FAQs of Bucket

What exactly is the Bucket?
The Bucket is a weekly event that incorporates ecumenical praise and worship music. Typically, it occurs in the Burton Addition at 8 o'clock on Tuesday evenings. There are usually about three to six musicians leading the worship. Everyone is welcome to attend.

That's neat, why do you guys call it the "Bucket"?
In the early nineties, when the Bucket was started, there was a college in Tacoma that held a similar event called "the Well", but because Saint Martin's was (and still is) a smaller school, the students felt that a bucket would be a better representation.

Oh, that's witty. So anything new with the Bucket?
Well, during International Week, we had International Bucket. Instead of having it in the Burton Addition, though, we had it in the TUB. This Bucket featured twelve songs in ten different languages. It was something of a milestone for the Bucket; in the past, we've had International Buckets, but none that had the language diversity of this one.

So should I go to Bucket?
It's completely up to you, but speaking from personal experience, taking an hour out of the week to just stop all the hustle and bustle and pray with music is a great way to calm the nerves and get back in touch with one's spiritual life. Even if you're not into singing, just sitting in can give one a sense of peace. I hope to see you all there one of these days.

Ryan Cullitan
Class of 2012
Business

He is the Bread - a story of a competitive Jesus perhaps

Aran waded out in the water a short while after assembling his gear. He sought to catch a few of the salmon that he discovered the previous year in the same area, at the same time. It was a quiet beach, the waters were calm on this day. In the before year when the air was becoming cold and the trees lost their leaves, Aran had happened on the many salmon, as they jumped out of the water not far from shore. Though Aran saw no fish on this day, he had high hopes of success, as he saw evidence of the presence of fish.

His hands were cold as he cast out his line and reeled in the lure. Aran let his eyes wonder, though his mind still thought of a victorious cast. He saw much but noticed little, as his mind did not connect on what he saw, but on the fish only. The large fishing boats he saw, but when they began to reel in their nets, he did not notice them. It was loud, this process of bringing in nets. Aran looked to the great boats, and guessed there to be two, or three of them. The boats were at least a half mile away. The day was clear, but still, it was hard to see clearly the details of the boats, and they sat in a way so as to hide each other.

As the cranks of the fishing boats continued to bring up the nets, Aran continued to cast, but still caught nothing, save some passing seaweed. So much evidence existed to tell of the presence of the aforesaid fish. The salmon must have indeed returned. Being as Aran could not see clearly the details of the fishing boats, he could not see if the nets they brought up held any fish. The sea lion held around before Aran in the same area. Many birds, ducks, gulls, and others sat on the water and dove from time to time into the water. These birds, like the boats, and the sea lion, did not move from where they sat. Aran saw all of this, all of these fish seeking animals, and the boats, but the fish, he did not see.

The previous year, in same time, Aran would see many fish jumping, he would cast out to them, and they were eager to bite. In a short time, Aran would have many fish. The season for these fish lasted nearly a full two months. In these months, Aran would fish each day until, as the months went away, the fish no longer jumped, and no longer would bite Aran's line. By the time the fish had left, the ground was covered in snow.

After some hours, Aran decided that he would catch no fish, perhaps it was too early, or perhaps it was by accident that the fish had come by the place where Aran was in the before year. It was now near dark, though it was not very late. The fish seemed very lively at night, he would surely catch many when the sun went behind the hills, but this only when there were fish. Perhaps the fishing boats had taken all the fish. Perhaps the sea lion, or the birds had already had their fill. Aran was certainly no match for the great fishing boats; he could not compete also with the sea lion, which was larger than most, or the birds, which were swift to strike on any fish.

If the fish were in, Aran could not persuade them, and the others had won. If the fish were not in yet, then those who sought them sought that which was not there. And Aran, the one who is bread, left with no fish. The salmon made a good meal, they were a good size, small, but filling for one man. Aran would need many to provide for many men.

Aran's name which means bread as Geailge. He who feeds; the sustainer.

Michael Holland
Class of 2014
Humanities

Who is God?

