May 2012

“Hi Father, can you hear my confession?” This is what I heard one day I was

walking across EWU’s campus. And of course, I did hear his confession. I asked

the student if he wanted to look for a quiet place or go to the Newman Center

(CNC) across the street; he decided to receive the sacrament at the CNC. This is

not the first time a student asks me for the Sacrament and I am sure it won’t be

the last.

I am amazed the way our students come to the CNC looking for the Lord, His

love, mercy and comfort. The CNC is just outside the campus of a secular uni-

versity where God or religion is seldom mentioned. A few of our students have

been made fun of because they are Catholic. The culture here doesn’t have many

opportunities for students to encounter God and his mercy.

There are many choices a typical college student faces daily. I am so glad and

proud many of them choose to come to the CNC to celebrate the Sacraments, to

pray, to hang around, to eat, to laugh, to do homework or even to make fun of

the priest.

I want to thank Bishop Cupich and each one of you who make possible this won-

derful ministry. Because of you, we have the CNC. Because of you, students en-

counter God in His Catholic Church. Because of you, we are making a differ-

ence! Thank you.

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Invest

in Our

Youth

All of the people attending the Catholic Newman Center are

students who have little opportunity to earn money and have

high expenses associated with their education.

Our weekly Sunday collection is about 10 dollars and we do

not receive any funding from the Diocese. St. Rose of Lima

parish is our most generous supporter; we all at the CNC are

most thankful to them.

The Newman Center instill Catholic values in these students,

while walking with them in their faith journey. Please con-

sider making a sacrificial gift to help support our ministry to

the Students at EWU.

Lets all invest in our youth.

Newman Center, 837 Elm St., Cheney, WA 99004

Mr. and Mrs. Quezada

Deacon Robert J. King

Rev. Stan Malnar

Rev. Alex Zepeda

Rev. Michael Kwiatkowski

Deacon Joe Schroeder

Rev. Tom Caswell

Rev. Joe Weitensteiner

Abbot Adrian Parcher, OSB

Rev. Al Grasher

Rev. Mathew Nicks

Rev. Charles D. Skok

Bishop Skylstad

Rev. Victor Blazovich

Rev. John Steiner

Sacred Heart, Othello

Rev. Kuhns Rev. Patrick Kerst Deacon Gonzalo Martinez

Rev. Darrin Connall Rev. Thomas Champoux Rev. Jeff Lewis

Rev. Mike Savelesky Deacon Luis Ramos

Mary Perrier

Rev. Alex Zepeda

Rev. Patrick Beraza Rev. James Peak

Rev. Mark Pautler Rev. Daniel Wetzler Rev. Perron Joseph Auve

Rev. Joe Sullivan

Rev. Steve Werner

A huge thank you to our great benefactors who together donated $5,000 to continue our ministry with

our EWU students.

As the Eucharist is the source and summit of our lives, there is no more fitting place for us to remem-

ber our spiritual and temporal benefactors than at the Lord’s table. The Church teaches us that the

Eucharist is itself the most perfect prayer of Thanksgiving. Every Sunday at the CNC, the community

Mass is offered for our benefactors, both living and deceased.

May God Bless you for your prayers, generosity and support.

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Our annual Search Retreat was another great success

this year and I am very proud of this year’s group.

We changed locations this year and other than a few

bruised heads from low ceiling beams, it went very

well.

Camp-N-Sid-Sen on Lake Coeur d’Alene is a beauti-

ful place that is perfect place to foster life-long

friendships and to renew our relationship with God.

As always it snowed on our way, which made for

some interesting nighttime driving as we also had to

deal with trees across the road and wet conditions.

We were fortunate to take 11 new faces with us,

many who are now very involved in the Newman

Center and full of spunk.

Almost as soon as we got back to Cheney, they

were anxious to start planning for year’s retreat.

It is one of my hopes that next year will be even

better than this year.

Kim Ploss

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Scott Cooper from Catholic Charities was gracious

enough to come out to Cheney and give a wonderful

presentation about Life Issues.

It was very different from what I expected in that he

focused on the Why of our Christian duties and shared

some amazing information and historical background.

We all need a protector and advocate of some type

and as a Christian and a Catholic, it is truly a privilege

to be called to be that for someone, knowing that

someone else will be there for me as well.

It is my hope that the circle of love and compassion

that we have at the Newman Center will spread and be

shared with others in our community, wherever that

may be.

