Neocatechumenal Way members begin regular catechesis sessions at Simon Fraser University

The B.C. Catholic



A Catholic spiritual renewal group is bringing the good news to university students.

Members of the Neocatechumenal Way are reading Scripture, preaching, singing, and praying twice a week at Simon Fraser University.

“In those catecheses, we proclaim the kerygma and invite those who come to discover the immense love of God for them,” said Vincent Tourvieille, a member of a Neocatechumenal Way community at Blessed Sacrament Parish.

“We let them know that God calls them to a life full of peace and mercy, something that goes way beyond typical students’ concerns like career and money.”

Since Sept. 18, Tourvieille and others have been sharing the Gospel on Tuesdays and Fridays at SFU. They bring the same message to nearby Holy Cross Church on Mondays and Thursdays, and encourage students to go there for Sunday Mass.

It’s a two-month project aimed at helping people answer existential questions, according to student and Neocatechumenal Way member Vanessa Zarbl.

“We are all here hoping to succeed, but many people experience failure,” she said.

“I myself experienced immense failures at university and even dropped out of school for a period of time. It really made me question what the meaning of my life was, that lack of success.”

The culture of success puts immense pressure on her and her peers, she said.

“I remember talking to a student I had just met in the hallway telling me that he had never believed his own life was valuable, he didn’t understand the meaning of his own existence,” Zarbl said.

“He was so in need of human connection, someone who would empathize with him, and maybe give him an answer to those deep questions he had.”

Zarbl launched Mercy for All, a campus club that gives students a place to ask those questions and hear the Good News all year long.

University “is a very hard place for the faith,” agreed Father Luis Martin Brain Delgado, spiritual director of Redemptoris Mater (Mother of the Redeemer) Seminary, a Neocatechumenal Way seminary in Vancouver.

Father Delgado admitted he lost faith during his own university studies years ago.

“Therefore I find it important to bring the Gospel message to the university so that students have an opportunity to meet Jesus, because for me this is what gave me life, what made me happy.”

Zarbl encourages SFU students to contact her by email: mercy4allsfu@gmail.com.