We have a few retreat and spiritual opportunities coming up this semester:

First, we will have a joint Lenten day of reflection with USI’s Newman ministry on Feb. 27 from 11am-4pm at the Mater Dei Provincialate of the Daughters of Charity on the west side of Evansville. The retreat will be directed by Sr. Maureen Schmalzried, D.C.

We are also in the process of planning our annual Spring Break service retreat. It looks as though we’ll be journeying to points north. This will be finalized soon, so be on the lookout for sign-ups.

On March 20, the Newman Center will be sponsoring a retreat to St. Meinrad Archabbey. The retreat will focus on the spirituality and traditions of the 22 Eastern Catholic Churches. These Churches are in full communion with the pope, but are not part of the Latin liturgical tradition that is familiar to all of us. The retreat’s central point will be a Byzantine Divine Liturgy celebrated by Fr. Denis Robinson, O.S.B., President-Rector of St. Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology.

Finally, students from UE Newman will be making a return service trip to Nazareth Farm in the mountains of West Virginia after school is over in May.

Sometime within the next couple of years, a new translation of the Mass texts from Latin into English will be going into effect. The Notre Dame Center for Liturgy has begun to post a series of videos on its website to help explain and prepare us for these changes. The USCCB also has a website providing more information on the new edition, including the text.

Mark your calendars! The Catholic campus ministries of UE, USI, and Vincennes will be holding our annual joint retreat on October 2-3 at St. Nicholas Catholic Church in Santa Claus, IN. We will depart at about 4pm on Friday for Santa Claus, where our speaker for the evening will be Br. John Mark Falkenhain, OSB.

On Saturday, we will travel to Ubelhor Ridge for the monthly First Saturday Marian devotions. This will include a walking rosary, Mass, lunch, and a speaker. We will return to Evansville by 4pm.

A sign-up sheet will be outside of Mass and Monday night, or you can e-mail Mike at mr201.

Welcome back, everyone! We have a lot of things already planned for the first half of the semester!

August 23: Our first Mass of the school year, with Fr. Chris Forler celebrating
August 31: Opening cookout (first Monday night dinner)
September 12-26: Evansville Habitat for Humanity Catholic build
September 27: Parents’ Weekend 9 a.m. Mass and open house
September 28: Helping with dinner at the United Caring Shelter (every first and fourth Monday)
October 2-3: Joint Fall retreat with USI and Vincennes
October 22: Matthew Kelly speaking at Newburgh

Plans are in the works to have a couple seminarians from St. Meinrad come on a weekly basis to work on some programs with us as part of their pastoral training in preparation for the priesthood. Stay tuned for more details!

Hey! We’re doing some remodeling at the Newman house, so we figured we’d do a bit of housekeeping at the website as well. Browse through the pages for some previews of the happenings at the Newman Center this Fall, and be sure to keep checking back for more updates!

Have a great summer, and we can’t wait to see you in August!

“The Way You Look Tonight”
A St. Patrick’s Day Party is being held at the Little Sisters of the Poor on March 16, 2009 from 5:00-8:00 pm.
Dinner will be provided by the Little Sisters.
Sign up at the Newman Center if you are planning to attend, so the Sisters know how much food to prepare.

For more information or if you have any questions contact Amy (ah149@evansville.edu), Franny (fe5@evansville.edu), or Kristin (kk110@evansville.edu)

The Newman Club will now be visiting the North Park Nursing Home the second Tuesday of every month to sing for the residents.  Meet at the Newman Center around 5:30.  Email Tim James if you have any questions or if you wish to participate.

Welcome back everyone to another fun filled semester.
In the next few days the website will be updated with all of this semester’s activities.