Kim Ploss

For the Newman Center social activities, we have con-sistently been doing a variety of activities every other week. We had around a dozen people join us for a night ski-ing and snowboarding trip. Later in the quarter, we went on another trip up to Mt. Spokane for a snow-shoeing trip. On this, we pulled a sled with bratwurst, hot dogs, s’mores, hot chocolate, and more for a re-warding picnic at our destination. Over a dozen people joined for a fun exciting night of bowling where everyone said they had so much fun that we must do it again soon. Keeping with the every other week schedule, the CNC has been putting on movie nights as well as well. At these, we usually engage in fun light conversation, popcorn, and other movie snacks. Through these socials, we have been building a strong sense of community, tight bonds of friendship, in-volved other community members, and been enjoying the year through positive activities. Tara Reisenauer

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Our Bible Study is a very important part of our life at the CNC. We meet every Wednesday for dinner at 6:00 pm and Bible Study at 7:00 pm. Dinners are cooked by members of the CNC. The food is usually great and the conversation is amazing. We all sit in our small living room to share our meal and conversation. It is amazing how many people we are able to feed with such a small budget. Seminarians Kyle Miller and James Powers have been leading our Bible Study this year. We are so thankful to Bishop Cupich and Fr. Steve Dublinski who assign seminarians to the CNC as their pastoral assignment. Our study this years has been based on the book entitled “Youcat,” Youth Catechism of the Catholic Church. Earlier this quarter we were privileged to have Fr. Patrick Hartin from Gonzaga University who led our Bible

Study and talked to us about the formation of the sacred Canon.

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This year the Catholic Newman Center participated in our second annual Valentine’s Day

Dinner fundraiser at St. Rose of Lima Parish.

This fundraiser has become a fun way for the college students to become involved with the

parish community, and allows a chance for the parish community to meet the students that they are

supporting. The parish families are served spaghetti or fettuccini meal complete with bread, salad,

wine, and a delicious choice of deserts. Everyone comes hungry, and leaves with a smile and full

belly.

This fundraiser has become an event that students and parish all look forward to, which is

why it makes sense that it has become one of our most profitable fundraisers that we organize

throughout the school year.

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This fundraiser gives the students an opportunity to take responsibility for the financial needs of the

Newman Center. While it is a fundraiser, the students work hard to earn the money that is graciously do-

nated to our community. The students must plan a meal, cook together, decorate, provide music, and work

together to provide a full coarse meal for those supporting us.

This requires the students to work together and communicate in a way that we wouldn’t in normal

situations, which has strengthened many a friendship.

Personally, my favorite aspect of the dinner is that the students of the Newman Center get a chance

to take a step back from the schoolwork that usually consumes our minds, and focus instead on the task of

serving others and strengthening the relationship between St. Rose and the Newman Center.

Krista Naglich

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EWU rents our parking

lot now. The income

we get from the park-

ing lot funds most of

our programs at the

CNC.

The windows in

our building were a

safety hazard. Now,

when you visit our

home, you can

open the windows

if needed or in case

of an emergency.

We also expect to

save energy and

money during the

winter.

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The Knights of Columbus are an

amazing organization. We always

get the support from different coun-

cils. This year the Knights from St.

Rose, St. John Vianney and the Ca-

thedral were especially generous

with their time, talent and treasure.

Newman Center stu-

dents along with Fr.

Miguel, went to my

home parish, St. John

Vianney in Spokane

Valley, Wash., to

help with the Knights

of Columbus’s pancake

breakfast.

We enjoyed serving

others and spreading

the word about the

Newman Center and

what services it pro-

vides.

By serving others, we

learn to strengthen

our faith, sense of

community,

and walk in the path of

Christ: “But the great-

est among you shall be

your servant” (Matthew

23:11).

On behalf of the Newman

Center, I would like to

thank the Knights, Fr.

Joe Bell, and Fr. Char-

lie Skok for their gen-

erosity and support.

We look forward to

sharing more experi-

ences in the future!

Courtney Hammond

Mission Statement

Assist students in their growth to fuller understanding of their faith and in strengthening their relationship with God, the Catholic community, the broader Christian community, and the civic and work communities. Students are invited and encouraged to participate in programs and ser-vices which enhance their faith, their leadership skills, and their service to other as well as to witness to the Gospel values of justice, peace and charity. Students of all creeds are invited to join with the Catholic community in seeking the truth of the Gospel, the life and love of Father, Son and Spirit.

Sunday Mass at 7:00 pm

Monday CNC Open

Mass at St. Rose at 9:00 am

Tuesday

CNC Open

Mass at St. Rose at 9:00 am

RCIA at St. Rose at 7:00 pm

Wednesday

CNC Open

Mass at St. Rose at 9:00 am

Free Dinner at 6:00 pm

Bible Study at 7:00 pm

Thursday

CNC Open

Mass at St. Rose at 9:00 am

Social Activity

Friday CNC Closed

Saturday CNC Closed

Confessions at St. Rose at 4:00 pm

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Get in touch

with us!

Catholic Newman Center at EWU 837 Elm St, Cheney, WA. 99004

(509) 235-8402

newmanewu@gmail.com

www.rc.net/spokane/newman

at Eastern Washington University

“Your Home away from Home”

Catholic Newman Center

837 Elm St, Cheney, WA 99004

(509) 235-8402

www.rc.net/spokane/newman