Denver Catholic

13 DENVER CATHOLIC | MARCH 9-22, 2019 Pray. Fast. Give. Donate at ccdenver.org/easter " I , t o o , h a d t h a t h o p e l e s s n e s s a n d i t ' s n o l o n g e r t h e r e . " T R A N S F O R M A L I F E T O D AY Your gift shares God's love, while bringing real help and lasting hope to neighbors who have nowhere else to turn. While living in a tent outside for three years, Deedee had multiple back surgeries and became confined to a wheelchair. For a time, she lived on the sidewalk outside Catholic Charities' Samaritan House. Although afraid, she agreed it was time to get help through the shelter program. She discovered it was safe and welcoming inside. With our help, Deedee has moved into her new apartment, is at a healthier weight and utilizing the skills she learned while at Samaritan House. She said, "I'm excited to be looking forward (in life)." Will you make a donation today to Catholic Charities and our many life-changing ministries? Help the hungry, homeless and those in need this Lenten season. Support Catholic Charities. A WORTHY MISSION The fruits of Ram Catholic are never as evident for Father Porter as when he walks out of the church and onto CSU's campus. "The students who are part of campus ministry are happy, joyful and excited," he said. "Then you walk on campus and you realize there's so many more students who don't know Jesus Christ. "There's sadness and isolation. Everyone's walking around with head- phones on and nobody's saying 'hello' to anyone. There's a lack of joy," said Father Porter. "We need to change the culture of our campuses. They're miss- ing out on a joy that God wants them to have and they don't even know it." Creating a greater Catholic presence has the potential to change the hearts of young people from all walks of life. "Those students need to see the church," said Father Porter, "and they need to see a building that's going to inspire them to want to go inside and meet the Lord." According to Father Porter, there's around 6,000 to 8,000 Catholics at CSU, and Ram Catholic is able to reach around 1,500 of them. This campaign will help the parish extend its oppor- tunities to grow in faith to many more. St. John hopes to have all pledges in by June or July of this year, to break ground in early 2020 and complete the whole construction project by the beginning of the school year in 2021. The parish's staž remains in awe of the campaign's continued success, especially at this time in the Church's history. "I thought this last crisis was going to hurt the ministry," said Father Porter. "[But] it's bringing students to the min- istry. I think people are seeing the tre- mendous battle. "I think they took that as this isn't a time to abandon the Church — this is a time to take over the Church, renew the Church, be in this battle and help God purify the Church." This project is a testament to that desire. "The Catholic Church has reason for hope again," said Father Porter. "I really think that God is probably using this project, and he'll continue to use others, to really build up his Church again because the Church is in such disarray right now. "It's going through some very dark times. I think it gives something for Catholics to get behind and to rebuild God's Church to what it needs to be." Visit saintjohn.church/pres- ence for more, or email Luke Hecker at luke@john23.com i The above renderings portray what the exterior and interior of the brand-new St. John XXIII church building will look like once the project is fi nished.

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