Cory Lakatos
An Ice Altar & a Requiem Mass
Cory Lakatos
Celebrating SBI’s Tenth Anniversary
Celebrating SBI’s Tenth Anniversary
Cory Lakatos
Video and Photos: A Civil Dialogue on Sex and ...
Cory Lakatos
The Sabbath of the Earth
Cory Lakatos
Student Stories: True Desire for Holiness

An Ice Altar & a Requiem Mass

For the third year in a row, our students have constructed an ice altar in the Pine Grove behind Graves Hall. They also included an altar rail, presider’s chair, ambo, and credence table, all made out of ice. They have truly outdone themselves! See more photos of this year’s ice altar below, and check out photos from 2024 and 2023 for comparison.

"Hoarfrost and snow, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him above all forever." — Daniel 3:70

Sadly, the first Mass celebrated on this year’s ice altar was a Requiem Mass for Jennifer Kasunick, a Hope College student who died tragically on January 11. While Jennifer was not Catholic, she participated in the Saint Benedict Institute’s Genesis 90 program last year and had registered for the program again this year. On her registration form she explained, "I did it last year, and while I have gone back and forth on whether or not I should do it again, I feel called to give it another try. I feel that there is more for me to learn from this program, and I am always seeking a closer relationship with Jesus." We pray that Jennifer will experience closeness with Jesus forever in heaven. Please pray for Jennifer, her family, and the Hope College community.

Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon her. May her soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

#GivingTuesday 2024

December 3 is #GivingTuesday! Please consider making a gift to support our ministry at Hope College. We thank you for your generosity!

We share stories from our current students every year during October and November. When you give to the Saint Benedict Institute, your generosity will foster many new stories in the lives of students at Hope College in the years to come. 

Check out our featured students below!

Commitment Is Freedom

“Since participating in Genesis, I have grown in self-control, love, and desire for the Lord, and I have learned about more structured ways to pray.”

Read Lydia's Story

Poverty, Offering, Solidarity

“From July 1-10, I had the opportunity to serve in Costa Rica with the FOCUS missionary team that is on campus! I would describe the work with three different words—poverty, offering, and solidarity.”

Read Drew’s Story

True Desire for Holiness

“One of the biggest fruits that I have seen in my life is an increase in true desire for holiness and closer union with God. I am so thankful for the fertile ground Exodus 90 provided for my faith to improve, and I look forward to what God will do with this newfound desire.”

Read Castle's Story

Saying “Yes” to the Lord

“I was determined that, even with these fears filling my mind, my eyes would remain fixed on the Lord. Through prayerful discernment and encouragement, I said “yes” to leading a Bible study.”

Read Elsa’s Story

Celebrating SBI’s Tenth Anniversary

Ten years ago, Hope College had an immense need for a uniquely Catholic perspective in the campus conversation. Hope’s sizeable Catholic population needed spiritual and intellectual guidance, and the college lacked a forum for sharing the riches of the Catholic tradition.

Thus the Saint Benedict Institute was born. In the past decade, we have ministered to Catholic students, engaged in ecumenical dialogue and friendship with other Christians, and enriched the intellectual life of our community. We’ve grown and changed a lot over the years, and we’re thankful for all the ways the Lord has blessed our academic, spiritual, and cultural endeavors.

To celebrate our big anniversary, we put together a retrospective on the Saint Benedict Institute’s first decade. We invite you to read it and then pray for another ten years of fruitful ministry at Hope College.

A Brief History of SBI

2014

  • Jared Ortiz and Jack Mulder found the Saint Benedict Forum

  • First speaker: Fr. Damian Ference, followed by Eduardo Echeverria and Joseph Pearce

  • Student activities: blessing of the dorms, student retreat, immersion trip

  • First board meeting held September 29

  • Vocation Discernment Program launched

2015

  • Deacon Brian Piecuch joined the staff as development director and program coordinator

  • Bishop David J. Walkowiak became the first Catholic bishop to speak at Hope

  • Speaker series: Sr. Joseph Andrew Bogdanowicz, OP; Dawn Eden, Anthony Esolen, Duncan Stroik, and Eduardo Echeverria

  • We held our first day of study, discussing the subject of deification

  • The President of Hope College and the Bishop of the Diocese of Grand Rapids signed a covenant agreement between St. Francis de Sales parish and Hope College, designed to enhance the intellectual and spiritual formation of Hope College students

  • Total expenses for the calendar year: $59,000.

