I think some assume (hope) that along with the addition of the Chapel of St. Joseph, we STA students would all magically transform into reverent Catholic school girls.
False.
In reality, despite how reverent (?) we may have appeared during the ceremony, we are still the same old students.
The same students who don’t sing along to the hymns.
The same students who fall asleep on their friends’ shoulders during the readings.
The same students who chat during the homily.
The same students who wore running shorts under their skirts today.
During the most historically significant event on STA’s campus in over a decade, STA students, in reality, acted no different than a typical prayer service.
Not that I expected much different. Slapping on a $50 skirt and top won’t transform us, just as a chapel won’t.
It seems to me as if this chapel is in part an attempt to Catholic-ize the school. But the problem is, in reality, having a brand-spanking new chapel doesn’t make us any more Catholic.
A new building is exactly that– a new building.
What we need to build is reverence, not a new chapel, if we want to change the attitudes and behaviors of STA students.
That means…
- No more sleeping.
- No more buzzing of voices after communion (the best time to talk)
- No more silence during songs.
Although Reverence Girl’s messages to the school last year reminded us of our responsibilities at church, we all could use a refresher course. Especially if the administrators and campus ministry want us to treat mass more like mass and less like nap time.
STUDENT • Mar 26, 2011 at 10:33 am
I agree one hundred percent with you, Katie. I do not believe that the new building will help the school “grow in faith” like the administration claims. If people aren’t reverent now, they are not going to change once the chapel is built. The chapel is being built so that more people can utilize its space. However, barely anyone uses the chapel we have now. The new chapel is just going to be a failed attempt to increase our interest in the religious aspect of attending STA. Also, I think that the chapel is being built to make the school appear more Catholic. In reality, nothing will change with the building of the chapel except that our campus will be more crowded, congested, and the administration will waste millions of dollars of donations.
Katie • Mar 23, 2011 at 9:55 pm
I agree! I just hope that students actually use the chapel to be more in touch with God, regardless of denomination. It seems to me as if students don’t use the current chapel to do so unless it is guided meditation (which most students sleep during). I truly hope that students see the chapel as a place they can pray, meditate and reflect, I just don’t see any precedent for them to do so. If students don’t currently utilize worship space or time, will we if we have a new building?
STA student • Mar 23, 2011 at 9:36 pm
While I agree with Katie that building a brand new building will not make us more Catholic, i would hope that wasn’t the entire idea behind building it. I believe we really did need a new chapel, a place were students can go to be more in touch with God. But the thing is, being more in touch with God doesn’t involve just Catholics. STA has an open policy- anyone of any denomination can feel welcome here. The Chapel of St. Joseph will just reinforce that. If someone truly had a problem with the way we acted in mass (which I do agree is sometimes horrifying) I would hope that they would resort to simpler tactics than building a brand spanking new building. That just seems a little extreme.