December 17, 2008

College students called to transform culture at Rocky Mountain summit

By Claudia Cangilla McAdam

“Jesus has called each one of you to Denver for a purpose!” exclaimed Pope John Paul II at World Youth Day in 1993.  Those very words can be applied today to college students from across the country who are invited to be part of the College Student Summit run by the Augustine Institute of Denver, a Catholic graduate school that instructs and equips students for the renewal of Catholic culture by a union of faith and life in the new evangelization.

From May 18–26, 2009, summit participants will gather at St. Malo Catholic Retreat Center in Allenspark—a place the Holy Father visited during his stay in Colorado.
Tim Gray, president and professor of scared Scripture at the Augustine Institute, summed up the need for such a summit: “Christians today face a stark challenge from our secular culture, which is growing every day more hostile to life and to the values of the Christian identity; and nobody feels the pressure to abandon faith in Christ more than college students.  This is why the Augustine Institute is launching a college summit camp to equip our young with vigorous intellectual and character formation that we will provide during these eight days.”

The program is limited to 30 undergraduate students selected by means of a competitive application process.

“It is open to both men and women who are in their freshman through senior year of college when applying,” said College Student Summit Director Brian McAdam.  “This summit will appeal in a special way to ‘JPII generation’ undergraduates who want to learn how to transform the culture as a way of living out the new evangelization.”

Instructors include professors Gray and Edward Sri, an author and a cofounder of the Fellowship of Catholic University Students who is also the provost and associate professor of sacred Scripture, theology, and catechesis at the Augustine Institute. 

Francis Cardinal Arinze of Nigeria, prefect emeritus of the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, is set to be the keynote speaker at the Augustine Institute’s commencement ceremonies in May.  While in town, he will also address the attendees of the College Student Summit.

“Many Catholic college students around the country are hungering to go deeper in their faith.  They see the crisis in the culture today and want to be a part of the change,” said Sri.  “In this leadership summit they will be immersed in a Catholic worldview, be challenged to grow in virtue and in holiness, and learn how to help transform the culture for Christ and his Church.”

In addition to classroom instruction, learning at the College Student Summit will involve discussions while hiking and reflections beside a lake or on top of a mountain. 

“In this way some of the forms of teaching that Jesus himself modeled and that Pope John Paul II employed will be incorporated into the manner of instruction during the eight-day session,” McAdam said.

Summit attendees will be taught how to combat relativism.  They will come to understand the theology of the body, develop leadership skills, learn how to evangelize effectively, and forge faith-based friendships with other students.

“I could think of nothing more vital for parents than providing their children with not just a great college education that will enable them to get good jobs but with the spiritual and intellectual formation that will help them navigate a very confusing and often corrupt culture,” Gray said.  “A good career alone does not bring happiness—only walking in Jesus Christ with fidelity can do that.”

In addition to time for daily prayer, Mass, and rosary walks along “the JPII hike,” there will be social activities and the opportunity to enjoy the Rocky Mountain outdoor experience.

“This is the kind of program I wish existed when I was in college,” Sri said.  “To be able to meet other young, on-fire Catholics from around the country, go on adventures in the mountains, and delve deeply into the Catholic faith—I can’t imagine a better way for a college student to kick off summer vacation.”