2016

  • Speaker series: Jack Mulder, Deacon Omar Gutierrez, Sr. Miriam Heidland, SOLT; James Matthew Wilson, and Jared Ortiz

  • “Gay and Christian Symposium” with Josh Gonnerman, Eve Tushnet, and Ron Belgau

  • Our second day of study was on the subject of homosexuality and anthropology

2017

  • The Saint Benedict Forum became the Saint Benedict Institute

  • Speaker series: Rusty Reno, Sr. Sara Butler, MSBT; Daniel Mitsui, Fr. Vincent Lampert, and Catherine Pakaluk

  • We held our first Restorative Justice Conference, with over three hundred in attendance

  • Fr. Nicholas Monco, OP joins the Institute as its first chaplain

2018

  • Our first civil dialogue event discussed abortion

  • Exodus 90 program, Bible studies, and Rosary prayer groups launched on campus

  • The spring Saint Benedict Seminar was on heaven, hell, and purgatory; the fall seminar was Harry Potter themed

  • Carly Baldwin joined the staff as a campus missionary

2019

  • We hosted a day of study on the topic of disability and human nature

  • Speaker series: Helen Alvare, John Suarez and Miguel Abrahantes, David O’Connor, and Stephen Barr

  • We penned our first strategic plan

  • We led our first seminar on courtship, marriage, and sex

  • First spring break immersion trip to Saint Meinrad Archabbey

2020

  • Speaker series: David Deavel, Jared Ortiz, Theresa Farnan and John Bursch

  • Due to COVID, we moved Masses outdoors and the rest of our events online

2021

  • We resumed daily Masses in the wake of COVID

  • We hosted virtual Lenten meditations

  • Speaker series: Abigail Favale, Eleanor Nicholson and Rhonda Ortiz

  • We held a civil dialogue event on racism

2022

  • Speaker series: Fr. Robert Sirico, Louis Brown, and Chris Baglow

  • We opened the Saint Anne Oratory at the Carol C. Schaap Chapel in Graves Hall

2023

  • A recent graduate was ordained to the priesthood, a first for SBI

  • Speaker series: Rich Ray, Jared Ortiz, Stephen Barr, Bishop Joseph Perry, and Sr. Damien Marie Savino, FSE

  • We held a Men of Hope event to help male students live and date as Christians

  • FOCUS missionaries arrived on campus for the first time

2024

  • Speaker series: Jack Mulder, John Bursch and Megan DeFranza

  • Students organized a Catholic art exhibition on campus

  • We held our first Eucharistic procession on campus

  • Total expenses for fiscal year: $358,533 (seven full-time staff, including four FOCUS missionaries, plus three part-time staff and two interns)

Next Steps

We want to continue to grow and better serve our students and our friends of West Michigan. To do this, we believe the next step for the Saint Benedict Institute is to hire a full-time director. For the last ten years, Jack Mulder and Jared Ortiz have led the institute on a volunteer basis. But our growth and the needs of our students and community call for a director who can fully devote the time necessary to support our work. The Saint Benedict Institute has become the leading center of Catholic intellectual life in West Michigan. Please help us grow our mission and sustain it into the future.

SBI by the Numbers

Photos and Video: Dominican Rite Low Mass

Three times this autumn, Fr. Nick Monco celebrated low Masses in the Dominican Rite on Hope’s campus. This variation on the Traditional Latin Mass is unique to the Order of Preachers and rarely celebrated. It contains several unusual gestures and rituals, including a moment when the priest holds his arms in a cruciform position during the Roman Canon. Below you can see photos and a few video clips from one of the Masses.

Video and Photos: A Civil Dialogue on Sex and Gender

On October 16, 2024, the Saint Benedict Institute hosted attorney John Bursch and Dr. Megan DeFranza for an evening of civil dialogue on sex and gender. After a discussion moderated by Jared Ortiz, SBI Executive Director and Co-Founder, our two guests answered written questions from Hope students and others in the audience. Below you can watch a video of the event and view photos. All photos were taken by Sara Cooney.

Student Stories: Saying "Yes" to the Lord

At the beginning of my sophomore year, I realized early on that I was seen and loved by our FOCUS missionaries. They personally invited me to Bible study, coffee, and events both on and off campus. They quickly became my role models. I wanted to strive to make Jesus the center of my life, just as they were. Once I was invited into the Discipleship program, I was excited to learn how to practically live out our faith.

Through small group sessions in Discipleship, I was able to open up about my struggles with the faith. During this time, my peers and the missionaries demonstrated the love of Christ by showing no shame or judgment. They loved me where I was at, and also motivated me to take practical steps to strengthen my faith. Through these meetings, I developed a deeper interior life that changed my relationship with our Lord.

