Page 11 - 2017/2018 Salesanium Annual Report

Spirituality & Service
The Center for Faith & Justice (CFJ) continues to shepherd students, faculty and staff in their respective spiritual journeys. With a staff of just three, the CFJ coordinates all liturgies, retreats, BRIDGE trips and spiritual exercises across campus. It’s an ambitious portfolio for such a small staff,
but the school’s Salesian Charism remains strong, and the office deploys resources in useful ways to maximize impact.
The class of 2020 is the first class to fully experience a new model of service at Salesianum, a model that programs their service experience to ensure that
they are working with populations in the most need of help and, most importantly, ensure a continuity
of experience in Christian service so it can be integrated and supported in the religion curriculum. As sophomores, each member of the class of 2020 participated in four sessions at The Mary Campbell Center, spending time with the disabled and participating meaningfully in the life of the center’s residents and participants. Meanwhile, the class of 2021 participated in a similar regimen at Warner Elementary, tutoring students after school and coordinating after-school care activities.
This curricular approach to service places an emphasis on listening and preparation. It also ensures that students are working directly with the poor, which is essential to service learning. As part of this service learning, students also listen to speakers from different marginalized populations to better understand the complexities that perpetuate poverty and injustice.
Additionally, the CFJ continues to strengthen the BRIDGE trip program, which featured 12 trips and expanded international offerings to include Central and South America. The BRIDGE program, like its service-learning counterpart, focuses on listening
and preparation so students are prepared to see the face of Christ in those who are suffering. While every effort
is made to keep student costs low, challenges remain in providing funding for this program such that every student might attend, regardless of his family’s ability to pay.
2017-18 BRIDGE Trip Roster
• Nogales, Arizona/Nogales, Mexico
• Camden, New Jersey (run three times)
• Greenbrier County, West Virginia
• Boston, Massachusetts
• Los Angeles, California (run twice)
• Tuba City, Arizona
• Toledo, Ohio/Detroit, Michigan
• Guayaquil, Ecuador
• Parakou, Benin
• Port-au-Prince, Haiti
• Civil Rights Road Trip - Atlanta, Georgia/Birmingham,
Alabama
• San Salvador, El Salvador
Salesianum’s retreat program, which featured a
record number of seniors participating in the capstone experience, the Encounter Retreat, has strengthened
its offerings with an overnight retreat for the freshman class and an optional TRUTH Retreat for sophomores. Like Encounter, these new retreats challenge students
to understand how God is at work in their lives and to develop a faith that is not blind, but rather one that is based on examination and understanding of how we are to live and relate to one another.
To this end, Salesianum has invited students to take a more direct role in their spiritual development, charging them with authoring content for the Advent service and Stations of the Cross. Additionally, monthly liturgies
are planned and executed almost entirely by students, allowing them to be full participants in fostering a spirit of community and inclusion. Additionally, the Preparation of the Day and afternoon Gospel reading are now read by students. This is an important step in having students take ownership from a faith perspective and serve as the daily voice of spirituality and the Salesian Charism that we cherish.
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