Happy Easter! He is risen!

Here at the HCMC, we began this Easter season with a renewed commitment to carry out the Great Commission given by Jesus after his Resurrection: “to make disciples of all nations” (Mt. 28:19). May our efforts at the HCMC assist the Congregation across the world in making disciples of Christ.

Here is a rundown of our community engagement efforts this past month:

• Assistant Director for Community Engagement Michael Jezewak and Office Coordinator Bridget Williams are actively working to fill Holy Cross’s assigned 2024 Mission Appeals. This year, the HCMC is asking for more Holy Cross priests to participate in order to more widely share stories of Holy Cross’s inspiring ministries in Bangladesh, Chile, Kenya, Peru, Tanzania, and Uganda. We invite all U.S.-based Holy Cross priests to give one weekend of their time to this effort by emailing us at hcmc@holycrossusa.org.
• Director Fr. Tom Eckert, C.S.C., and Michael met with Baraka Bouts Coach Nate Walker and three outgoing and incoming student leaders to plan our collaboration for the fall season. The club leadership is eager to continue Baraka Bouts’ longstanding commitment to holistic formation of their boxers through their disciplined training and their engagement with the St. Joseph’s Hill Senior Secondary School and Holy Cross Lake View Senior Secondary School communities.
• Pre-trip formation meetings continued to occur throughout April for students who could not attend the group meetings offered. This year, pre-trip formation for travelers to Holy Cross’s international missions revolves around two things:
  • Encounters with God that arise out of encounters with others in whom “[t]he divine image is present,” as the Catechism states (1702).
  • A quote from Blessed Basil Moreau about education’s purpose: “[Education] is the art of helping young people to completeness. For the Christian, this means that education is helping a young person to be more like Christ, the model for all Christians.”
• Michael attended the 26th Annual Dialogues on Nonviolence, Religion, and Peace hosted by the Kroc Institute for Peace Studies. Notre Dame’s Keough School of Global Affairs, of which the Kroc Institute is a member, regularly hosts experts who speak on issues with relevance to Holy Cross’s international ministries. We are eager to see how the academic expertise on offer there can benefit our international partners, both the Holy Cross religious we work with directly and the laypeople supported by their ministries.
• Guests have started to spontaneously pop into our new location in Haggar Hall, room 124. We love it! All are welcome between 8:00 am and 4:30 pm Monday through Friday. Lucky visitors may even get a peak at the newly inaugurated “Double-H Lounge”…
• At the invitation of Dr. Dianne Barlas, the Vice President for Mission and Ministry at Holy Cross College, Michael presented at a “First Friday” luncheon on April 5. He spoke about his experience as a lay collaborator with Holy Cross and how non-C.S.C.s can live out the Holy Cross charism.
• Archbishop Hoban High School, sponsored by the Midwest Province of Brothers, reached out to share more about their students’ immersion experience at La Luz Parish in Monterrey, Mexico, and the ways that we at the HCMC can enhance their international immersion experiences in the future. Read more about theeir experiences in “Immersion in Monterrey for Archbishop Hoban High School Students,” found on the Spes Unica Blog.
• The Generalate is leading a new missionary endeavor set to begin later this year, and the Superior General has graciously invited Fr. Tom to serve on an advisory committee for that effort. Fr. Tom spent a week in Rome attending meetings for this purpose. Prior to that, Michael gathered information about potential formation program resources available through the Catholic Volunteer Network. We at the HCMC are happy to provide this assistance to the Generalate, and we are regularly praying for the diverse cast of eight C.S.C.s from around the world who will be inaugurating this Mission in the months to come.
• We tabled at the first Holy Cross Partner Symposium hosted by Holy Cross College on Monday, April 15. This gathering featured members of the Midwest Province of Brothers, administrators and faculty from Holy Cross-affiliated high schools, and C.S.C.s visiting from Bangladesh and India, among other locations. Attendees presented on best practices for living out the Holy Cross charism at their schools.
• Benjamin and Michael were grateful for the opportunity to sit down with Fr. Dick Potthast, C.S.C., and speak with him about his decades of ministry in East Africa. You can learn about his good work in this recent project update from St. Joseph’s Hill Senior Secondary School.

We look forward to connecting with more partners in the month ahead.

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Published: April 29, 2024