As the autumn sun dipped below the horizon behind the St. Joan of Arc chapel, nearly 100 Marquette students, staff and family members covered the grass with their blankets and lawn chairs and gathered in evening outdoor worship.
The Office of Mission and Ministry hosted their second annual Mass on the Grass on Sept. 14 in the Gratitude Garden, one of Marquette’s several sacred spaces on campus.
“The idea was to do a kind of special Mass at the end of fall as the sun was setting in this beautiful space, and to take advantage of the sacred space in front of our Joan of Arc chapel,” Rev. John Thiede, Vice President of Mission and Ministry, said.
Students made up a significant portion of the audience at the Mass, coming in groups with their friends to enjoy the unique outdoor worship atmosphere together.
“With fall right on the precipice, it’s very nice to just enjoy the rest of the summer weather, especially in a good way, full of faith,” Jack Kubacki, a sophomore in the College of Business Administration, said.
Mass on the Grass mirrored the structure of a typical Mass at Marquette. It began with a Liturgy of the Word, where scriptures are read and the homily is preached, followed by a Liturgy of the Eucharist, where the altar is prepared for communion. Thiede explained to the crowd in his homily that the word eucharist means “to give thanks,” which is why it was especially fitting for the Mass to be held in the Gratitude Garden.
Toward the beginning of his homily, Thiede offered churchgoers a moment of silence in nature to reflect on what they were thankful for in that moment. After that, he spoke about the concept of believers taking up their crosses and following Jesus.
“It might be hard for some of our undergraduates to imagine a big dilemma at this point in their lives or a cross that’s something they can’t bear, but at some point, we may be called to a test,” Thiede said. “We might have a family member who’s battling cancer. We might have a personal issue that we think is hard to overcome, but Jesus calls us tonight to take up that cross and to follow him.”
When reflecting on his favorite part about preaching at a special service like Mass on the Grass, Theide brought up the Jesuit apostolic preference of “Care for our Common Home” written by Pope Francis in his second encyclical titled “Laudato Si.'”
“Anytime you can have a Mass in a setting like this, it just reminds us of how beautiful our world is and the call that we have to care for God’s creation,” Thiede said.
Last year’s inaugural Mass on the Grass was canceled due to poor weather. This year, with the weather cooperating and the service taking place as planned, Thiede said he looked forward to having a good turnout of students.
“We don’t do this all the time,” Thiede said. “We were hoping that we might attract some people that might not normally come to mass and might enjoy something like this.”
Addison Pischke, a sophomore in the College of Business Administration, said she saw an Instagram story promoting Mass on the Grass and thought it looked fun. She said students might find worship services to be more enjoyable when they are held in nature
“Changing the atmosphere to an outside experience definitely changes the horizon of things here and makes [Mass] more exciting,” Michael Luiso, a sophomore in the College of Business Administration, said.
The Office of Mission and Ministry’s theme for the 2024-25 academic year is “Imagine.” Ignatian Imagination was one of St. Ignatius’ themes throughout his spiritual journey, as he called believers to reflect and serve those around them. Mass on the Grass served as one of the events promoting this idea of Ignatian imagination at Marquette.
This story was written by Mia Thurow. She can be reached at [email protected].
