Jesus on the Quad: Students Adore Christ at One of Largest Public Universities

I am reminded of this video, Woke Campus Leftists, Awoken by Eucharistic Procession, Flee for Their Lives! Good on the Fighting Illini!

From Aleteia

By Theresa Civantos 

The Newman Center at the University of Illinois brought the Blessed Sacrament to the main quad; students adoring Jesus at the center of campus.

The Main Quad at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is usually bustling with students rushing back and forth — to classes, dorms, parties and activities. 

But on a warm night in early October, the students weren’t rushing past. Instead they kept stopping, looking over, pointing and wondering. What was happening over there?

Courtesy of St. John's Catholic Newman Center

Hundreds of students were worshiping Jesus in the Eucharist — sitting or kneeling, joining in prayerful song, or adoring quietly. 

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) is the fifth largest public university in the U.S., with close to 60,000 enrolled students. 

But that night, its hustle and bustle was hushed as Jesus became the center of campus.

Courtesy of St. John's Catholic Newman Center

Adoration on the Quad for Feast Week

Every week the UIUC St. John's Catholic Newman Center — the largest Newman Center in the U.S., with a residence hall that houses nearly 600 students — hosts Source + Summit, a night of Adoration of Jesus in the Eucharist, with Confession available.

But this week was different. The Newman Center community was celebrating “Feast Week,” a whole week of special events to honour their patron, St. John Henry Newman, whose feast day is October 9.

What better way to celebrate Feast Week than to bring Jesus right to the heart of campus?

“We decided to take it outside and bring Jesus onto the quad as a way to witness to the campus who we are and who Jesus is in the Eucharist, and to bring our faith into the public square,” said Fr. Daniel McShane, assistant chaplain at St. John’s Catholic Newman Center.

“We want to draw students to Christ and if they're not coming to the Newman Center, we're going to try to engage them in different ways by going out onto campus.”

Courtesy of St. John's Catholic Newman Center

Great spiritual fruits came from that encounter. The campus’ FOCUS missionaries stood outside the event, prepared to welcome onlookers and explain what was going on. FOCUS missionary Clare Campbell told Aleteia just one of the many encounters she saw:

When we welcomed one young man to pray, he said, “I don’t know how to pray.” So a missionary offered to show him how. They knelt together and prayed for a while. Then the young man stayed there, praying alone, for more than 20 minutes. 

Courtesy of St. John's Catholic Newman Center

A Catholic boom at UIUC

Something incredible is happening on the UIUC campus. No one can quite explain it, but there’s been noticeable growth in the number of Catholic converts.

“Last year, we had about 40 students in OCIA,” said Fr. Lee Brokaw. “This year, 130 students have reached out and shown interest in OCIA, with 80 consistently attending meetings. We are actively reaching out to the others to invite them and meet with them to better understand what they are seeking and how we can support them in their faith journey."

On top of that, around 1,000 students are part of some 80 FOCUS Bible studies on campus, many taking place in fraternity and sorority houses. 

Fr. McShane described the atmosphere on campus as “open and curious”:

We have had incredible conversations with people who are just open to hearing about God, hearing about the Catholic faith, and hearing about how they can grow in relationship with Jesus Christ. It seems like the college students are looking for something deeper and something more fulfilling. Often, that is bringing them into the Church.

Courtesy of St. John's Catholic Newman Center

Certainly part of that is the dynamism of the campus chaplains. The popular 10:30 a.m. Sunday Mass at the Newman Center is typically packed with standing room only, as the chaplains deliver deeply impactful homilies.

But the chaplains say the real draw is the students themselves: “It’s the students. They’re the ones going out and inviting their friends and sharing their faith,” said Fr. Brokaw.

Whatever is happening, the Holy Spirit is working on this college campus — and by all accounts, at many other universities around the world.