The SBI and Hope Catholic’s annual Beach Night was a blast! Many thanks to our local Knights of Columbus for providing the delicious food. We are grateful to you.
To learn more about the Knights of Columbus, St. John Neumann Council 7115, visit https://kofc7115.org/home-2. Thanks again, Knights!
Photos by Adam Vander Kooy and Karen Nimtz.
Join the Saint Benedict Institute and the Holland Catholic community for a night of fun and fundraising—including dinner, games, prizes, and live and silent auction items—all benefitting Corpus Christi Catholic School and students. Dress for a snappy casual date night or wear your best blue and white as we join together in the name of Catholic education!
Saturday, October 18, 2025
5:15 – 10:00 p.m.
Corpus Christi Catholic School Gymnasium
Early Bird Registration (by 9/19): $50 per person
Regular Price: $65
Welcome to the 2025-2026 school year and SBI’s eleventh year of ministry to Hope College! Thanks be to God, the year is off to an amazing start.
About twenty-five students participated in SBI’s third annual student leader retreat, which occurred right before the official start of the semester. The leadership team of the Hope Catholics student group, Genesis and Exodus leaders, as well as FOCUS Bible study leaders were invited to participate. You Have Only One Problem, a new book of short meditations by Connor Gallagher of TAN Books, served as the basis for the group discussions. It focused on the central idea of surrendering to God’s will as the center of Christian life from which all ministry flows.
Nearly one hundred incoming Catholic freshmen along with their parents joined the Saint Benedict Institute in the A. Paul Schaap Science Center atrium for a meet-and-greet on move-in day. We began with fellowship and greetings from our executive director, Dr. Jared Ortiz, before we introduced our new team of FOCUS missionaries, who whisked the students away for an icebreaker. (Rumor has it that root beer floats were involved.) The parents remained to listen to SBI’s chaplain, Fr. Nick Monco, O.P., who gave an overview of SBI’s spiritual formation offerings. Then Deacon Brian Piecuch, SBI’s development director, spoke on donations, while Anthony Schena, a parent of three Hope College Catholic students, encouraged parents to tithe to SBI so that their children can have a vibrant church experience during their college years. The gathering ended with Q&A.
Our FOCUS missionaries and Hope Catholics organized a slew of first week activities, including an ice cream sundae party, First Day of School pictures, games, runs to Culvers and Goodtime Donuts, pickup pickleball, and (of course) Mass.
Finally, we are happy to report that Winants Auditorium was packed for our first on-campus Sunday Mass. Deo gratias!
Community members: Please join us for Mass! You can find our schedule of services here. Please note that Mass is cancelled when Hope College is on break. You can find Hope’s academic calendar at https://hope.edu/catalog/info/academic-calendar/.
2025-2026 FOCUS Missionaries to Hope College: Nicholas Fornarotto (Team Director), Katie Pattee, Katy Genna, and Patrick McCoy. Not pictured: Lily-Kate Prichard.
In the fall of 2023, the Saint Benedict Institute began a partnership with the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS), bringing FOCUS campus missionaries to Hope College.
The mission of FOCUS is “to know Christ Jesus and fulfill his Great Commission.” FOCUS does this by inviting college students into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ and his Church, inspiring and equipping them for a lifetime of Christ-centered evangelization, discipleship, and friendship in which they lead others to do the same.
In the short time FOCUS has been on campus, hundreds of Hope students have attended their Bible studies as well as the annual FOCUS SEEK conference. We are grateful for their ministry!
Nicholas Fornarotto grew up in Pocatello, Idaho. He graduated from Hope College in 2022 with a degree in mechanical engineering. During his time at Hope, Nicholas encountered Christ in the Eucharist through a friend. He went on to join the Catholic Church his senior year. After experiencing the love of God in the Church, he had a desire to share this love with others. With some prompting from friends, Nicholas looked into FOCUS and went on to become a missionary. He served his first year at Stevens Point, Wisconsin, and is now in his second year at Hope College. He can be reached at nicholas.fornarotto@focus.org.
Patrick McCoy grew up in Gonzales, Louisiana. He graduated from Louisiana Tech University in 2025 with a degree in computer science and a minor in secondary education. Patrick grew up in a Catholic household, but did not take the faith seriously until his sophomore year at Louisiana Tech, when his best friend invited him to a Thursday night Bible Study. During his junior year he got involved in a FOCUS Bible Study and discipleship, which taught him the importance of prayer and the sacraments. After really understanding the love of God in the church, he had a desire to share this love with others. After a few mission trips, retreats, and having FOCUS on campus, he looked into FOCUS and became a missionary to share the love that Christ has in him to the students at Hope College. Patrick can be reached at patrick.mccoy@focus.org.
