This article is addressed particularly to college students. (If you are not a college student, I invite you to pass it along to someone who is.)

In this very special time in your life, I would like to share with you a few ideas about faith and college. When I went to college, I not only earned degrees, but I also grew as a human being and a person of faith. I not only made new friends, but I also became a closer friend of Jesus.

You face many challenges as a young adult Catholic. While some of your peers might choose to drift away from worship and parish life, these are precisely the years when you need the wisdom of our faith tradition and the grace of God to assist you as you make fundamental life-long decisions about career, education, and relationships.

You are a very important member of the Church. In his apostolic letter Tertio Millenio Adveniente, Pope John Paul II said, “The future of the world and of the church belongs to the younger generation” (no. 58).

We need you in our parish ministries and structures. For example, our programs of youth ministry and religious education are always in need of more volunteer catechists. You can connect to young people in ways that older adults may not.

If you are majoring in something like business, accounting, or finance, you could be very helpful on the parish finance council or as a volunteer in the church office. If you have skills with computer technology and social media, our churches can use your expertise.

We also need you in roles of liturgical service in Mass. Put your gifts to good use as a reader, extraordinary minister of Holy Communion, usher, hospitality minister, or altar server. Your youthful energy and joy bring much-needed energy to the celebration of the Eucharist.

If you would be willing to commit yourself to bringing the Eucharist to the sick and shut-ins on a regular basis, it would be enriching for them and for you. They will appreciate your visits, and you can learn much wisdom from your conversations with them.

If you are married, I encourage you to get involved in a married couple’s group. If there is not such a group already in your local Catholic parish, you can help start one. I have been very impressed with young married couple’s groups started by young couples in a parish who simply found ways to be supportive of each other. I have seen many young adults form very healthy marriages and build strong families on the foundation of the church’s teaching about marriage and family.

Speaking of marriage, there are many wonderful couples who met one another while they were in college. For example, when my mom and dad met in college, their very first date was to Mass on Sunday morning at the local parish. I think a person has a higher probability of success in finding a spouse who shares their values if they meet them through church-related activities.

When dating in college, you can afford to be picky. Don’t settle for dysfunctional relationships that are going nowhere. You set your appropriate boundaries in your relationships and expect others to respect them. Your faith and your values are part of what makes you a wonderful, lovable person. If someone does not respect your faith, they are not respecting you. A true friend will lead you closer to God. If one of your friends is leading you away from God, then you need to make some changes.

Don’t be afraid to give witness to your Catholic faith among your peers. Sometimes we must swim against the stream. Being a follower of Jesus Christ is sometimes going to cost us something. For 2,000 years, our ancestors in the faith have been willing to take up their crosses and follow Jesus, even to the point of sacrifice and martyrdom. By standing true to your values, you can inspire other college students to open their hearts to Christ. In fact, I have known some university professors who have actually chosen to join the Catholic faith because of the good example of some of the Catholic students in their classrooms.

In your college years, you will have plenty of opportunities to meet people from other faith traditions. You can learn much about the variety of religions through your informal conversations with classmates. Here is a good basic rule of thumb for those encounters: celebrate what you have in common and respect your differences.

When your conversations with members of other religions challenge you with questions to which you don’t know the answers, don’t be discouraged. Let this inspire you to dig into sources like the Bible, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and solid Catholic websites, so that you can learn to respond with confidence. You can find answers to a variety of questions at Catholic Answers (www.catholic.com). For questions about biomedical issues, you can go to National Catholic Bioethics Center (www.ncbcenter.org). For a handy reference to the biblical basis for many of our Catholic beliefs and practices, many college students have found help from a simple tool called the Catholic Verse Finder, or “Bible Cheat Sheet,” published by San Juan Catholic Seminars. It organizes over 500 verses showing the biblical basis for more than 50 Catholic doctrines, all on one laminated sheet, printed on both sides.

