Building a Virtual Faith Community
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HILE MEMBERS OF THE LOYOLA COMMUNITY LED SOCIALLY DISTANCED LIVES during the pandemic, Loyola Academy President Rev. Patrick E. McGrath, SJ, and our Mission and Ministry team reached out to keep the Loyola community connected to God and one another in the following ways: Father McGrath’s Virtual Masses were live streamed every weekday at 8 a.m. and shared via an online resource page that averaged 800 visits a day. Members of the Loyola community were encouraged to pray our Virtual Rosary—offered through Zoom on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays—and to trust the rhythm of this beautiful prayer to lead them into deeper reflection during difficult times. While we were unable to gather together in prayer, community members were invited to share their virtual prayer intentions for our faith community. The more musical among us joined Campus Minister Mike Gregg on Facebook Live and Instagram Live for a Prayerful Music Sing-Along on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Our weekly Food for Thought email delivered a short reflection, story, prayer or quote—as well as questions to ponder in the week to come—to inboxes every Sunday. Campus Minister Alex Lupo hosted virtual Ignatian yoga lessons once a week.
In June 2020, as activists from coast to coast protested the lethal and persistent injustice experienced by people of color, Fr. McGrath presided over a Virtual Mass for Peace and Justice. “The killing of George Floyd on May 25 has evoked outrage in all people of goodwill,” he reflected. “But Mr. Floyd’s death is just the most recent example of the sin of racism that continues to fester in our country. We have to do better. We pray today for the grace to do the difficult work of building kinship and community in a divided nation.”
A Virtual Visit to the U.S-Mexico Border
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VERY SUMMER, Ramblers head south to the U.S.-Mexico border to learn about the plight of migrants fleeing poverty, violence and persecution; serve migrants in need; and advocate for more humane, just and workable migration policies. But, as Summer 2020 approached, it seemed that this annual service and immersion experience with the Kino Border Initiative would become yet another casualty of COVID-19. Then Caroline Browne ’21 approached Campus Minister Lyle Baier with a suggestion: Why not reimagine the Kino trip as a virtual experience for a world in the grip of a global pandemic? Baier conveyed Browne’s request to the educators at the Kino Border Initiative, who enthusiastically embraced the idea. By the end of May, 10 rising seniors had embarked on the Kino experience, which included a Zoom orientation session; discussions and reflections; a virtual tour of a soup kitchen in Nogales, Mexico; and a virtual desert walk featuring personal items left behind by migrants making the treacherous passage to the U.S. border. For Browne, the most powerful part of the week was the opportunity to speak with migrants and hear their firsthand accounts of the immigration experience. “These were real people—not statistics, numbers or measures,” she reflected, “and they had important stories to tell.”
Loyola Academy Annual Report 2019–2020
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