Campus Ministry

Bishop Ludden provides the opportunity for students to become involved in active participation of faith through:

Penance Services/First Friday
Eucharistic Ministries
Liturgy and Prayer
Religious Studies
Retreats/Peer Leadership
Campus Ministry
Service

Penance Services/First Friday

During Advent and Lent, local priests join the Ludden community to hear individual confessions of students and faculty. The session begins with communal prayer, composed and directed by the Peer Leadership Team.

Students then proceed to the priests for reception of the Sacrament of Reconciliation on an individual basis. Separate rooms are set aside for quiet reflection on the priest’s recommendations and thanksgiving for the grace of the Sacrament.

Every First Friday, the Blessed Sacrament is presented all day in our chapel for individuals and classes to visit. There is also a book of intentions on the Blessed Mother’s altar, where all are invited to write intentions for us to pray for during liturgies and visits to the Blessed Sacrament.

Eucharistic Ministries

The service of Eucharistic Ministry is open only to those Bishop Ludden students who have been confirmed.

Students enroll in an after-school training program and are officially commissioned at a whole-school liturgy in the fall. They are then responsible for this ministry at all liturgies throughout the year, as well as for distribution of Communion at the Monday and Tuesday morning prayer services before school.

One member of this group functions as the coordinator for assigning students to services. These ministers also serve in local parishes and sometimes carry the Eucharist to the homebound.

Liturgy and Prayer

The celebration of Mass is central to our life of prayer, just as our chapel is the physical center of our building. The entire student body celebrates liturgy monthly and on all holy days throughout the year. We also worship together during Catholic Schools Week.

Often, Mass includes prayer in various languages to reinforce the universality of God’s love and the diversity of our student body. In May, we celebrate Mass for the deceased alumni of Bishop Ludden. Each class takes responsibility for planning and leading the prayer in at least one liturgical celebration.

Every school day begins and ends with prayer led by a student, and each class opens with a prayer. This gives students experience in a variety of traditional prayers and in creating their own unique expressions of faith, hope, love, thanksgiving and petition. These may include, but are not limited to, the Way of the Cross, Meditation, The Rosary and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. On days when a priest is unavailable for Mass, Communion Services before school are conducted by Peer Leaders.

We hold an annual May Procession in honor of the Blessed Mother, patroness of our chapel, our Diocese and our nation. We gather during study halls to pray the Rosary for peace. During Lent, we hold “Peace Parties” during which we pray in thanksgiving for the peace we have and the people who have been peacemakers in our world and to meditate on ways to increase the peace in our community and our world.

Religious Studies

Each year, students must successfully complete the Religious Studies course, a class service project, individual service hours, and the required class retreat. A student who has not successfully completed any religion course must attend a summer session for that course.

Retreats/Peer Leadership

Every student at Bishop Ludden is expected to make a retreat during the school year. If they are unable to attend the class-sponsored retreat on a school day, they are required to make it up on their own and provide evidence of that effort to their religion teacher.

Our Peer Leadership Team is made up of seniors who applied for membership in the second half of their junior year. The application process requires June and September retreats, an original homily, three recommendations, and passing grades in religion courses. Peer Leaders meet with the rest of the team once per cycle, attend morning Mass and conduct the underclassmen retreats. They are required to consult with their teachers before the retreats to receive the assignments they will miss, and must make them up beforehand.

Peer Leaders study theological values, stages of psychological and spiritual development and motivational techniques. They survey Bishop Ludden underclassmen and faculty to learn more about their needs and expectations. They then construct the retreat to meet those needs.

They are expected to be creatively faith-filled, while relating appropriately to the age group they’re working with. Different members take on responsibility for developing skits, conferences, service projects, liturgies, meditations, ice-breaker games, inviting speakers, creating schedules, and ordering any needed supplies. After each retreat, they review to assess their successes and difficulties.

Campus Ministry

Membership in Campus Ministry is open to all grade levels. Everyone is considered a minister by becoming a part of the Ludden Community, whether or not he or she is able to attend the monthly meetings. Opportunities for ministering are designed for and by the students to practice living out their faith.

The members of Campus Ministry created this mission:
"Campus Ministry is about improving the quality of life. It may sound complicated and difficult, but we have proven it to be easy and fun. How, you wonder? By reaching out and simply caring. We take action and get involved. We lend a helping hand and a loving heart. We volunteer!"

Service

Service is an essential component of the Religious Studies Department. Each class is expected to perform a required number of service hours in the community as the “faith in action” part of class.

We welcome any suggestions about new needs which may arise in our community, so that we may help relieve them. We have responded to homes destroyed by fire, families in need, local disasters, parish dinners, liturgical functions, and CCD assistance.

We offer tutoring to the community both on- and off-campus and sponsor various workshops to promote tolerance and respect for differences. The annual 30-hour Famine educates students on the roots of hunger and inspires creative problem-solving.