SSND In the News
New Rolla campus minister helping to sustain ‘a welcoming faith community’ at Newman Center
By Jay Nies
This article was published in The Catholic Missourian, newspaper of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Jefferson City on September 18, 2009. It is reprinted with permission.
As a member of the universal Church and the international religious congregation known as the School Sisters of Notre Dame, Sister Laura Jean Spaeth feels at home wherever she travels.
That same sense of welcome is exactly what she, as the new campus minister, wants for all the students who cross the threshold of the Cardinal Newman Catholic Campus Ministry Center in Rolla.
"What the students want and what I certainly want for them is a place where they can feel at home in a welcoming faith community," said Sister Laura Jean, who became the center's campus minister Aug. 1. "It's a place where they can come to be accepted, to be listened to, to grow, to just be."
It's also a place to encounter Christ and develop a deep, personal relationship with Him.
"The spiritual focus is evident in the Liturgies, the prayer experiences, the social concerns and outreach, and the community that is already present," said Sr. Laura Jean.
"A global heart"
Sr. Laura Jean comes to Newman with experience as an educator, administrator, leader, community-builder and spiritual guide. She recently completed a 10-year term as a member of the international leadership council of the School Sisters of Notre Dame in Rome.
Having traveled to 25 of the 36 countries where SSNDs are missioned, Sr. Laura Jean has developed what she calls "a global heart."
"We are at home through one another," she said. "Even though my roots are on a farm in Wisconsin, my heart is wherever the need is."
A former provincial leader for the School Sisters of Notre Dame Milwaukee Province, Sr. Laura Jean has taught at rural and inner-city schools; helped reorganize the Catholic school system in Superior, Wis.; served as a staff member and director of the Milwaukee Inter-congregational Justice and Peace Center; coordinated a spiritual renewal program through RENEW International in an inner-city parish; and established and directed a holistic renewal program for Christian ministers.
She holds a bachelor's degree in sociology and English from Mount Mary College in Milwaukee; an M.T.S. degree in spirituality from Regis College in Toronto, Canada; and a master's degree in theology, with a concentration on Scripture, from St. John's University in Collegeville, Minn.
She is well versed in giving one-on-one spiritual direction and leading individual and group retreats.
"I always had kind of a heart for the underdog," she said. "That's always been a concern of mine, the minorities, the oppressed, the marginalized, the poor."
Beacon on a hill
Located in an impressive building on a hill overlooking St. Patrick Church and the Missouri University of Science and Technology, the Rolla Newman Center traces its origin to the late Monsignor Gerold J. Kaiser, who in 1953 gathered the Catholic students at the university and told them, "When the intellect and mind grows, so does our faith."
The center's name honors Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-90), who came to Catholicism from the Church of England and was influential in bringing Catholic students to and fostering Catholic identity at the Anglican university at Oxford.
Like other Newman centers throughout the world, it is a place for Catholic students and faculty to deepen their faith and prepare for leadership in the Church. It is a place where many people experience genuine conversion of spirit and lifestyle.
"Whatever it takes"
Early this year, Sr. Laura Jean was looking for a new ministry after completing her work in Rome.
She set her sights on becoming spiritual director of a retreat house. But a close sister friend was aware of the opening in Rolla and encouraged her to apply for it.
"She said, 'I think you have the gifts for this job. Would you at least come down and interview at Rolla?'" Sr. Laura Jean recalled.
Sister Laura Jean agreed to do that if she hadn't heard back about another position she was hoping for.
The friend suggested reading "Empowered by the Spirit: Campus Ministry Faces the Future," a pastoral letter from the U.S. Catholic bishops, in preparation for the interview.
"I was reading what the bishops wrote about doing whatever it takes to bring young people to their full human potential as Christians so they can better the world of today and tomorrow, and I thought, 'This is our charism as School Sisters of Notre Dame!'" she said.
Sr. Laura Jean applied for the Rolla position and was invited there for an interview.
Monsignor David Cox, pastor of St. Patrick parish, which operates the center, said he was excited about finding someone with extensive international experience.
"We have a lot of people from all over the place here," he said. "And then, there's the whole idea of the charism of the SSNDs being to teach people about the presence of Christ in the Church, and that's what she's doing for the students she's working with. I'm really glad to have a person who can do that."
He said Sr. Laura Jean comes off as a "wisdom figure" for the students, and that her experience in spirituality and religious formation are impressive.
The day after the interview, Msgr. Cox called and told her, "We think you have the kind of presence the students need at this time in their lives."
Gradually, through prayerful weeks of discernment, Sr. Laura Jean began to realize that God was calling her to go to Rolla.
"It was a very powerful faith experience for me - one that is still sustaining me in my work. I believe God turned me around and said, ' This is where I really want you to go,'" said Sr. Laura Jean.
A "life thread" for students
The ninth of 12 children who grew up on a small dairy farm near West Bend, Wis., Sr. Laura Jean remembers "rolling into" her faith during childhood and having it supported throughout college in a very structured environment.
"I was saturated in my faith since day one and was in a safe setting all the way," she said. "I think students today arrive at their faith in the midst of many more options. They come from very different settings and choose to keep their faith alive. They also want others to experience that."
Since arriving in Rolla, she has been working with the Newman Advisory Board, the Catholic Newman Council, the parish staff, Newman's faculty advisor, and the campus ministers for other churches, to "learn the ropes" and assess the students' spiritual needs.
She believes the organizational structure in place at Newman will allow her to use her gifts and be present to the students.
She sees Newman as a "life thread" the students can hold onto while campus life and all its obligations are pulling them in every direction.
She noted that many of the incoming students have had powerful retreat experiences such as Steubenville and CHRISTpower retreats, and that they want to continue with many of those prayer forms. Some have also taken part in service projects in the United States and overseas.
She is looking forward to the Busy Student Retreat in October and the Awakening Retreat in March, both sponsored by the Newman Center. Students have told her that these retreat experiences have helped them turn their lives around and begin their walk with Christ.
"A lot of these young adults don't just want to educate the mind," she said. "They also want to take care of their faith and heart and live a good life in the midst of everything else they're learning."
Learning to listen
At one of the first Sunday Masses at which she introduced herself to the parish, Sr. Laura Jean met a student from India who had arrived in the United States just three days previously.
"My heart went out to him, because he looked so lost," she said. "I know the feeling. I've been to more than a few foreign countries myself."
In fact, Sr. Laura Jean is looking forward to connecting students of all nationalities and backgrounds and helping them find opportunities to listen to and learn from each other.
"It's very important for people to listen to others' experiences," she said.
"So much of the violence that happens in this world is because we don't understand the people who are different from ourselves. And there's so much you can learn about the richness of cultural diversity in a place like this if you are attentive to some of the international students in your presence."
Focused on Christ
Sr. Laura Jean is eager to help students find new opportunities to experience the Gospel in all its fullness. She looks forward to becoming a part of their community and growing spiritually with them.
She often turns to a prayer she learned as a novice in formation: "Sacred Heart of Jesus, I put my trust in You, and though I fear all things through my own weakness, I hope all things through Your merciful love."
She knows she can't go wrong if she keeps following the advice of the SSND foundress: "Keep your heart and your gaze fixed on Jesus."
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