our zeal for helping souls come to the light of the Truth found in the Church.
Indeed, if these few are finding the Faith in the sterile ground of the public university, then this same light can be found anywhere.
Photo Credit: © Ina Meer Sommer – stock.adobe.com