At Madonna University

It is a busy time of year - students and faculty are finishing mid-term exams. What you hear is the sound of a huge sigh of relief from students: Spring Break is Here! They will be missed on campus.

A group of Madonna University students, faculty and staff are heading for the Gulf Coast to participate in the ongoing coastal restoration projects. You are all awesome - safe travels, safe service and have fun!

March is national Nutrition Month. The Nutrition Network (Madonna University dietetics and nutrition majors) are serving healthy lunches and snack items with recipes and tips for eating healthy at the Take 5 Lounge on Thursday, March 4 and Monday, March 22 from 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM.

Loved the "Raw Zuchini "Pasta" Salad with Heirloom Tomato and Lemon-Basil Sauce" with "Cranberry Bar" for dessert - must try this at home. Thanks for the recipes, NN!

The Eta Lambda Chapter of Gamma Sigma Sigma at Madonna University is screening the documentary, "Very Young Girls" at the Madonna University Franciscan Center on Saturday, March 6, 2010 at 2:00 PM.

Raising awareness of child solicitation is a worthwhile project in my books. Collecting hygiene kit items for Alternatives for Girls makes this a double bonus project. Kelli Owens and Gamma Sig members - You Rock!

Graduation excitement is in the air. Wow, winter term is almost over! Stay safe and stay warm.
  
Watch for more posts!

Become An Eco-School - National Wildlife Federation

Become An Eco-School - National Wildlife Federation

Storms, Quakes Rock Asia-Pacific Regions

Storms, Quakes Rock Asia-Pacific Regions

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UNV 1010 - My Lifeline Continued

With Madonna University student leaders and Sister Anita Taddonnio at Michigan Campus Compact Service Leadership Camp, 2009.

With host family and Madonna University students at Ejido Rancho Nuevo - Mexico Mission Service Trip 2007. We are trying to build a community center at Ejido Rancho Nuevo, Coahuila Province, Mexico.

"Pizza and Pop" by St. Francis Pond with members of the

Madonna University Student Services Team 2008 - 2009.

Old college photos - University of San Carlos, Cebu City, Philippines

Taken in one of our annual summer trips to Catmon, Cebu, Philippines. I was born in Catmon, Cebu. Spent some school years and summers there in my youth. Check out photos of the coral reef on Facebook posted by my niece Phoebe Olive last week!

Goofing around with my professor for German, Fr. Bacareza and members of my German class. We had to take two languages - my choice was German and Spanish. The whole German class was invited to celebrate my birthday with a picnic at the beach and young coconuts for dessert. This was taken at my grandmother's coconut plantation.

Ahh - college days - celebrating my birthday at K47, Catmon, Cebu - with University of San Carlos classmates.

Peace On Valentine's Day!

 

Meditation: A Prayer for a New President and a New America

by Shane Claiborne
http://www.sojo.net/blog/godspolitics/?p=3639


God of Abraham, Miriam, Hannah, Rizpah, and David...
God of Elijah, Amos, Ruth, Isaiah, Deborah...
God of Mary, John the Baptizer, Peter, Paul, Philemon and Onesimus...
God of Anthony, Ambrose, Dirk Willems, Teresa of Avila, and Francis of
Assisi,
God of Dorothy Day, Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa, William
Wilberforce, and Oscar Romero
and God of love, grace, and hope...

Thank you for creating a perfect world.
Forgive us for the mess we have made of it.
Thank you for creating Jubilee, gleaning, and Sabbath as patterns to
ensure that the poor are cared for, the earth rests, and inequality is
dismantled.
Forgive us for choosing the patterns of empire.
Thank you for using the weak things to shame the strong and the
foolish things to confound the wise.
Protect us from becoming too strong or too wise.
Protect us from ourselves.

Forgive us...
for the groaning of creation
for the millions who die of hunger and curable diseases
for warehousing people in prisons and using them for labor
for the scandal of billions wasted in war
for worrying about tomorrow and storing up more than this day our
daily bread
for an economy that mirrors the seven deadly sins
for our Caesars and our Herods
for the violence and greed in our own hearts
Save us from ourselves.

Deliver us...
from the arrogance of power
from the myth of redemptive violence
from the tyranny of greed
from the ugliness of racism
from false hope and counterfeit change
from the cancer of hatred
from the seduction of wealth
from the idolatry of nationalism
from the paralysis of cynicism
from the ghettoes of poverty
from the ghettoes of wealth
from the blood-stained pages of history
and from the legacy of slavery.
Deliver us oh God.

Give us the courage...
to bless the poor in a world that blesses the middle class.
to bless the meek in a world that admires aggression.
to bless the hungry in a world that feeds the already fed.
to bless the merciful in a world that shows no mercy on evildoers.
to bless the pure in heart in a world of clutter and noise.
to bless the peacemakers in a world that baptizes bombs.

Give us imagination...
that we might not conform to the patterns of this world.
that we might shatter indifference and interrupt injustice with grace
that we might choose the cross over the sword
that we might be as shrewd as serpents and as innocent as doves
that we might consider the lillies and sparrows as they shame Wall
Street's splendor
that we might choose the dream of God over the dreams of nations
that we might cling to the God that so loved the world, not just America
that we might allow our Jesus to change America rather than America to
change our Jesus.

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Poverty Solutions - Urban Farming

Carla is a pre-nursing student at Madonna University.



Amber working to fulfill her service learning requirement for one of her classes.



Dominic harvesting beans. He has been urban farming since he was six years old and serving at Gleaners' since he was five years old.



A Picture of the Urban Farm



Madonna University students serve at Gleaners' Community Food Bank once a month.The Madonna University community have a food drive every semester.

A lot of the poverty pockets in the United States are located in our cities such as Detroit. Even in the best of times, hunger continue to prevail among the urban population. The majority of the urban population lack access to healthy life supporting food to nourish their bodies. These leads to susceptibility to various illnesses.

Large supermarkets have fled from the city, leaving small Mom and Pop operations and liquor stores in the neighborhoods. The inventory selections of these enterprises is very meager and narrow, devoid of healthy food especially fresh fruits and vegetables. The Capuchins and Gleaners' Community Food Bank are the main sources of food security not only in the city of Detroit but also in Southeast Michigan.

In 1999, Brother Rick Samyn, a Capuchin friar had a vision of farming vacant lots in the city. He started Earth Works. Earth Works provides some of the much needed fresh produce for people living in the city.

Madonna University students continue to serve and work with both organizations. Their service help raise awareness of the hunger issues confronting the poor among us. Students and other young people have become part of the solution.