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Christ in the City mission program seeks young adults
By Conor Gilliland
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Christ in the City What: Mission Program |
Time is growing short as many young Catholics from around the country hurry to beat the May 1 application deadline for Christ in the City’s Summer of Service and Semester of Service programs. The approaching deadline means it won’t be long before college-age adults miss the opportunity to participate in this unique service opportunity.
Christ in the City is a comprehensive mission program that aims at integrating spiritual formation, intellectual development and service projects. The holism of this approach to working in the mission field is the distinguishing feature of Christ in the City and one of its main attractors.
“One of the things that drew me in was how Catholic the program was,” said former participant and upcoming student leader Joe Magnetico of Fort Worth, Texas.
“I’ve never seen a program like it. It incorporated classes at the Augustine Institute on Catholic social teaching, serving the poor and … prayer.”
Adam Ureneck, spiritual director for Christ in the City, said the thinking behind this approach stems from the integral nature of the human person.
“The Lord Jesus does not only respond to one facet of the human person,” said Ureneck, “He responds to the entire person—body, mind and soul.”
For this reason, the participants in the program live a liturgical life with morning prayer, daily Mass, evening prayer, eucharistic adoration, and daily service to the poor.
“By allowing Christ to respond to our whole person,” Ureneck said, “we are realized in love, and we can then go out and announce the divine love of Jesus to the poor—to the whole person of each individual.”
Students applying to the program can expect demanding days of service and prayer.
“We were extremely busy, but we never grew weary of our work or prayer because when you give everything, you receive so much more in return,” said Lindsay Bunker, former participant and upcoming leader.
A highlight of last year’s program for Bunker, who lives in Atchison, Kan., was the close relationship she experienced with her Christ in the City community. The reason for the tight bond?
“Christ,” she said with a laugh. “There is no other reason. When we were working at Mullen Home, the Little Sisters of the Poor had a joy that radiated through everyone there.”
Bunker said she carries the joy of service in Christ she felt in the field with her today.
Christ in the City Director Yvonne Noggle is pleased with the overwhelming positive response from the pilot program last year.
“It’s very encouraging to see how many people want Christ in the City in their hometown, and how many participants from last year want to come back,” she said.
Christ in the City began as a response to Pope John Paul II’s exhortation at the 1993 World Youth Day in Denver, Noggle said.
“Do not be afraid to take up the challenge of making Christ known in the modern metropolis,” the pontiff said. “It is you who must go out into the byroads and invite everyone you meet to the banquet which God has prepared for his people.”
If the first year is any indication of what is to come, Noggle expects Christ in the City to give a resounding answer to Pope John Paul II’s challenge.
Christ in the City works closely with several ministries already in place in the Denver area. Service projects include preparing food at Samaritan House homeless shelter, caring for the elderly at Mullen Home, supporting mothers and their unborn babies with Gabriel Project, and much more.
Summer programs run May 23-June 4 and June 6 -June 18. Applicants may apply for one or both summer sessions. The Semester of Service program (participants can also sign up for a year) will look like an extended version of the Summer Program, and will launch this fall. Applications for both the summer and semester programs are due May 1. For more information, visit www.christinthecitymissionaries.com or e-mail info@christinthecitymissionaries.com.
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