Father Richard A. Miserendino, former parochial vicar of St. Bernadette Church in Springfield, is the new chaplain at the Catholic campus ministry at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg. The Catholic Herald asked him about his new role and what he’s excited about for the future.
What’s surprised you most so far in this new role? I’ve been surprised by the students. I knew they’d be wonderful, but I’m astounded by how faithful, prayerful and generous they are. Many of them are constantly giving of themselves to support the community. Seeing their reverence in Mass and at prayer is inspiring. It’s also neat to see how many of them are courageous and friendly and invite their roommates or friends to Mass.
What is your favorite part about working with young adults? Young adults are awesome because they have enough life experience to ask life’s deep questions and want the real answers the church has to offer in Christ. They also bring their energy and enthusiasm to the table and have fun while seeking those answers, and really want to make a positive difference in the world and the church.
What are your goals for UMW? To get the whole UMW student population to be 100 percent Catholic. In the meantime, I’ll settle for building on the good foundations that my predecessors have laid and trying to make UMW Catholic campus ministry a place where all students can encounter God and know they’re loved and redeemed by him in Jesus. I also want to equip our students to be disciples of Christ capable of preaching the truth in love to the wider culture.
What do you see as some of the greatest challenges for young adults right now? I think some of the greatest challenges for young adults are loneliness, a loss of the sense of life’s meaning, and a polarization in the culture that makes seeking the truth and having honest discussions really difficult. There seems to be a general malaise and a hunger for something more. We’ve forgotten God and it shows. On top of all of that are the usual cultural troubles that fall along the lines of the seven deadly sins. But what’s the good news? We as Catholics have the best answers possible to all of this. We have God. Authentic community in communion is the church’s cure for loneliness and isolation, vocation is a call to meaning, and grace and virtue are the road to rediscovering our ability to talk and reason together.
Have you started any new initiatives yet? Are any in the works? I’d like to get FOCUS involved with the campus next year, as I think they’re a wonderful group that really adds to campus ministry. While we’re working on that, we’re also starting a few new events that will welcome new and non-Catholic students to our campus. Most of them involve food. For instance, we’re going to start Grilled Cheese Fridays in Lent (who doesn’t love grilled cheese and tomato soup) or breakfasts together on Sunday mornings (the dining hall doesn’t open until 11 a.m. on Sundays). Others will be outings like a trip to the local corn maze and pumpkin patch in October. The good news is that we have a robust schedule already with lots of time for adoration, confession, Bible studies, discernment groups and Mass. It’s now a matter of slowly and kindly inviting people to those through other events.
How have/will you welcome new students? We did a number of things to welcome new students so far, and we’ll continue to do more in the future. During move-in and orientation week, we gave away around 500 boxes of homemade chocolate chip cookies to the new students. Each box also had a message of welcome, an invitation to our other events, and a magnet with the times for Mass, adoration and confessions. We also had great events like Pizza and Axe-throwing, a Luau, and a night out at a Frednats Baseball Game.
What do you see as the strengths of the Catholic ministry at UMW? The big strength of the UMW CCM is that God is with us. We have Christ present in the Scriptures, the sacraments, the community and in those we serve. Like I said, we have a great schedule and a number of events (like our recent Eucharistic procession) that highlight this. But then the other great strength is the students themselves. I see Jesus working in them daily, and it’s beautiful. Generally, I’d say our other strengths would be our faith, sincerity, love of truth and goodness, courage, friendships and willingness to be inclusive to all in Christ. Also, we like doing fun things and enjoying good food. That helps.
What are areas you want to grow the ministry? That’s hard to say for sure since I’m still learning and there are a lot of good things going on already. But generally, I’d like to make more welcoming avenues for inviting people who may not be Catholic or even Christian to come join us and find out more. I also want to be present physically and personally on campus where the students are at sports, plays, concerts etc. And last, I always want to do more fun things that build either friendship or faith.
