Annual Mass on the Grass
to see schedule changes
By Sarah Szczepanski
Assistant
Features Editor
This Sunday, the annual Mass on the Grass, sponsored
by the St. Thomas Aquinas Center, will have some changes in its schedule
from last year's event.
New this year, along with food and a live DJ, there
will be information available about all of the organizations and activities
that the church is involved in, including the Hunger Hike and the Lafayette
Urban Ministry.
Also different this year, the catholic mass, held
on the Memorial Mall, will change from the normally scheduled time of
4 p.m. to 7 p.m. in accordance to the same change in the church's regular
Sunday schedule.
"Think about your day; how do you feel around
4 p.m.?" said Father Steve Kuhlmann, a priest at St. Thomas Aquinas,
which has between 5,000 and 6,000 registered students.
"That’s right, you don't have as much
energy. I think 7 p.m. will be a better time for more people."
But Kuhlmann said the Mass on the Grass will still
have the same purpose it did in former years.
"It’s a welcoming thing because it’s
outside where people can see it, kind of like a beginning of the year
picnic," he said. "It’s a time for people to reconnect
with friends, register with the church and grab something sweet and
cold."
The Mass on the Grass, which usually attracts around
1,000 Purdue students, is open to everyone, even those who are not Catholic.
Ingrid Rounds, director of mission advancement,
is preparing for her first experience of the Mass on the Grass.
"I guess one thing that sticks out in my mind
from seeing photos is that this time of fellowship allowed students
to experience mass outside the four walls of the church," she said.
"It can be less intimidating, and it can be
an opportunity for students to see the staff in a different environment.
It can make them feel welcome in their home-away-from-home church."
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