However, once I was invited to lead a Bible study, I was terrified. Many questions flew through my head. Will it be awkward? What happens if I can’t answer anyone’s questions? What if nobody shows up? I confided in the missionaries about my fears, and they reassured me that God does not call the equipped, but, rather, he equips the called (Hebrews 13:21). I was determined that, even with these fears filling my mind, my eyes would remain fixed on the Lord. Through prayerful discernment and encouragement, I said “yes” to leading a Bible study.

This fall, I could not be more joyful in the ways the Lord has used me to bring souls closer to him. Inviting a group of women into my cottage each week to talk about the Good News has been so beautiful. Discipleship has increased my confidence to share my faith with others, starting with leading a Bible study. Saying “yes” to the Lord’s plan for me, even when I was afraid, has been so fruitful both in my life and for others on campus.

Elsa Clausen is a junior from Seneca, Illinois. She is majoring in religion and Chinese studies.

The Sabbath of the Earth

Introducing the Ecology of Fabrice Hadjadj

Thursday, November 7, 6:30-8:00 p.m., Winants Auditorium, Graves Hall

Lecture by Dr. Joshua Kraut, Hope College Associate Professor of French, Department of World Languages and Cultures

Event Sponsored by the Hope College Green Team, the Religion Department, and the Saint Benedict Institute

Many thinkers have seen the environmental crisis as a symptom of a deeper spiritual crisis, one whose solution is not simply technical. Dr. Joshua Kraut's talk will bring two such figures into dialogue: the well-known American agrarian writer Wendell Berry and the contemporary French philosopher, Fabrice Hadjadj, with a particular focus on the latter.  While Hadjadj writes about a broad variety of topics, including ecology, a central theme in his work is the severing of the material and spiritual worlds typical of the modern age. In developing themes from Hadjadj's essay, "The Sabbath of the Earth," Dr. Kraut will aim to help us reflect as a community on the spiritual underpinnings of ecological destruction—and renewal.

Two-time winner of the prestigious European Religious Literature Award, member of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, and a convert from a Jewish atheistic background, Fabrice Hadjadj is considered one of the most brilliant Catholic thinkers of our time.

Student Stories: True Desire for Holiness

Throughout my first semester at Hope, I did not make my walk with God a priority. When deciding on what college to attend, the spiritual aspect was an important factor. Thus, I only seriously considered Christian schools. Despite this, as my first semester progressed, getting involved in any facet of spiritual life on campus dissolved into an afterthought. I prioritized my classes, my co-curriculars, my free time—pretty much everything except my relationship with God. This led to increases in vice and decreases in virtue, a selfish mindset that I was “too busy” for anything but the things I wanted to do, and a subtle feeling that something was missing. When my freshman fall semester reached its end, I did not feel dissatisfied with it at the time, but looking back it is so easy to see what was missing.

A major life change over the holiday break forced on me a radically different outlook on life and a brighter illumination of my need to rely on God. My best friend and I made it our semester goal to steep ourselves more deeply in Christian fellowship and spiritual life on campus. Part of this was signing up for something called Exodus 90. In brief, doing Exodus 90 radically changed my life in many ways. I felt profoundly more fulfilled and closer to God, and it prompted me to examine my faith in deep and important ways that I had not thought of before. The sacrifices of Exodus 90 drew me deeper into prayer and devotion, and the fellowship provided impactful relationships with other Christian men. Additionally, through Exodus 90, my prayer life was radically transformed. One of the biggest fruits that I have seen in my life is an increase in true desire for holiness and closer union with God. I am so thankful for the fertile ground Exodus 90 provided for my faith to improve, and I look forward to what God will do with this newfound desire.

After Exodus 90 finished, I joined Exodus 365 and have continued to put my journey to sainthood at the forefront of my life. I now serve as an Exodus Intern for the Saint Benedict Institute, which has allowed me to give back to the program that gave and continues to give so much to me. I thank God every day for bringing me to Hope, for bringing Exodus into my life at just the right time, and for his continued provision and blessing each and every day.

Castle Dettinger is a sophomore at Hope majoring in classics and religion.

Student Stories: Poverty, Offering, Solidarity

From July 1-10, I had the opportunity to serve in Costa Rica with the FOCUS missionary team that is on campus! I would describe the work with three different words—poverty, offering, and solidarity.

The first word, poverty, describes well our standard of living. From the food we ate to the stall I showered in to the place I slept, all reflected the poverty that we lived in. This poverty, however, came with great spiritual abundance. Poverty stripped down our lives of complexity, which allowed us to focus on the essentials: friendship, community, and God.

