CAMPUS MINISTRY
“All guests who present themselves are to be welcome as Christ , for he himself will say: I was a stranger and you welcomed me (Matt 25:35)” Rule of Benedict 53.1.
campus ministry
At Mount Michael, the search for God is fundamental to understanding the meaning of life, and an essential aspect of the Benedictine tradition. Christian love is grounded in our relationships with ourselves, our families, and all whom we meet.
Mount Michael Benedictine School aims to nourish the gifts of the individual so that they can be a service to the community as a whole. Mount Michael strives to provide support and encouragement for young men to grow intellectually, personally, and spiritually. We consider our Campus Ministry program to be central to that growth and is at the heart of faith formation.
A central aspect to a Benedictine education is that it points to the Gospels and to Jesus Christ in the way it celebrates and values the image of God in each individual. Cardinal Hume, a former Benedictine Abbot, writes, “Above all, a good education must result in young people being not only gifted and accomplished, but also wise and holy.” We hope that during their time at Mount Michael our students grow not only in their academic life, but also in their spiritual life.
The liturgy is an essential part of life at Mount Michael. We offer both daily and all-school Masses throughout the year. Our students participate in the liturgy as lectors, Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion (EMHCs), and altar servers. If you are interested in participating in one of these ministries, please contact Mrs. Schleimer at aschleimer@mountmichael.org.
Each grade participates in a yearly day of recollection centered around our core Benedictine values.
Through our retreat program we strive to accompany our students as they encounter Jesus in their peers and in the Eucharist, we equip them to go out as disciples to share their faith and the love of God with the world, and to be living mercy as they serve the poor and their brothers and sisters in Christ. Each of our grades has dedicated time away from school to enter into prayer and to grow as a community. We develop our retreats to be rooted in the Benedictine values of Community, Hospitality, Integrity, and Service. The four retreats engage our students to apply the values to their life and to live out their faith.
Lectio Divina is a prayerful reading of scripture that the monks at Mount Michael participate in daily. Lectio divina is a multistep practice that totally immerses the monk in the biblical world and helps the monk bring God’s living word into his own daily life. It begins with a slow and deliberate reading of a passage of scripture; during this reading the monk listens for a particular word or phrase that will resonate in his heart. The monk then takes that word and meditates on the many meanings that it can have in the biblical passage as well as the present day. After this thinking about the word, the monk rests in contemplation of God—the word having brought the monk into a conscious realization of being in the presence of God. Moving from this time of contemplation, the monk gives thanksgiving to God through a brief period of prayer.
Once a week, the monks invite students of Mount Michael to join them in their Lectio Divina prayer and social hour. All students are welcome! Lectio Divina takes place on Thursdays at 8:30pm in the Abbey. For more information, see Br. Jerome Kmiecik.
Together with the Catholic high schools of Omaha, Mount Michael participates in Operation Others. Operation Others is a ministry founded through Creighton Prep to provide food assistance to families at Christmas and to educate about food insecurity in our community. Mount Michael students participate in efforts to collect donations, raise funds, and to prepare and distribute the packages.