For a lot of students, faith and personal beliefs play a major role in their lives. It is often said by the elders in my family that once individuals find themselves, spiritually, through religion, he or she will find peace within themselves. But, when you are a college student, trying to keep up with all of your classes, and taking care of other school-related works, how do you make time to practice your faith?
Because of the Catholic Student Association (CSA), Stan State students now have the opportunity to attend religious practices, such as mass, every Wednesday at 1 p.m. in the University Student Union (USU).
“Our purpose is to foster and create an environment like a club, where people can get together and essentially practice their faith and fellowship. Also, if people do not have any sort of relationship with God, we try and help them to at least be interested in starting it,” said CSA President, Christian Gutierrez.
Moreover, as these weekly masses are being offered on campus, not only do Stan State students attend them, but also outside community members. And, few non-Catholic individuals also attend these masses due to the fact that CSA does not exclude those who are not in the same religion; therefore, students are encouraged to not think that they have to be Catholic in order to attend these weekly masses or any other CSA event.
CSA is very precise in maintaining the mass short, since students may have class in between the hour. The mass itself is only about 30 minutes long and may have about 19-23 individuals attending it.
“The priest treats our Wednesday’s mass as a daily mass, which means it is shorter than a regular Sunday mass,” emphasized CSA Treasurer, Ryen Miranda.
The CSA hopes to have a great school year with more events planned to happen throughout the year for students to check the organization out. Also, if you are interested in knowing more about CSA, visit the organization’s website (allsaintscsus.org) for upcoming events, or approach their booth located in the quad and grab flyers that are put in the booth.