The beginning of 2020 had a surprising turning events when Covid-19 shook the nation and thousands of people all over the world. As the University also be in disarray, Campus Ministry had sent out their first “Take A Deep Breath” on March 16th.
“Each day, but especially at this critical time, we need to stop and “Take a Deep Breath” We will send a daily reflection, prayer or song each day under this title. We hope we can be a bit of help during these stressful times. Of course, all are welcome to contact us at the Division of Mission and Catholic Identity.”
Since then the emails have been sent out if not every day, then every other day. They include uplifting quotes and phrases, quick history lessons on saints and philosophers, songs, poems and more.
“I’m not a very religious person but I can say that I do look at the Take A Deep Breath emails because it gave me some piece of mind to relax”, said Senior Brittany Bass.
The “Take A Deep Breath” emails are a constant reminder that despite all the chaos going on around us we should allow ourselves to take time, pause, and reflect.
“The name Take A Deep Breath came up just as we were brainstorming, and we were like yes that really captures what we are trying to offer everyone just a moment to pause and to just take a deep breath. I think our breath re-centers us so we wanted to offer this as a space to drop all the chaos, said Campus Minister Valerie Kisselback.”
Not only did Campus Ministry receive a positive response from the University but the community as well. They took to social media to enhance their image which allowed people to comment their own Take A Deep Breath reflection on Instagram.
“We got a really good response from the community, and I think ones of the things people liked about it is that each member of the mission office would take turns writing them, so you got to see people’s different personality, different perspectives and insights on different situations”, said Kisselback.
Not only has Campus Ministry eased the University with their daily messages but has also continued to have virtual mass able for attendance on YouTube. Being that were not to congregate at mass in person, people were still able to practice their faith in some way.
Senior Darien Vigilance said, “Every once in a while, I would tune in to mass online to just reflect a little bit. With everything going on I was happy that I could still attend mass even if it wasn’t in person.”
Campus Ministry has a found a way to keep the University connected and calm through times when we fell short of hope and they continue to do so on campus as well as on their Instagram account @shucampusmin.