Katie Pattee is from Lakeville, MN and graduated from South Dakota State University, where she earned a degree in mechanical engineering and competed on the swim team. During her time at SDSU, she came to recognize the love God has for His children and the need to share that with others. After graduating, she made the decision to become a missionary and is in her first year at Hope College. Katie can be reached at kathleen.pattee@focus.org.
Katy Genna grew up in Boise, Idaho. She graduated from Benedictine College in the spring of 2023 with a degree in Theology and Evangelization. While in college, she had a powerful encounter with Jesus on a mission trip her junior year which made her fall in love with Jesus and mission. After that mission trip, she then pursued FOCUS and became a missionary. She served her first two years with FOCUS at Dickinson State University in North Dakota and is now in her third year at Hope College. She can be reached at katelyn.genna@focus.org.
Lily-Kate Pritchard is originally from Orlando, Florida and Madison, Wisconsin. She is a December Grad at Hope College studying History Secondary Education and will complete her student teaching at Grand Rapids Catholic Central high school this fall. Lily-Kate grew up Catholic, but never practiced more than the “bare minimum.” Thanks to two Hope Catholic students–and later, a FOCUS missionary–Lily-Kate came to realize the depth of the Catholic faith and what it means to have a relationship with the Lord in prayer. Now, she hopes to share the life-changing truth of the love of God with other college students as a FOCUS missionary! She can be reached at lily.pritchard@focus.org
It’s hard to believe, but summer is almost over, and the start of school is near!
We would love nothing more than to welcome you to the active, vibrant Catholic community here at Hope College. Our first campus-wide Mass will be Sunday, August 24 at 5:00 p.m. All Masses are celebrated in Graves Hall: Sunday Masses in Winants Auditorium on the first floor, and Daily Mass in Saint Anne’s Oratory on the lower level.
We have created a downloadable PDF of our schedule of services and back-to-school prayer, specifically for our community members. Those of you who enjoy arts-and-crafts can print the file double-sided and trim it to create a bookmark for your prayer book!
Note: Graves Hall is a locked academic building that requires keycard access. Doors open fifteen minutes prior to Mass. The schedule applies to the school year only; we will not have on-campus Mass during Hope’s fall, winter, and spring recesses. View the college’s academic calendar for more information.
We look forward to seeing you soon!
This past Trinity Sunday, SBI director Dr. Jared Ortiz (Professor of Religion, Hope College) and Dr. Tim Howerzyl(Assistant Professor of Theological Studies, Kuyper College) discussed the theological and historical impact of the Nicene Creed. Hosted by Christians United in Song and Prayer (CUSP), this event celebrated the 1700th anniversary of Council of Nicaea through ecumenical dialogue and fellowship.
Watch the replay here:
SBI’s campus ministry continued to flourish. More than 170 students attended FOCUS Bible studies, the number of Exodus and Genesis 90 participants rose to record levels, forty-three students attended the SEEK conference, and five students attended our annual retreat at Saint Meinrad Archabbey. Our public witness also continued: Our students once again built an ice altar in the Pine Grove, and we held our second Eucharistic Procession. Best of all, ten students came into the Church this year.
In October, the Saint Benedict Institute hosted lawyer John Bursch and scholar Dr. Megan DeFranza for an evening of civil dialogue on sex and gender. After a discussion moderated by SBI director Jared Ortiz, our guests answered questions from the audience.
Dominican Low Rite Mass
This past autumn, Fr. Nicholas Monco, O.P. celebrated three low Masses in the Dominican Rite. This rarely celebrated variation on the Traditional Latin Mass is unique to the Order of Preachers. It contains several unusual gestures and rituals, including a moment when the priest holds his arms in a cruciform position.
Over Christmas, forty-three students, Fr. Nick, and our FOCUS missionaries traveled to Denver to attend the SEEK conference, hosted by FOCUS. SEEK draws thousands from across the country who come to learn and experience the love of Jesus Christ in and through His Church.
With Bishop Walkowiak at the SEEK Conference.
