I am about to celebrate my eleventh anniversary as pastor of St. Anthony’s Catholic Church in Hillsdale. One of the great joys of being assigned to this parish is the opportunity to serve not just a local community, but also the hundreds of Hillsdale College students who arrive each fall.

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These students bring such life and joy to our parish. They are enthusiastic and curious and devoted and engaged. We welcome them with gratitude and do our best to offer them a wholesome and orthodox encounter with the love of Our Lord and the beauty of our Catholic Faith. We know that they are with us at a very transformational time in their lives, living away from their families, encountering new ideas and new people, and—we pray—really growing into the adults that God has created them to be.

 

In 2012, noticing that the Catholic student population seemed to be steadily on the rise, our parish felt called to open The Grotto, a ministry house on the edge of campus where students come together to be formed in faith and friendship. Since then, we have offered daily opportunities to pray before the Blessed Sacrament—reposed in a small former bedroom. In addition, The Grotto hosts weekly Mass and Confession, Convivium talks with a group meal, evening Rosary, Adoration, social events, and other formation opportunities. It has become a transformational part of so many students’ Hillsdale experience.

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This parish effort to more fully serve the students has flourished to the point of creating a new problem: we are out of room. We literally cannot fit into the house all of the students who wish to pray before the Blessed Sacrament or attend Mass. With a very generous lead gift already pledged, we are now hoping to expand the physical footprint of The Grotto so that we can Gather & Grow with all of the young men and women that God is sending for us to serve—not just those who arrive early enough to find a space to sit or stand.

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Please join me in thanking God for this incredible circumstance. At a time when so many young adults are going off to college and losing their faith, we have students yerning to grow.  (In fact, Hillsdale College recently ranked first in Princeton Review for "Most Spiritual Students.")  As you read through this website, please consider how you might join our Gather & Grow efforts—through prayer, through a financial contribution, or through both. Please partner with us to make room for each and every student who wishes to meet Our Lord at The Grotto.​