Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki attended an Ignite meeting on campus this week to stress the importance of the upcoming Easter holiday.
Ignite, which meets weekly, is a Catholic group run through Campus Ministry. Around 72 people attended the meeting and heard Listecki share Holy Week stories and answer questions.
Listecki also spoke about the Easter Triduum, the three-day period of Holy Week that covers Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday. He said he looks at the Passion, or the final days of Jesus’ life, every year around Easter and takes note of what stands out to him.
“Everything is transformative about the Triduum,” he said. “It’s a constant transformation. You grow in your relationship with the Lord as you grow in relationships with one another.”
Although Christmas may be the favorite liturgical season for many college students, Listecki said it’s necessary to recognize Easter’s importance.
“We’re all Christians,” he said. “The fulfillment – the big thing – the biggest thing is Easter.”
Listecki emphasized that students should celebrate and recognize their connection with God throughout Holy Week.
“We have to take a look at what we have to do in order to plug ourselves into that relationship with Christ,” he said.
Students asked Listecki questions about how to pray, preparing for confession and advice for people struggling with their faith.
Ben Durette, a senior in the College of Engineering, is a member of the Ignite leadership team that brought Listecki to campus. He said it was a big deal for an important church figure like Listecki to attend Ignite.
“Sometimes you can kind of go through the motions,” Durette said about attending church. “It was really good to hear (Listecki’s) personal experiences and insights. We can each take certain things that connected to us individually and that will motivate us as we go into Holy Week, so it can be more personal than we often make it.”
Bradley DeGarmo, a sophomore in the College of Arts & Sciences, is part of the hospitality team for Ignite gatherings. He said he was honored to receive a visit from the Archbishop.
“To be able to talk to an Archbishop and introduce (him) to the group was just an incredible feeling,” DeGarmo said.
Anne Mosher, a senior in the College of Business Administration, sings or plays piano during Ignite meetings. She said Listecki was full of joy.
“That radiates and brings me hope in my own faith life,” she said.
As spring break and Holy Week approach, Mosher said she is going to consider Listecki’s encouragement to choose God no matter what the situation may be.
“I’m definitely going to take that with me,” she said. “It doesn’t matter how stressed out I am about midterms. God is the choice I’m making.”
This is Ignite’s second semester as a program on campus. The group meets in the Alumni Memorial Union’s Chapel of the Holy Family.
