As sisters began to move into new ministries in the 1970s, campus ministry seemed like a perfect extension of what Sisters of Charity had been doing: reaching out to share the Gospel with young people, but in the context of higher education. Sisters Georgianna Landrigan, Mildred Crowley, Kathleen Crowley, and Mary Sweeney embraced the challenges of this new ministry.

Sister Mary Sweeney's schooling began at St. Peter in Dorchester, where she was educated and inspired by the Sisters of Charity. She later returned to Dorchester as a Sister of Charity herself -- first to St. Margaret School, then to Msgr. Ryan Memorial High School, where she taught English and religion; then to St. Peter School, her alma mater, where she was principal for several years.

While she enjoyed teaching, Sister Mary also knew that she wanted to study theology on a formal basis, with the goal of working with young adults in an educational setting. It was Sister Georgianna Landrigan, one of the first Sisters of Charity to work as a campus minister in Boston, who "planted the seed in 1970," says Sister Mary, and encouraged her to think about it as a ministry.

After earning a Master of Divinity degree, Sister Mary served as a full-time minister on three very different kinds of campuses and discovered that ". . . Each setting created a different energy and had an impact on how she engaged students." Settings as diverse as Boston University, University of Maine, and Boston College had both their similarities and their differences. At Boston University, the population was very cosmopolitan, and she had numerous opportunities for ecumenical and interfaith work.

At the University of Maine, that state's flagship school for higher education, Sister Mary worked with the pastor of Our Lady of Wisdom Parish, a personal parish for members of the university community. Students had the opportunity to meet professors in a faith context and to join them in groups.

Sister Mary returned to Boston and discovered the inner workings of campus ministry at Boston College. As part of a staff of 12 campus ministers -- single men and single women, married men and married women, as well as priests -- Sister Mary had a very different experience. There was a concerted effort to integrate Ignatian spirituality and ideals into student life. In addition, students had ample opportunities to engage in volunteer work and to participate in retreats. For Sister Mary, outreach to graduate students and to students dealing with loss enriched her time there.

Those differences in location, size, and traditions prompted new ways of ministering, but one thing they all had in common: participation in Hockey East!

At each of these universities, Sister Mary was the director for the RCIA program that welcomed students into full participation into the Roman Catholic Church. At a time when many of their "cradle Catholic" peers are reconsidering their involvement in the Church, the participants in the RCIA program stand up and say publicly that they are embracing this Church, despite having heard so much about institutional failings. That is an extraordinary event to witness."

I asked Sister Mary about today's college students. "They have a more casual attitude toward religion. They may be taking a 'vacation' from church, but at the same time, they may be praying in new and significant ways."

Sister Mary hopes that her work accomplishes the mission of the Sisters of Charity -- to show forth the love of God. She prays "that they come to know God's love and respond to that love." Enabling young people to do that is the most rewarding part of her work.