Steubie or Not Steubie

STEUBIE!!! That's the answer! This past weekend was our first Off Campus Weekend of the year. This is the magical time in every seminarian's life when all obligations disappear, even food service halts, and we are allowed to go anywhere or do anything within the confines of morality and prudence (well, as much prudence as I am in possession of...) provided that the seminarian is back and in the pew in time for night prayer on Sunday night (9pm). Off Campus Weekends are great (so great that apparently I capitalize them like proper nouns!) and provide much needed relaxation time. If you are wondering what I did with my weekend of freedom, I road tripped!

I asked around and we got a few guys together to road trip to Franciscan University in Steubenville, OH. A former seminarian (and diocesan brother) started his MA there this year and guys went out to visit him. For me, there was definitely a parallel motivation to the trip because my own NET sister from my missionary team began school there and my brother from the team lives there. It was a family reunion of sorts and I could not pass that up!

The university is flippin' sweet! I've been before but I am always just in awe of just how well integrated the faith is in campus life. My favorite example of the weekend is from a flyer for a 70s dance that will take place next weekend "Disco may be dead but we believe in the Resurrection." It is so healthy that the faith is just so much a part of the lives of many of the students that even though it isn't the only thing they do it is very much the lens through which they view the world. Everything is done in the light of their faith even if it just going to get coffee at the Heavenly Grounds, watching a movie in a dorm room with a wall of posters featuring Clint Eastwood, Schwarzenegger, The Beatles and JP II, or just playing ninja in the student center on a Friday night and meeting new people with charity. It's enough to make even a Saint Louis University alumnus like myself jealous (and that is saying quite a bit, SLU Rocks!).

I enjoyed the weekend so much and it was a milestone. This was the first Off Campus Weekend that I actually did some homework!!! I will definitely consider going there again because it was a massively fun time. I had a blast at that movie night I mentioned even though one of the students and I wound up spending most of the movie talking about better movies we both wished we were watching (we both agree, Die Hard is the best Christmas movie of all time!!!). This weekend was a great break from the usual and I am now totally thrilled to be going back to life here at Sacred Heart!