Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Bringing Christ's love to the world

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Cabrini U Men’s Lacrosse Team Wins NCAA D III Championship

From the day the Cabrini men’s lacrosse team ended the 2018 season, that has been the mantra.

Today, the Cavaliers lived their words and went 1-0 in the biggest game and on the biggest stage in the history of the program.

The Blue and White rallied to score a 16-12 victory over No. 7 Amherst College to win the University’s first ever NCAA championship in front of a boisterous crowd of nearly 19,000 mostly blue and white clad fans at Lincoln Financial Field. Cabrini closed the 2019 campaign with a program best 22-2 record and 15 game win streak.

Sophomore Kyle Tucker was named championship game most valuable player after leading the Cavaliers with three goals and an assist. Senior Bill Morgan matched Tucker with three goals.

Senior Jordan Krug led all scorers with five points on two goals and three assists. With today’s output, Krug completed one of the best seasons in program history, setting a single season mark with 75 goals, while his 113 points rank second. The senior also established new standards with 355 career points, while his 233 goals are tied for the top spot.

Senior Timmy Brooks and junior Tyler Kostack added two goals each, while junior Mike Gerzabek notched two assists.

https://cabriniathletics.com/news/2019/5/26/cavaliers-claim-1st-ncaa-title-with-16-12-win-over-7-amherst.aspx

Cabrini University Men’s Lacrosse Team Headed to NCAA Championship

The Cabrini men’s lacrosse team dominated the final 15 minutes and earned the right to continue its historic season, topping No. 2 Salisbury 16-13 to secure a place in this Sunday’s national championship game.

Joining the Cavaliers at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday will be the No. 7 Amherst College Mammoths, who will also be making the program’s first ever championship game appearance after today’s 12-8 win at No. 5 Williams.

Men’s lacrosse achieved another first on Tuesday, May 21, when University President Donald B. Taylor, PhD, conferred degrees on the team’s seniors in a special late afternoon Commencement ceremony on campus. While the rest of the Class of 2019 graduated May 19 during Cabrini’s official Commencement in the Nerney Field House at the Dixon Center, these student-athletes were spending the afternoon in Maryland preparing for their semifinal game victory.

The trade-off was worth it for this team.

Joined by joyous family and friends, eight members of the lacrosse team, clad in cap and gown, processed down the aisle—a much smaller aisle—in the Mansion Dining Room.

Thunderous applause erupted as each student was called to accept his diploma. Timothy Brooks, Cassius Christie, Kevin Delaney, Drew Hanna, Jordan Krug, Nick LaBanca, William Morgan, and Riley White received bachelor’s degrees. Nicholas Vass, who earned a master’s degree, was unable to attend the ceremony.

 

 

 

CONGRATULATIONS AND GO CAVS!!

Continuing Education

This week, Sr. Genet Henok, MSC, Director of Formation, accompanied two MSC novices from Ethiopia, Sr. Ayantu Abera, MSC and Sr. Tigist Loha, MSC to the Cabrini Cottage on the campus of Cabrini University in Radnor, PA for several days of formation. The topics that were covered were the founding, history and traditions of Cabrini University. PowerPoint presentations and interactive learning sessions were interspersed with campus tours designed to bring the history alive.

Dr. Nick Rademacher, Professor of Religious Studies, joined the sisters presenting two sessions on Contemporary Issues in American Catholicism.

Rounding out their visit in Radnor was a lively conversation on vocational discernment.

We surely look forward to their return visit and the opportunity to engage in further cultural exchanges.

Alleluia! Alleluia! Let the Holy Anthem Rise!

The joy of this Easter season was evident to all at Mass in the St. Joseph Bruckmann Memorial Chapel at Cabrini University on Sunday, April 28th. At the celebration of the Mass at 7:00 PM two special people entered into the fullness of the Catholic faith by making their profession of faith and receiving the sacraments of Confirmation and First Communion. They were Dr. Donald Taylor, President of Cabrini University, and Melissa Bratun, a Cabrini sophomore .

A large group of family and friends and students gathered to share in the Eucharistic celebration presided over by Rev. Carl Janicki, Cabrini University’s chaplain. Joyful hymns rang out throughout the liturgy and faces were aglow with expressions of happiness as we participated in this very special act of
worship.

Melissa’s preparation for the Rite of Christian Initiation was effected by means of a team approach. [Cabrini University staff] Rosa Altomare, Campus Minister; Meg Harrison, Enrollment Management; Anne Schwelm, Library Director; and Sr. Christine Marie Baltas, MSC, Campus Ministry Associate, met individually with Melissa throughout the course of the academic year to prepare her for this next step in her Catholic journey. Fr. Carl did the same by meeting with Dr. Taylor and completing the preparation that had been started by several monks at Benedictine University. Melissa’s uncle, Joe Bratun, served as her sponsor and John Schanz, former Chair of Cabrini University’s Board of Trustees sponsored Dr. Taylor.