It is surprising how many people think there is an inherent conflict between faith and science. However, we Catholics know that faith and science are in harmony. There is one truth, and both science and our faith are in the service of the truth. The website of our diocese has links to several helpful resources on the topic of science and faith at https://sanangelodiocese.org/science-and-faith.

Many students have become Catholic during their college years through the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA) in local Catholic parishes. (Since a new edition of the official document for this process will be published soon, we can also call it the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults, or OCIA. By either name, it is the same process.) This is a setting where any non-Catholics can come to ask questions, explore our faith tradition, learn the ways of faith from other Catholics, and eventually, if they want, become Catholics themselves. For any active Catholic college student who wants an opportunity to serve, I highly recommend becoming a part of the RCIA team in one of our parishes. You will help those who are seeking God, and you yourself will also learn a lot in the process.

Being away from home at college brings a new level of independence, and it can sometimes bring moments of being more alone. That aloneness does not have to become loneliness. Instead, it is an opportunity for beautiful experiences of fertile solitude, when you invite the Lord into your aloneness. Jesus is there for you no matter where you go, and he will draw closer to your heart in your college years if you will open yourself to him.

When you feel the pain of being far away from your family, let it be a moment of giving grateful thanks for them. The flame of love for your family can grow stronger when you realize how much you miss them.

A prime opportunity to grow in your intimate personal friendship with Jesus is through Eucharistic Adoration. This is when you spend time visiting the Lord who is present in the Blessed Sacrament in the tabernacles of our Catholic churches or exposed in the monstrance in our Adoration chapels. For example, in the Diocese of San Angelo, you can find Eucharistic Adoration chapels at St. Margaret Church in San Angelo, Sacred Heart Church in Abilene, Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Midland, St. Mary Church in Odessa, and St. Mary Star of the Sea Church in Ballinger. Some of these chapels are open 24 hours a day. Jesus is there for you, between classes, after work, or even in the wee hours of the morning.

I recommend that you take the opportunity to go on retreats while you are a college student. Look around for Catholic retreats, such as Awakening, Cursillo, or ACTS. These can breathe new life into your relationship with God.

At least once during your college years, I hope that you will go on a mission service trip. Some of these are organized by Catholic campus ministry centers at universities. Some are sponsored by local parishes. No matter what college or university you attend, you can sign up for Catholic college student spring break or summer mission trips through a national Catholic ministry called FOCUS (https://focus.org/missions/).

In the summer, if you are not taking classes, please consider putting your faith into action through a summer of volunteer service. There are many opportunities. For example, you could serve on a Totus Tuus team giving week-long summer faith formation experiences in local parishes. You could serve as a camp counselor at a Catholic summer camp such as The Pines Camp in Big Sandy, Texas (https://thepines.org/), or Camp Tecaboca in Mountain Home, Texas (https://tecaboca.com/). You could have a life-changing experience serving in another country through one of the Catholic missionary volunteer organizations listed in Response magazine or at https://catholicvolunteernetwork.org/begin/.

You might even want to spend an entire year of service in the mission of evangelization in the Catholic Church. The two most popular organizations are the National Evangelization Team (NET Ministries) (https://netusa.org/) and the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) (https://focus.org/). They provide the training, they send you on mission for a year, and you will grow tremendously through the experience. Besides these two organizations, there are many more such opportunities in Response magazine or at the website of the Catholic Volunteer Network linked in the paragraph above.

Even if you are not able to spend a summer or a year in church service, your youthful talent and energy are much needed in a variety of service projects through organizations like Catholic Outreach in San Angelo, Catholic Charities of Odessa, Helping Hands of Midland, local food pantries, and the St. Vincent de Paul ministry in many cities. For example, you and a few friends could spend time together repairing homes of the elderly, serving lunch or dinner to the homeless, or hauling donated items for the poor. Depending on where you are going to school, you might find the opportunity to participate in the construction of a home through Habitat for Humanity.

As a college student, you have much to contribute toward the mission of Jesus Christ. The light of Christ is burning in your heart by virtue of your baptism. If you will allow him, God is ready to accompany you in powerful ways during this special time in your life.