TOWSON – Despite being Catholic, Stephany Zetterstrom wasn’t really familiar with the practice of eucharistic adoration.
Even so, when a young seminarian from Mount St. Mary’s in Emmitsburg approached her in a cafeteria at Towson University March 1 and invited her to pray before the Blessed Sacrament, Zetterstom was intrigued. The Towson University junior soon found herself sitting in silent prayer, staring intently at a small consecrated host held inside a gold monstrance in Towson’s student union building.
“This is such a crazy time of the year,” said Zetterstrom, a Lanham native double-majoring in communications studies and electronic media and film. “God knew I needed a moment in his presence, so he stopped me in my stress and everything that I’m preparing for in applying for scholarships and internships in the summer. God was telling me, ‘You need to take a moment right now to be here with me so I can bring your heartbeat at peace.’”
Eighteen seminarians from Mount St. Mary’s were on Towson University’s campus Feb. 27 to March 1 at the invitation of the university’s Catholic campus ministry based at the Newman Center. With permission from the secular university, they had opportunities for faith sharing not only with Catholic students, but also with students of many different religions – and of no religion at all.
The seminarians, representing a variety of dioceses around the country, mingled with young adults in the student union building, answered questions about Catholicism and invited believers and nonbelievers alike to experience adoration. They also gave talks on angels, demons and ghosts, as well as presentations on Jesus Christ, the Catholic Church and God’s existence.
A highlight was a eucharistic procession beginning at the student union building, crossing York Road and ending at the Newman Center. Seminarians took turns carrying the Blessed Sacrament while chanting eucharistic hymns. A handful of Catholic students knelt as the procession passed, while most onlookers stared in silence.
“COVID disrupted the life of community and what it means to be a college student,” said Father Kevin Ewing, Catholic chaplain at Towson University. “We’re trying to rekindle relationships and trying to help students see where God is calling them to something more.”
Luke Koski, a seminarian preparing for priesthood for the Archdiocese of Baltimore, is a Towson University alumnus. He said it was special to be back on campus, having conversations about faith.
“The Newman Center students have told us that seeing seminarians talking with students has been encouraging and motivating to them,” said Koski, a graduate of Calvert Hall College High School in Towson. “They said it makes them want to go out and do the same thing.”
Benjamin Haddock, a first-year seminarian for the Diocese of Arlington, Va., said many of the students he spoke with have some grounding in faith, even if they are no longer practicing. The visit was about opening up conversations rather than forcing beliefs on others, he said.
“I asked one student if she could use prayer in her life,” he said. “She was a Muslim and she told me about praying five times a day. And I mentioned that I’m taking Islamic philosophy as an elective right now at seminary.”
Deacon Esteban Mallar, a seminarian with the Diocese of Savannah, Ga., said his visit to Towson was his 10th mission to a college campus in the United States.
“The experience of talking with students is just a moment of grace and the Holy Spirit,” he said. “I just walk around and ask the Lord who he wants me to talk to. It’s always a beautiful experience.”
London McLaughlin, a Towson sophomore from Washington, D.C., said she welcomed the seminarians on campus. A Christian, she said she believes they are helping spread God’s word.
“That’s what God wants us to do,” she said. “He wants us to spread the light where there’s darkness.”
Email George P. Matysek Jr. at gmatysek@CatholicReview.org
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