Student Testimonials - Church of St. Joseph in Greenwich Village & The Catholic Center at NYU

Student Testimonials

NYU Catholic Center > Student Testimonials

-from NYU Alumna, Cynthia

"When I started, the Catholic Center was a way for me to continue my faith journey, through involvement in mass, clubs, and retreats. But, as my four years at NYU passed, it became much more. I still look forward to every homily, because I know that it will not only help me to understand the ways the Scriptures have been interpreted, but will connect to history, the community, will challenge my intellect and my faith, and will leave me with questions and thoughts. The priests have always been welcoming, supportive, respectful, and loving, and that has allowed me to find my own community within the Catholic Center, whether it was through serving at mass, joining clubs, starting clubs, going on retreats, running retreats, or even just talking, thinking, brainstorming and figuring out life, faith, and my place in the world. Most of all, the Catholic Center has been my home away from home, my community, a place where I can go and try to figure out ways to challenge myself and others in our faith journeys, and be supported while doing so. The relationships I built there are strong and lasting, and I know that anytime I walk into the Catholic Center or St. Joe's, I can expect to find friends, parishioners or priests, who will be genuinely happy to see me, who want to share their lives and faith and struggles with me, and who will support, accept, challenge, and love me without judging. The Catholic Center is really the people who run it and are involved in it, and for me, it has been my rock, a place where I have a community to love me and help me navigate through my life, in the middle of a city full of people, ideas, and opportunities that can be overwhelming and hard to navigate. But the one thing that I most love and cherish about the community at the Catholic Center is that, while it has many traditions which we all value, it is always changing, challenging itself, open to ideas, listening and responding to the community, and valuing the involvement and input of students. The Catholic Center will always be a home for me, no matter how long I am gone or how far away I go."

- from NYU alumnus David Hoover
"When I reflect on my four years at NYU, I can think of nothing more fundamental than my experience at the Catholic Center. Through the Kairos retreat program and the Aquinas Circle, I formed life-long friendships while deepening my faith. My time spent on Kairos and at the Aquinas Circle is something I will always carry with me. The Kairos retreat, by having us explore where God specifically is in our lives, has helped many students, myself included, grow closer to the Lord in ways that are foundational. I honestly can share that the Kairos retreat proved to be my best four days at NYU. Students looking for ways to explore and deepen their faith will find no better place than this retreat. The Aquinas Circle, an undergraduate Catholic community, is the perfect way to continue on a weekly basis what is gained from Kairos. Through shared prayer, honest discussions, guest speakers, social justice project s, and people rooted in kindness and acceptance, the Aquinas Circle is the ideal place to challenge oneself and others. The people I met through our community, both priests and students, have proven to be wonderful men and women full of integrity, compassion, and love. I have found much value in these relationships, and am grateful for these friends. For me, Kairos, the Aquinas Circle, and the friendships I've found here were essential to my time at New York University. The Catholic Center is a blessed place, and I am excited for any student who has become involved with this wonderful home away from home."

"... after the 2nd anniversary of 9/11 I was reading in my journal from that time and realizing how much I was helped and healed from the ... experience through MASS and simple moments with the Catholic Center. The Center has such an important ministry in the NYU community and I want to THANK YOU for making a difference in my life and for planting seeds of truth, enrichment and insight in my heart..."

- letter from NYU alumna Kristine Owens
"... The Center has allowed me to be truly active in my faith, whether it through participating in Sunday Mass, answering God's call to charity at the soup kitchen, or engaging in Christian fellowship and friendship with other students ... the campus ministry has provided me the opportunity for great spiritual growth. There are few places that I've felt God's love stronger than at the Catholic Center..."