CU is where the infamous 4:20 happens every year. Students gather in large numbers and smoke marijuana on campus. For whatever reason, police do little more than watch.
It was because of this that my FOCUS teammates discussed all sorts of names for the Mass we were planning to have on campus. We were trying to combine the rhyming word Mass with pass on grass. Or just, "Mass on grass." In the end, we decided the Mass didn't need a creative name. Heaven was touching down on earth, and we had always known it to be the Mass.
And although every Mass is monumental, this was an extra special occasion in our hearts: A Mass in the middle of the CU campus to celebrate 100 years of Catholic Campus Ministry there, and with both Archdiocese of Denver Archbishops celebrating. There were many former FOCUS missionaries and student leaders present who had paved the way for the work we're doing now, and that included our team director, Hilary, who had been a FOCUS student at CU returning for the first time this year as a forth year missionary. This first Mass on campus was an especially momentous occasion for her.
It was evident to all that God's grace and mercy have been, are, and will be made present at CU and were well worth celebrating on this special day by Campus Ministry and FOCUS, and the several thousand in attendance.