Let us all pray that Melissa and Don’s faith will increase, and that they will experience an ever growing intimacy with Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

Catholic Leadership for the Future

Four leaders of diverse experience and expertise met at Cabrini University on Monday, April 1st to discuss how Catholic clergy, lay people, and leaders are responding to the problems posed by abuse and oversight problems in the Church, and to help participants think creatively about renewed Catholic leadership in the Church. The problems revolve around power and culture.


Since we are all the Church, the Body of Christ, we need to build “people power”. The hierarchy needs to value and engage the assets of the lay people and create a synergy of those gifts. We need to increase “co-responsibility” for the future of the Church.

From Liberty to Captivity

On March 13th, Cabrini University, in collaboration with the Cabrini Action and Advocacy Coalition (CAAC), hosted a premier film debut which places an intensive focus on sex trafficking in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Faculty, staff, students, alumni and community members “walked the red carpet” to attend this special screening.

From Liberty to Captivity, explores the tragic reality of sex trafficking through the stories of victim survivors and abolitionists fighting to end this crime against humanity. Woven into the film is a message of justice and hope for the future. Reflecting on the powerful effect of the abolitionists in the 19th century, this film documents one state’s fight for freedom from slavery.

With its proverbial lens, From Liberty To Captivity zooms-in on Pennsylvania’s booming and profitable sex trafficking industry, which is threatening to destroy the principle of “liberty and justice for all”. This feature-length film reveals the reality and complexities of sex trafficking crimes and this social justice issue and present the very real hope of conquering it.

Cabrini University Students’ Immersion in Guatemala

Eleven Cabrini University students, one alumna, three faculty members and the Director of the Wolfington Center participated in an immersion trip to San Lucas Tolimán, Guatemala over [the recent] Spring Break. The trip was led for an 11th year by Communications Professor Dr. Jerry Zurek and Romance Languages and Literatures Professor Dr. Raquel Green, as part of their Engagements with the Common Good course entitled “Working for
Justice in Guatemala”.

 

All participants spent the week working in the mornings on construction projects in and around San Lucas Tolimán, and being educated on the numerous initiatives of the San Lucas Mission to promote health, education and the empowerment of women in the region.

San Lucas Tolimán is a community of roughly twenty thousand people located on the southeastern edge of Lake Atitlán, which was once famously described by naturalist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt as the “most beautiful lake on Earth.” It is located in an area of Guatemala that was ravaged during the thirty-five year Guatemalan Civil War, particularly during the early 1980s, when Blessed Father Stanley Rother of neighboring Santiago Atitlán was one of several Catholic priests murdered in the country. In San Lucas Tolimán, Father Gregory Schaffer also was threatened with death, and one of his closest workers in the Mission was disappeared in the same year.

Despite such ever-present violence and deeply entrenched material poverty, Father Greg was able to profoundly alter the conditions of the area by empowering lasting social change rooted in the needs as stated by the community. Today, nearly seven years after Father Greg’s death, the staff and long-term volunteers of the Mission work alongside numerous visiting groups to engage in projects that support basic material needs and also contribute to the communal and spiritual growth of the residents of the area.

“Working in the community really opened my eyes to the spiritual richness of the people of San Lucas Tolimán, which is what I will forever focus on instead of their material deprivation. I learned so much from each person about grace, dignity and respect,” said Dr. Todd Matthews, one of the faculty members on the trip.

In addition to San Lucas Tolimán, Dr. Ray Ward, Director of the Wolfington Center, Dr. Melissa González-Contreras and Dr. Matthews also had the opportunity to spend a day at the Dispensario Madre Cabrini in the town of Bárcena, close to Guatemala City and roughly three hours from San Lucas Tolimán. There they were able to meet with Sister Juanita of the Missionary Sisters, along with the Administrator of the Dispensario, Claudia Aceituno, and several members of the staff. They also saw the tremendous work being done by the Missionary Sisters and lay staff with the residents of Bárcena and surrounding villages. The Dispensario operates a medical clinic, provides psychological services, vocational training and a variety of other services such as a school and workshops that particularly aim to educate and empower women.

In the hillside village of El Tablón, a women’s center has been established, where roughly 1/3 of the women in the community regularly meet to learn about leadership and women’s rights along with providing social support to each other. Compared to San Lucas Tolimán, these efforts are in the nascent stage of development but are already having a significant impact on the lives of those in a community where most children are not able to go beyond a grade school education and many of them are married in their early teens.

Social change is slow and often frustrating, but the work done by the Missionary Sisters in Bárcena and all of the participants in the San Lucas Tolimán Mission is directly improving the lives of countless Guatemalans and is a powerful reminder of the beauty and impact of what Mother Cabrini started over a century ago. We may not change the world, but lives can be transformed, as we saw happening to ourselves and to the people in these two missions we were privileged to visit. ~ submitted by Dr. Todd Matthews

Women in Business Panel

The Nerney Leadership Institute and School of Business, Arts and Media of Cabrini University present:

WOMEN in BUSINESS PANEL

Cabrini University

Mansion Dining Room

Monday, March 25

3:30 – 5:30 pm

Come listen to women at the top of their industries share their stories.

1260 Upper Gulph Road, Wayne, PA 19087
Phone: 484-581-7163   Fax: 484-581-7164
info@mothercabrini.org