Prayer was the theme of this year's commencement of the Agape Latte series. Hosted by the Church of the 21st Century, Agape Latte is a monthly event held in Hillside Café that encourages students to learn and discuss issues pertinent to their religious beliefs and faith.
Tuesday's lecture, titled "The Hidden Life of Undergraduates: Prayer on Campus," featured the Rev. James Fleming, S.J., assistant to the vice president and program evaluator in the Office of University Mission and Ministry. Fleming discussed prayer trends among college students, including popular locations for reflection on Boston College's campus. But before he dove into his speech, Fleming opened with a prayer.
After four minutes of personal examination, Fleming began the discussion by describing the type of spirituality that is very special to him. Ignatian spirituality encourages people to act in line with experience and choose a life worth living where their deepest desires meet the world's greatest needs. This goal, however, cannot be obtained without the help of prayer. "There was a time I didn't feel like there was much in me that was holy. Through prayer, we unpack our holy desire," Fleming said.
According to Fleming, prayer works because people consider their experiences, let them ruminate in their minds and hearts, and then make sense of it all. For many people, the revelations that prayer grants them prompt something more.
Fleming quoted Rev. Peter Hans Kolvenbach saying, "When the heart is touched by direct experience, the mind is challenged to change." He argued that these kinds of transformations are especially prevalent during service trips because students "act their way to new ways of thinking." Yet, with so many BC students involved in service trips and volunteer work, why is prayer considered to be "the hidden life of undergraduates?"
The statistics Fleming provided prove that prayer occurs more on BC's campus than one might assume. In Fleming's survey of BC students, he found that the number of students who attend church decreased by 38 percent prior to beginning their freshman year.
2008 Woodie Awards
