Students hear about it in daily announcements. Students see forms in Campus Ministry. Students hear it announced after Mass. What is this referring to? The Matthew 25 collection. The Matthew 25 collections have been going on for a while now, but what is it doing?
The book of Matthew 25 is a collection of parables about giving. Matthew 25:35-36 states “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.”
The collection is inspired by the verse and the stories about giving and striving for student donations. Every single week, any student can stop by Campus Ministry and choose a charity or organization that is near and dear to their heart and collect money for Campus Ministry to donate to.Recent charities and or organizations include the Saint Catherine Laboure Catholic School (who are in danger of closing) , Mission MSA (research for a rare neurological disorder), the Corpus Christi School in California (destroyed by wildfires), and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The collection is done by homeroom, and money is given from students to their homeroom teacher to send to Campus Ministry. The homerooms compete against each other to see which one can raise the most money. Recent winners include Mrs. Jennifer Kottra’s homeroom and Mr. Ricky Lambert’s homeroom. The competition between homerooms is supposed to help students be encouraged to participate in the competition to see who can donate the most money. The Matthew 25 collection started as a way to give. But students have recently come to realize how often the collections are- and some are feeling confused. Is a weekly donation too much? Or can their thoughts be considered selfish?
“I think the collection is a great way to get the Viatorian community involved with serving those in need of our attention,” said junior Keira Walton. “It gives opportunities for students to offer up charities that are important to them! The competitive aspect of the Matthew 25 project further entices the students to open their hearts to God in the midst of a busy school week in order to gain recognition.”
The Matthew 25 collection is a great way to get involved with the community. “it’s a quick and easy way for students to donate and once it really gets going, will be able to raise a lot of money for the charities selected,” said sophomore Wesley Marshall, a board member of the collection.
One could argue for the pros that the Viatorian way is based on giving. The Viatorians are an order based on “proclaim[ing] Jesus Christ and his Gospel to those whom they serve, and work to raise up communities where faith can be lived, deepened, and celebrated” (C 8). Our community is one based on giving and serving the poor and the marginalized, so is the Matthew 25 collection an extension of that promise?
One could argue for the cons, however, that the Matthew 25 collection is ultimately not worth it because students are simply not interested.
“People, including myself, would be more interested in the collection if we could have a dress down day. We always have them for the loaves and fishes collections, so why is this different?” said junior Caroline Hartman . Could a dress down day be the key to making students interested in serving the community?
In conclusion, the Matthew 25 collection was started by a group of students on Campus Ministry with a goal of serving the community weekly, as Jesus teaches in the parables of Matthew 25. The collection benefits communities as close as Glenview and as far away as Palisades, California. The fact that charities can be brought in by students to make the center for donations encourages student participation. However, some students believe that the collection is getting a little bit excessive in its weekly happenings. The ultimate goal of the collection is to extend the Viatorian way and get students involved in serving the communities as often as possible.