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 The focus of Campus Ministry is to draw upon the rich and unique Christian presence within the school community to make the message of the Gospel of Jesus a lived reality within the framework of a Catholic High School. "We are one body with many parts," declares St. Paul, and implied that it is the call of all Catholic High Schools to respond to the one mission of the Church: the proclamation of the Good News of Jesus Christ.
In addition to our call to live out the Gospel we are a school that has a special call to live the Gospel in the charism of St. Marcellin Champagnat. We are school of the Marist Brothers and we exhibit the message of their founder everyday. Campus Ministry serves, as St. Marcellin wished, for people "to know and love Jesus" and to bring everyone "to Jesus through Mary".
The role of the Campus Ministry Office is to direct activities which can help the school community foster their relationship with God through various community outreach and service projects and to allow students to serve each other and the Mount Community. Through the service of others we learn to live the Gospel and spread the Good News. As St. Francis of Assisi said, “Go out and preach the gospel, and if necessary use words.”
Prayer is an integral part of forming our relationship with God. Each morning the Mount begins the day in prayer over the loudspeaker. Also, the Mount community gathers during the year at specific times to celebrate Liturgy.
Other opportunities for prayer and gathering together are offered during the year as well. During Advent, classes come together in the chapel for Advent prayer services and during the season of Lent, priests are invited to come in to be able to hear confessions of those students who wish to participate in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Campus Ministry also directs services around particular events in the course of the school year such as the Junior Ring ceremony and Graduation Mass.
Special experiences of prayer are also offered outside of the school. Juniors are offered a retreat experience, for those who wish to participate, in an overnight retreat at the Marist Brothers Retreat House in Esopus, NY. Participants learn new insights into themselves as well as their fellow classmates and even their teachers. Seniors are encouraged to take advantage of the Marist Brothers Encounter Program from Thursday until Sunday, which includes students from several of the Marist Schools in the United States. Schools as close as Manhattan and far away as Miami participate in this Encounter. This helps to show our students first hand that the Marist Family spreads across the United States and the globe.
Faculty members are offered special prayer experiences and are offered the opportunity to attend the Marist Brothers' Sharing Our Call Program, in which they learn more about the life and mission of St. Marcellin Champagnat and how they are called to share in that mission.
Our call as Christians, however, does not just rely on prayer and our relationship with God, but with our relationship with one another. Jesus tells us in the Gospel, "Whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers and sisters, you do to me." In that light, we also offer services in which students and faculty can demonstrate their relationship with the Lord. Money is collected for the Missions each week during homeroom to help those who are less fortunate than we in our city, our country and our world. The President of the school distributes these funds that give direct assistance to the poor. At Thanksgiving time, there is a food drive which helps between 40 and 50 needy families in the Bronx.
Among the many requirements for graduation from Mount St. Michael is that upon entering Mount Saint Michael Academy every student must volunteer 100 hours over their four years at the Mount at an approved agency. The Office of Campus Ministry assists students in finding, as well as keeping track of the hours, a suitable place in which they may best use their gifts to provide Christian Service.
The purpose of a Catholic School is to provide an atmosphere conducive to the transmission of the Christian Tradition in an educational environment. The religious education class emphasizes cognitive development; the services of campus ministry provide the experiential, affective dimension. The cognitive and the affective experience together are the basis of sound catechetics. Both adult and student Campus Ministers provide opportunities in which the entire school community can live out the reality of their faith.
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