Albertus Magnus Students Swap Spring Break for Ohio Mission Work
Story by Joe Pisani
Six students from Albertus Magnus College of New Haven went on spring break. But they did not go to Florida; they traveled to Ohio to perform mission work.
They were part of the first Albertus Magnus Spring Break Mission Trip to Columbus, where they did service work for different ministries of the Dominican Sisters of Peace, whose motherhouse is located in the capital city.
“Going to Florida may be cool, but doing community service and helping people out who are in need is more impactful than sitting on the beach,” says Owen Griswold of New London, a junior majoring in criminal justice/pre-law.
For him, the highlight of the week was the four hours the group spent packing 2,760 meals for the Columbus-based LifeCare Alliance. The nonprofit organization distributes the meals to homebound residents.
Service is a fundamental part of life at Albertus Magnus and one of the four pillars of the Dominican charism — prayer, study, community and service. The college was founded in 1925 by the Dominican Sisters of St. Mary of the Springs, now known as the Dominican Sisters of Peace.
“That’s how we live our lives every day,” says Sister Cathy Buchanan OP, the campus minister who organized the trip. “All 19 Dominican colleges and universities have the same four pillars, so there is a shared culture, no matter where they are. When we go to conferences, we talk about the different pillars and what they mean to us. Since service is one of our pillars, students know from the day they arrive that’s what they’re buying into.”
Sister Cathy, who made her first vows three years ago and is now temporary professed, knows about service. After a 27-year career in law enforcement, she was looking forward to retiring to Florida and sitting on the beach. But God had a different plan, she says, which includes working with young people and starting a new life with the Dominican Sisters of Peace.
She describes the spring break in Ohio as “amazing.”
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“Everything went perfectly, considering this was our first time going,” Sister Cathy says. While there, the Albertus students also met fellow students from Ohio Dominican University.
During the week, the group toured the Martin de Porres Center, a place dedicated to spirituality, education and the arts, and had an opportunity to do farm work and feed the animals at nearby Shepherd’s Corner, the Dominican ecology center.
Also, they visited the Dominican Learning Center, which offers adult learning classes in ESL, GED and Adult Basic Education. In between their service work, the students were able to pray, meet many of the 150 sisters who live in the Dominican Motherhouse, and give them thank you cards of appreciation during Catholic Sisters Week, celebrated March 8 to 14.
“Jesus was all about helping people and giving back, and that is what we did, just as Jesus did,” says Griswold, who is a resident assistant and an admissions ambassador at Albertus.
The trip had special meaning for him since he became a Catholic last year at the Easter Vigil, when he was baptized, received First Communion and was confirmed.
He made the decision to enter the OCIA process after talking with another student at the National Dominican Preaching Conference. Before that time, he says, “I didn’t have much faith at all.”
Sister Cathy says the Albertus Magnus students, who were inspired by their experience this year, have already begun preparing for a spring break mission trip next year.