The Ave Herald

Students have a "call from God that you were made for more," and their time at Ave Maria University will help them discern what that is, Bishop Frank Dewane said Monday at a Mass opening the fall semester at AMU.

The challenge, Bishop Dewane said, is to listen to that call from God.

"Just as you can't pass you courses if you don't listen to your professors," Bishop Dewane said, "in the spiritual dimenension in your life, unless you listen to God in your life, you won't know what more you can become."

Listening for the word of God might be a bit easier at Ave Maria because, the bishop said, students are "blessed to have an environment where prayer is totally acceptable."

The Mass concluded with a special announcement by Pastor Fr. Robert Tatman that AMU had agreed to make Alex Klucik, a 19-year-old Ave Maria resident who died in an automobile accident earlier this summer, an "honorary member of the class of 2014." Alex would have been starting his freshman year at AMU Monday. "We look forward for his prayers and intercessions on behalf of his classmates," Fr. Tatman said. (Left, Bishop Dewane greeting the Klucik family after Mass.)

Bishop Dewane lingered on the campus for several hours, greeting students, faculty and town residents as they left the oratory and mingling with students at lunch in the AMU cafeteria.

Right, Bishop Dewane speaking with recent graduate Theresa Hardy in the cafeteria regarding pro-life activities she is organizing.