Wednesday, February 22nd

UB North Campus:

12pm, Student Union Flag Room

           5pm, Newman Center 

 UB South Campus:

7:00 & 8:30 am, 12:00 & 7 pm at St. Joseph University Parish

 12pm, Diefendorf Hall Rm. 2

October 2, 2011

Dear Friends:

We have come so far as a community.  Remember the sign, rusted and bent, that declared “Future Home of the Newman Center”?  And the tent to accommodate our growing numbers but only in good weather?  How about standing room only crowds at the Student Center?  And the holidays at the chapel when there was literally no room at the inn?

Look where we are now!  A new home and a new era.  It came to pass through a lot of generous people who shared a vision.  It was approved by a kind bishop who knew the importance of a strong Catholic Campus Ministry presence at a public university with one of the largest number of Catholic students in the nation.  And it came because people sacrificed.

So where are we?  Well, the original debt is almost gone but cost overruns place us a bit short of our goal to fully retire our debt by the end of next year.  In addition, remember Fr. Pat’s house, one of the things that was sacrificed to make room for the center?  Because of wetland issues, we were unable to replace it on the property and so we currently have no rectory for our Director of Campus Ministry, now or in the future.

Back to the bishop.  Bishop Kmiec thought we needed to focus on building the Center before we thought about a rectory, but he did not close the door.  And he let it be known a few months ago that he wanted to take care of that now before his retirement took effect.  And so we come to you today to talk about our future.

To retire our debt, including cost overruns, and to purchase a condo on Skinnersville Rd. to accommodate Fr. Pat and to help attract his replacement when he retires, long in the future we hope, we need to raise $200,000.  Our goal is to accomplish this by the end of 2012.

With this we will be able to finish what we started and leave a legacy – to the students of today and long into the future, and for our entire community as we move forward.

Thank you for all you do and have done to make the Newman Center a home to so many.  And thank you for providing a legacy for those who follow.

Dood Forrestal

( Download the Pledge Form here )

Newman Center Sandwich Ministry: In February of 2011, the Newman Center at the University at Buffalo bagan a sandwich ministry program to help feed the hungry and homeless of WNY. With your help, we are able to provide over 600 sandwiches a month to the Buffalo City Mission and the Women and Children Shelter of Buffalo. We gather in the Newman Center Kitchen on the first Tuesday at 6pm and also the third Sunday of the month after Student Mass at 7:30pm.  All are welcome! Monetary donation are also welcomed. There will be a donation box at the front entrance of the Newman Center. For more information, contact Katie Koch at katrapp@buffalo.edu or call the Newman Center Office.

Habitat for Humanity Buffalo is a non-for profit ecumenical Christian group of volunteers that builds and sells houses to qualified home buyers who do “sweat equity” on the construction of their future home. Habitat holds the mortgage, following the biblical suggestions of “no usury”, charges no interest from the homebuyer, making the home affordable. Habitat Buffalo was founded in 1985 and has helped to build and finance over 180 homes in Western New York. Habitat families are guided for a year by a Family Support Committee and loan payments are reinvested in the organization’s treasury so others can purchase a home in the future. The Newman Center serves once per month to help on Habitat builds. These crews are designed to engage the entire community (permanent and UB students) to work together in Christian service. Our commitment falls on the 4th Saturday of each month from about 9 am– 3 pm. If you would like to assist in this important ministry, please contact Ed Koch(edwinkoc@buffalo.edu) or contact the Newman Center office.

No matter what your present status in the Catholic Church, no matter what current family or marital situation, no matter what your current year, standing, major, research topic, no matter what your current personal history, age, background, race, etc., no matter what your own self-image; you are invited, welcomed, accepted, loved and respected here at the Newman Center at UB.

If you are new to the Community, please introduce yourself to Father Pat after Mass or at your convenience. Also, please contact the office or click here to register as a member of our community.

 Please consider signing up to help with a Wednesday Night Dinner. This has always been one of the students’ favorite events. They are always so grateful for the meals the community provides them.

 Cooking is not the only way you can help; we are always looking for volunteers to help with set-up (3:30 pm) and clean-up (about 7:30 pm). If you would like to help out with the dinners please contact Liz Papke at ubnc.liz@gmail.com

Thank you for supporting our Wednesday Night Dinner Program!

Visit www.ubcatholic.com to stay up to date on all things Catholic at UB!!!

Lecture Title: The World According To Catholicism

Presented by: Msgr. J.  Patrick Keleher, Director Catholic Campus Ministries –  UB Newman Center

Date: August 10, 2011

• Listen to MP3 audio

Lecture Title: Writing About UB, Buffalo and Beyond

Presented by: Nicole Peradotto, Editor, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences

Date: July 20, 2011

• Listen to MP3 audio
• View the presentation

Bridge Lecture Change for Wednesday, July 13 at 7:00 p.m.

Dentistry and the Law

Ray Miller, D.D.S., UB clinical professor of oral diagnostic sciences and a forensic dental expert will speak at “The Bridge” summer lecture series on Wednesday, July 13. His presentation will cover victim identification, mass fatality incident response, human bitemarks and other areas where a legal dental opinion is required. His team at UB has done significant work in the area of bitemark research and expert dental testimony.