A Starting Salute to Indiana

Today, December 11, marks the beginning of the 200th Year of Indiana Statehood.

As we progress toward the Bicentennial day in one year, when Indiana marks 200 years since becoming a state on December 11, 1816, I want to offer tribute to this neighboring state, where I also spent my undergraduate college days.

Over the course of the next year, I'm going to share 200 things about Indiana, drawing from what I know about the Hoosier State, and what I've experienced of it.

To start with the 1st thing I have to share about Indiana, I can't help but think, as I write this, about the special event that's happening this night in Indiana, at the Chapel of the Resurrection on the campus of Valparaiso University:  It's that time again for the annual Advent Vespers.  It is a beautiful service in the candlelit Chapel in which those gathered offer prayer and praises to the God whose coming we long for so deeply.  Attending this service for four consecutive years while a ValpU student is one of my best memories.  One very powerful memory was in 2011, during my junior year, when, toward the end of the service, we sang "Lo, He Comes with Clouds Descending."  The effect of the song was so immense, I felt like I could fall down prostrate in worship of my God and King.  The next year, 2012, during my senior year, there was a very stunning visual effect when the altar was set ablaze.

Another great memory I have of my time at ValpU is the 2nd thing I'm going to share:  Tomorrow's date, December 12, was the day in 2010 when St. Teresa of Avila (Roman) Catholic Student Center dedicated its Ministry Life Center, a new addition to its facilities.  It happened at the special Annual Advent Student Mass and Dinner, on a very snowy day.  Bishop Melczek, the now-recently retired Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Gary, was the principal celebrant of the Mass, and blessed the new facility.  I always looked forward to this event each year, because it was a great time for us students to celebrate at the end of the first semester, together at Mass, and then with a splendid meal following.  On this occasion, in 2010, we celebrated the new addition, which marked the beginning of many new opportunities for us as a ministry that could take place in that space.

So there's something to get us started.  I'll look forward to more blog posts in which I share more about Indiana, a fine state.