The second word I would use to describe the trip is offering. While on the trip, we ran into many challenges and difficulties, and when they happened, our response was to send those experiences up as an offering to God. No matter if it was bug bites, muggy weather, or bugs finding their way under your covers, there were many things to pray about and offer up to God as a sacrifice. This helped us learn to rely on God more and learn how to pray for each other.

The final word I would use to describe the trip is solidarity. Our mission group’s shared experiences of poverty and offering inconveniences brought us unity.

One of the projects we worked on was the building of St. Lucia. The day we arrived, it was looking a lot more like a skeleton than a chapel. While our goal at the beginning of the week was to build St. Lucia just enough to celebrate the first Mass there, we said that if we didn't reach this goal, we would accept that outcome with humility. Nevertheless, working with diligence, finishing the roof and a whole side with concrete walls, we finished just enough to have the privilege of celebrating the first Mass ever in that chapel by the end of the week!

While there is so much to say about this trip, it would be difficult for me to fit it all in a few paragraphs. I am very thankful for the opportunity that FOCUS afforded to me! I pray that God will continue to bless this Costa Rican community and that they can grow in faith.

Drew Hoeksema is a senior majoring in business and philosophy.

Student Stories: Commitment Is Freedom

At first, the disciplines in Genesis 90 felt daunting. I truly thought, “This is impossible.” However, I was determined to give it a try. I decided to take it one step at a time by simply signing up. The next steps involved meeting my accountability partner, which was key for me. I am grateful for the accountability and friendships I have made through Genesis. 

Some disciplines were easier than others, but sacrificing certain items (desserts, social media) gave me a new perspective. I grew to appreciate them more when I couldn’t enjoy them during that season. Personally, I learned that when we sacrificed items, it does not mean they were inherently bad. I did learn how much I idolized them and how I wanted to shift my focus towards God. 

Since participating in Genesis, I have grown in self-control, love, and desire for the Lord, and I have learned about more structured ways to pray. “Commitment is freedom” is a great way to describe how this program has impacted me. I feel confident when I sacrifice things because of the commitment I have made to myself and God.

Lydia Erwin is from Cleveland, Ohio. She is majoring in biology. Lydia now helps to administer and recruit for the Genesis program as a Genesis Intern with SBI.

Dominican Rite Low Masses

Winants Auditorium, Graves Hall
October 12, 19, & 26 at 11:30 a.m.

Did you know that some religious orders have their own unique liturgical traditions? 

The Order of Preachers, commonly known as the Dominican Order, has its own rite of Mass which is its own distinct version of the traditional Latin Mass. Attend this rarely celebrated liturgy with a short lecture by Rev. Nicholas Monco, O.P. and lunch afterwards.

Mass is open to anyone but the lunch and lecture are for Hope College students only as part of SBI's Sunday School 2.0 series. 

A Civil Dialogue on Sex and Gender

Featuring John Bursch and Megan DeFranza

Wednesday, October 16, 7:00 p.m. in Maas Auditorium

Perhaps no issues today are more contentious and more divisive than those surrounding sex and gender. Indeed, the questions have even irreparably divided some churches. Christians hold widely differing views, each side claiming biblical support and moral authority. Is it even possible to have a conversation with those who disagree? Can we talk in a way that brings more light than heat? Can we find points of agreement even while disagreeing? Can we evaluate each other's arguments and move toward the truth? The Saint Benedict Institute thinks we can.  

The Saint Benedict Institute is hosting attorney John Bursch and Dr. Megan DeFranza for an evening of civil dialogue on sex and gender. Mr. Bursch has written a recent book defending the Catholic Church's views on gender. Dr. DeFranza is known for her scholarly work concerning intersex people and gender minorities. Both approach these matters with a Christian lens. Both are seasoned practitioners of civil exchange and are eager to model how Christians can explore hard questions without demonizing those who hold other views.

This event is co-sponsored by the Provost's Office, the Dean for Arts & Humanities, the Pre-Law Society, and the Department of Philosophy.

John Bursch is the senior counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom. He has argued 12 US Supreme Court cases, including cases defending the Catholic Church’s teachings on marriage and sexuality. His most recent book, Loving God’s Children: The Church and Gender Ideology, was published in August 2023.

Megan DeFranza is a counselor, author, speaker, and filmmaker. She holds a Ph.D. in religious studies with a concentration in sex, gender, and sexuality. Her books include Sex Difference in Christian Theology: Male, Female, and Intersex in the Image of God.  Additionally, she directed the documentary “Stories of Intersex and Faith.”

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