For the third year, Hope College students constructed an ice altar in Hope’s Pine Grove behind Graves Hall. Sadly, the first Mass celebrated on this year’s ice altar was a Requiem Mass for Jennifer Kasunick, a Hope student and SBI Genesis 90 participant, who died tragically on January 11. Please continue to pray for Jennifer, her family, and the Hope College community.
Third Annual Ice Altar
A record 264 Hope students participated in Exodus and Genesis 90 programs. Our Exodus 90 outreach included an additional 150 parishioners, alumni, and students from Notre Dame, Ferris State, Michigan State, GVSU, University of Michigan, Michigan Tech, Drake University, South Dakota State University, and Aquinas College.
Genesis 90
In March, the Saint Benedict Institute hosted Hillsdale College professor Dr. Jordan Joseph Wales for a lecture on AI and theology, which took up four questions. First, how does an apparently personal AI work? Second, what might this entity be? Third, what might we become, owning the behavior of apparent persons? Lastly, in a society saturated by such AI tools, how might we live in such a way as to enhance rather than to erode our own humanity?
Keeping Our Personhood in the Age of AI
In March, SBI co-sponsored the Hope College Chapel Choir’s performance at Palestrina 500, a year-long choral festival of sung High Masses in honor of the great Church composer Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina. Palestrina 500 was organized by Hope and SBI alumus Jonathan Bading and hosted by Sacred Heart Parish in Grand Rapids.
In April, Dr. Peter Kadeli, Head of Sacred Music and Director of Choral Activities at The Catholic University of America, spoke on the work of composer Paul Paray and his Mass setting in honor of St. Joan of Arc. Dr. Kadeli’s talk discussed the reasons Paray composed a concert Mass in the twentieth century, the relationship between nationalism and Christian faith, and how we might interpret sacred music composed for the stage. Dr. Kadeli’s talk was co-sponsored by Hope’s Music and Religion departments.
Join SBI director Dr. Jared Ortiz (Professor of Religion, Hope College) and Dr. Tim Howerzyl (Assistant Professor of Theological Studies, Kuyper College) on Trinity Sunday as they discuss the theological and historical impact of the Nicene Creed. Hosted by Christians United in Song and Prayer (CUSP), this event celebrates the 1700th anniversary of Council of Nicaea through ecumenical dialogue and fellowship.
Trinity Sunday, June 15, 2025
7:00 p.m.
Fourteenth Street Christian Reformed Church
14 W. 14th Street, Holland
Refreshments to follow.
For more information, visit CUSPHolland.org.
In this talk, Peter Kadeli will explore the work of Paul Paray, who composed a Mass setting in honor of Joan of Arc in interwar France. Amidst the national and sociocultural tension of this time, Paul Paray’s Messe pour le 5e Centenaire de la Mort de Jeanne d'Arc (Mass for the 500th Anniversary of the Death of Joan of Arc) enjoyed immediate success with its premiere in 1931. It was celebrated as a symbol of national expression, yet its religious significance was largely ignored. Why did Paray compose a concert Mass in the 20th century? How did he use Joan of Arc to think about nationalism and Christian faith? How are we as an audience intended to interpret sacred works composed for the stage?
This event is sponsored by the Music Department, the Religion Department, and the Saint Benedict Institute.
Peter Kadeli enjoys a multifaceted career as a conductor, composer, and educator. As Head of Sacred Music and Director of Choral Activities at the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, Kadeli leads the sacred music and graduate choral conducting programs for the national university of the Catholic Church in the United States. He is the Associate Conductor for the two-time Grammy Award-winning Washington Chorus. Kadeli has conducted at Chicago’s Harris Theater for the ACDA Midwestern Conference, Smetana Hall (Prague), Stiftung Mozarteum Großer Saal (Salzburg), and with Grammy Award-nominated country singer Eric Church at the Capital One Arena (DC). His conducting collaborations include Indiana University’s Oratorio Chorus, Conductors Orchestra, NOTUS, and Opera Chorus, as well as the University of Michigan Chorale and Orpheus Singers. Kadeli’s Beyond the Starlit Skies is published by Kandinsky Music and featured on Pittsburgh's WQED-FM Classical Music 2023 promotional CD.
The Father's House is a retreat that the Hope College FOCUS missionaries put on at Camp Geneva in collaboration with FOCUS at GVSU and CMU. There were nearly 50 students from Hope and 150 students from all three campuses. The weekend was about removing false views of God the Father so we can encounter the Father's love for us and live in the Father's House. It included five talks, meditation times, small groups, Mass, Confession, and adoration, with a powerful individual benediction blessing for each person called "the Father's blessing."
