Jessie Carrano
UW-Madison St. Paul’s Catholic Campus Ministry
I was raised Catholic and received the Sacraments of Baptism, Holy Eucharist, Confession and Confirmation. However, I never made the connection that what we were doing was because God was calling me into a loving relationship with Himself. Despite 8 years of Catholic school and traditional religious education through high school, I had a shallow understanding of God and our Catholic faith.
I assumed college students didn’t go to church, and I didn’t know that there was a Catholic church at UW Madison until I met some other Catholics on campus on their way to Mass. After that, I attended Mass just when I felt like I had enough time for it, which ended up being a couple times per month. At the end of my freshman year, I met Catholics who knew about God calling me into a loving relationship with Him because they had encountered his love. They started praying for me and inviting me to attend a large group gathering at St. Paul’s — the Catholic Church at UW Madison.
At this time, I was in a dating relationship with a man who was my best friend for four years. This relationship made me hesitate to seek what they were seeking. I thought I would find that my sinfulness was too much for God to forgive, so I used school for an excuse not to attend the gatherings. These people who were praying for me persevered for a whole year. In the middle of spring semester of my sophomore year, I finally agreed to attend the large group gathering. The reason I finally agreed to go was because the person who was inviting me offered to go late with me (I had another commitment that evening). It was a small act of charity; but I respected him, and his charity showed me that he thought it was important that I go to the gathering.
That night a student shared how God was working in his life. For the first time I realized that God was really present with me. I cried a lot and my life was changed. I wanted to live differently when I encountered God’s love for me. God softened my heart through their intercessory prayer and I was then able to respond to God’s grace. I was like the lame man who couldn’t get to Jesus on my own, so my friends put me on a stretcher and brought me to him with their prayer. I am forever grateful for their charity.
Shortly after my conversion, I ended the dating relationship that wasn’t helping me grow toward God. I started meeting with students and staff at St. Paul’s who could teach me how to return God’s love for me. God drew me closer to himself by using those relationships. Specifically, they took time to meet with me to show me how to read the bible, pray, and to teach me to discover the beauty of the Catholic Church. They taught me how to respond to God’s promptings in my own heart.
That was 7 years ago. Now I am married to a man I met at St. Paul’s and we have three beautiful children. We daily try to center our marriage on God and teach our children to love Him. As daily struggles arise, I know to turn to God for strength, and I strive to unite my struggles to Jesus in order to grow closer to Him. I often think how lost and alone I would feel in life if I didn’t have a relationship with God. I am grateful that I had a conversion at a time in my life that I was making major life decisions about my career and spouse. I was able to pray about these decisions and trust God with them. If St. Paul’s didn’t have students and staff reaching out to people like me, I may not know God or his love for me. That is the greatest poverty in our world. Praise God that He has raised up workers to bring his love and presence to the world, especially on college campuses.
Student Stories
- Christina Giordano
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After attending a Catholic retreat during her sophomore year of college, Christina felt herself growing closer to Christ for the first time in years.
- Brad Klingele
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After being formed in his faith by one-on-one mentoring and small groups, Brad helped to renew his local campus ministry.
- Melanie Contrestan
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“I feel like the Lord spoke to my heart. ‘The Church needs you, Melanie, and you need the Church.’”
Campus Ministry Stories
- Harvard Catholic Student Center
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Faye Darnall became convinced of EC ministry methods while a campus minister at UW-Madison, so she took them with her when she went to Harvard.
- UW-Milwaukee Newman Center
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Margaret Rhody was a UW-Milwaukee student when she attended her first EC Institute. Then she took what she learned to a campus ministry position there.