“Joy is a net of love by which you catch souls.”
~ Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta
Kateri College’s faith life will help students draw closer to God through His son, Jesus Christ, and to find the well of water that will always sustain and satisfy the soul. In our overly busy and noisy world, the college community will encourage students to spend time in silent prayer, conversing with Our Lord. Prayer and the sacramental life will be prioritized by the college schedule such that attending Mass or spending a Holy Hour before the Blessed Sacrament is not an afterthought in a busy day but the first fruits of it. Each day will center on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass which students will be encouraged but not required to attend. Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament will be available weekly. Student groups will lead morning and evening prayers. As a community, we will gather to pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet and encourage the students to pray the Rosary either privately or in smaller groups. We will offer a series of weekly studies on Scripture and the early Church Fathers which are part of our theology curriculum but to which others outside the college community may also attend.
Saint James tells us: “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves,” and he goes on to state boldly: “faith without works is dead.”
To this end of being doers of the word, every semester, as part of their Practical Arts curriculum and credits, all students will engage in an intense week-long service project either within the city of Gallup or on one of the adjacent Native American reservations. This project will help unite the college community with our local one. It not only will benefit those in need around us, it also gives the students practical experience in the trades. Because of their intensity, these week-long service projects will earn students 3 of their practical arts credits each semester. Our vision is to partner with other non profit organizations within the area to build homes on the Reservations or in the underserved community of Gallup.
“Half an hour’s meditation each day is essential, except when you are busy… Then a full hour is necessary.”
~ Saint Francis de Sales
Saint Benedict states in his Rule: “Idleness is the enemy of the soul. Therefore, the community members should have specified periods for manual labor as well as for prayerful reading,” (RB 48.1).
Two extremes of life are idleness and frenetic activity. We will encourage our students to find the peaceful mean particularly in their spiritual life.
As part of the spiritual development of our community, all students will participate in retreats offered by the college chaplain or a guest retreat master. These retreats may range between 1 and 3 days and may be either guided or non-guided.
Gallup is a unique diocese in that it covers a large geographical area, spanning 55,000 square miles across two states — northwestern New Mexico and northeastern Arizona. While being materially poor, it is spiritually rich. The diocese is blessed to have numerous different religious orders represented here.
Mother Teresa personally founded one of her Missionaries of Charity soup kitchens and shelters in Gallup in the 1980s. The Little Sisters of the Poor operate one of their assisted living homes here. Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, Religious Sisters of Charity, Congregation of Sisters of Saint Agnes, and Sisters of Jesus, Mary and Joseph serve our Native American population on the Navajo and Zuni reservations. The Franciscan friars have been serving in the diocese and on the reservations since the early 1900s.
The Benedictine monks of Our Lady of Clear Creek Abbey, OK, have founded a priory near McGaffey, NM — Our Lady of Oso Ridge. The Sisters of Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Joseph have a contemplative house where they adore Our Lord 24 hours a day — this chapel is also open to the public to come and pray before the Blessed Sacrament at anytime.
The Dominican Sisters of Mary Mother of the Eucharist in Ann Arbor, MI, have recently founded their first mission in New Mexico and have taken over the administration of Gallup’s Sacred Heart Elementary School. Also in the diocese are the Benedictine sisters of Our Lady of the Desert, and down the highway from the sisters, yet in the Santa Fe diocese, is the Benedictine community of Christ in the Desert.
These varied communities offer a beautiful example to young people of different religious vocations possible to them. They also offer ample opportunity for our students to volunteer and serve others in various needs within the diocese.