This retreat was an amazingly fruitful time! It was such a joy to witness the students come to greater healing, forgiveness, and knowledge of the Father's love for them.
— Nathan Lindholm, FOCUS Missionary at Hope College
On March 10, 2025, the Saint Benedict Institute hosted Jordan Joseph Wales for a lecture on AI and theology. With assistance from Christian antiquity, he took up four questions. First, how does an apparently personal AI work? Second, what might this entity be? Third, what might we become, owning the behavior of apparent persons? Lastly, in a society saturated by such AI tools, how might we live in such a way as to enhance rather than to erode our own humanity?
Watch the video of the lecture and Q&A session above, then view photos of the event below.
Jordan Joseph Wales is an Associate Professor of Theology & the John and Helen Kuczmarski Chair in Theology at Hillsdale College.
This event is hosted by the Saint Benedict Institute and co-sponsored by Markets & Morality, the Dean for Arts and Humanities, the Dean for Natural and Applied Sciences, the Department of Communication, the Department of Philosophy, the Department of Religion, the Department of Engineering, the Corpus Christi Foundation, and Marzec Chocolates.
March 14-23, 2025
The life of the monks at Saint Meinrad Archabbey revolves around prayer and work for the love of God and neighbor. Located in the hills of rural southern Indiana, the monastery offers visitors a chance to experience a rhythm of life very different from our own. This immersion trip, sponsored by the Saint Benedict Institute, allows Hope students to enter into the rhythms of monastic life for a week, beginning with vigil prayers at 5:30 a.m. in the abbey church. The prayer is beautiful, the setting is tranquil, and the people are joyful. Below are reflections from several students who made the trip this year:
This is my second time going to Saint Meinrad Archabbey for spring break. Last time I went was very powerful, and I sought the same presence in this venture as well. I expected a prayerful time of rest and reflection from this, and that is what I experienced. I was immersed in the beautiful way of life that the monks follow and through this encountered peace and rest in God. I gained new insights in trusting God from this trip, being away from the cares of my station in Holland as a student (among other responsibilities). I also gained further insight into the value of diligence and timely action.
This was my second time going on the Saint Meinrad trip, and both have been wonderful! My first time at Saint Meinrad in my sophomore year changed the course of that semester, as it totally rejuvenated me and revitalized me spiritually, allowing me to keep first things first while fulfilling my duty to my schoolwork. This year, I expected and received similar revitalization. I had plenty of time to pray, read, and take things slow. The change of pace afforded to me by my trip to the monastery has allowed me to keep in step with my duties at school with a refreshed vigor and to pursue Jesus through prayer and study. It was such a blessing to see the monks live out the Rule of Benedict in their routines of hospitality, corporate prayer, and piety. Thank you for your support in this opportunity!
This was my second time going to Saint Meinrad. I went two years ago and found it incredibly fruitful, so I wanted to come back! The last time I went to Saint Meinrad, I was incredibly moved by the beauty and peace of the monastic life, and I found this permitted rich and fruitful prayer. My hope going into this trip was to fully embrace that peace, especially as I prepare to graduate and for several big transitions after graduation. As I hoped, I was able to reap many benefits from the peace and solitude offered by the monastery. I also greatly enjoyed praying the Divine Office with the monks as a way of sanctifying my time. One of the greatest gifts of this particular trip was a reminder of the need for community, by enjoying time working in the garden or eating lunch with our group, but also through observing the Benedictine value of community lived out by the monks.
This was my first time going to Saint Meinrad. I heard in the past that it was very impactful for other students, and I wanted to have the experience there as well. This year was my last year at Hope, and I didn't want to pass up the opportunity to go on such a wonderful trip! I had little to no expectations going in. I knew that the experience would be very prayerful and contemplative, but I had no idea what the trip was going to look like. One new insight that I meditated on all week was praying while working. The physical labor in the garden, paired with the silence that we were expected to maintain, kept my mind open to hearing God's voice. While there was prayer time all week in the multiple chapels in the monastery, I found that the best prayer time was when we were working silently, keeping our minds empty and open to hearing God speak with us.
This was my second time going. I was expecting to go and rest and pray with the monks and enjoy some sunshine while being there! It was great to be with a non-Catholic on the trip. I feel like we had fruitful conversation and learned from one another about our faith backgrounds. It was also just very relaxing and peaceful to pray throughout the day with the monks.
