“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the father.” 

Jon Givens

Benedictine College is a constantly changing place, and the students, faculty, and staff of our school must be willing and dedicated to the push for excellence that is being called upon us. 

All of us chose to attend Benedictine College for different reasons. Some for sports, others maybe legacy students, some students perhaps for the community of faith, or a combination of all of those elements. The point is, we are all here for a reason. That we are on this campus for (at least) four very formative years of our lives is no accident. So how will you take advantage of that time? 

I challenge you to venture away from the “leave it as you found it” mentality that has been instilled in us since pre-school, and instead make this place greater than it ever has been before. 

No one came here just to “keep programs going,” carry on traditions, and win as many games as they lose. We all came here to make things better, to make new traditions, make all of our programs better, and beat the teams that have had our number in the past. 

In his address at World Youth Day in Australia this past summer, Pope Benedict XVI called for a “New Pentecost” and a “New Upper Room.” As a Catholic college, we must be open to this attitude of renewal and openness to the Holy Spirit. On Pentecost, when Peter was addressing the crowd and sharing the Gospel message, it says they were “cut to the heart.”

Can you remember the last time you opened yourself in a way that would enable you to be “cut to the heart” about something? Are you leaving yourself open to change and greater things? Are we as a college staying open to this call or have we fallen so comfortably into our personal traditions and lifestyles that we are not staying open to the call that has been placed in front of us?

Jon Givens is a senior from St. Louis, Mo. majoring is mass communications. He can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it