Michael Sloan
My name is Michael Sloan. As you may know, I have just completed my first year as a Campus Missionary with Catholic Christian Outreach and will be entering my second summer of full-time support raising in May. I am required to raise my entire salary for the 2019-2020 school year this summer through the help of people in my parish and community.
Over the past year, I have become an active member of Saint Mary's Cathedral Basilica through: serving as a lector at the 5 pm mass, becoming a member of the pastoral council, participating in the Catholic Young Adult Group, helping plan and run Night Fever and working to form a Young Adult Choir for the 5 pm mass on Sundays. As such, I would like to request the ability to make a parish appeal at both the 1030am and 5 pm masses on Sunday, April 28th or May 5th This appeal would be in order to gain the contact information of parishioners interested in financially supporting my ministry, in hopes to meet with them privately at a later date.
I recognize that the Cathedral is not necessarily a parish and that this request may be a rather large one, thus I would like to share with you just a few of the many stories that have occurred as a result of my ministry at Saint Mary's University this year.
In September, I met a first-year university student named Ismail. He was raised as a Muslim, but lost his faith in his teenage years and soon became an atheist. Reluctantly, this man decided to sign up for a faith study with me and began to learn about the Christian faith. Through the faith study and my intentional accompaniment, Ismail had a life-changing encounter with the person of Jesus through the Holy Spirit and his life was transformed. He decided that he wanted to become a Catholic and began the RCIA process in October. He is now one of the elect for the Archdiocese of Halifax-Yarmouth and will soon be baptized, confirmed and given first communion at the Easter Vigil (in Dartmouth).
In the winter semester, I met another man named Sean. Although he grew up in a Catholic home, Sean still had a lot of questions. Over the course of the faith study he realized that a relationship with Jesus is not just for people who are perfect or for priests, but for everyone, including him. This realization of his ability to have an intimate relationship with Jesus, led Sean to seek his mercy in the sacrament of confession for the first time in seven years and place Jesus at the centre of his life.
It is clear, that God has been working in powerful ways through my ministry with CCO here in Halifax and I ask that you let me make a parish appeal so that I can continue this great work in our Diocese, work of which I am convinced the Lord has called me to.
- Michael Sloan
Halifax, NS