I am a frequent visitor of Campus Ministry. More often than not, you can see me sitting in one of the chairs or the couch in there, teasing one of my friends or vise-versa. As I lay there upon the couch, I start to think about my own views on God. Most Christians will tell you that it states within the Bible that if you do not follow Jesus and His teachings, and you do not recognize Him as the Christ, then you are to be damned to Hell. As a catholic, I believe that Jesus is the Christ, and that I should follow His teachings. However, I do not believe that if you are a genuinely good person and don't believe in Jesus that you will go to Hell. I mean, Gandhi and the Dali Llama do not believe in Jesus as the Christ, and you expect me to believe that they are condemned to Hell? They are two of the most compassionate and holy people that have walked the face of the earth. I cannot believe that they are sentenced to Hell. However, according to "Christian Scripture", if you do not believe in God and His teachings, you go to Hell. How does one get around this pickle? How does one explain that those who do not believe in Trinity go to Heaven? If one does not believe that Jesus is the Christ, then how can they go to God's Kingdom?

As is explained in the Bible, God granted us free will. We as humans are allowed to do as we wish, believe in what we want. God does have the power to control us, but He has decided not to for the fact that he loves us and has given us this gift of freedom. Because He has given us this gift, He must have known that not everyone would follow Christianity. So He allowed us to find other religions that would lead us to Him, different ways to find Him. Now most religions out there have two main teachings that all their other teachings follow: respect and love. It can be found in Buddhism, Islam, Judaism, etc. These two teachings are also the two teachings of Jesus (i.e.- Love one another as you love yourself, Treat one another as how you would want to be treated). But now we run into a problem. Not every religion has a God, and not every religion has just One God.

Buddhism is a good example of a religion that doesn't have a God. They believe that when one dies, they either are reincarnated or become a part of everything. Now, Christians believe that God is in everyone and everything. Wouldn't that be just another way to explain that they are becoming a part of God? I would like to think so. I would like to believe that Buddhist like Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha as he is better known as) and the Dali Llama would go to Heaven. Plus, Buddha's teachings and Jesus's teaching are almost exactly the same. It is amazing how these two brilliant teachers' teachings are so similar, teaching the same messages of love, kindness, respect, and compassion. How could this not be a coincidence? How could God's teaching not be in Buddhism? How could one not find God in this religion that teaches His teachings? It would be hard for one not to find aspects of Christian teachings within other religions of the world.

Hinduism is a polytheistic religion with about 300 million gods. Oddly enough, one of them happens to be Jesus. And with most of their gods (Jesus included) they are taught to respect and show compassion to one another. Now we can all agree (and some Hindu's do too) that the hierarchy system in Hinduism is a bit old fashioned and unfair. It would almost be like if we still followed the teachings in the Bible that stated what we can be sentenced to death for disobeying our parents (I don't know about you, but I don't want to be killed because I had a little argument with my mom). However this maybe, it does not mean God is not there.

As was stated before He gave us free will. This means we don't always follow His teaching to the all the time. No one is perfect. People even misinterpret the messages of their religions. Some Muslims misinterpret what a jihad is, and some Christians even take the Bible too literally or morph the messages in the Bible to back up their stances on any issue. Heck, even the Crusades and Inquisition weren't the best decision in Catholic history. We all make mistakes, no matter the religion, and God will forgive you.

God is all loving. He loves us so much He forgives our sins. Now the only question is, are we ready to accept God's forgiveness? If the answer is yes, then I believe God will bring us into Heaven. However, if someone is not sorry and does not accept God's forgiveness, then I believe then that the individual will go to Hell. Now I do not believe Hell to be all fire and brimstone. I like to think of Hell as just the total and complete absence from God. This is Hell in it of itself.

Josh Hite
Class of 2013
United States History and Religious Studies

Sojourner's Prayer for Peace

Lord, we gather here together from different backgrounds from all around the world for the sole purpose of praising You, God of all. We may speak different dialects, but the message is the same: "There is no one like You. You are the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, the Beginning and the End."

In Exodus, You told the Israelites, "You shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners…"(Ex. 21:21) How much more does that apply to all of us who are currently standing here in this nation that was built by sojourners from all over the world in search of a better life? How can we deny our brothers and sisters, when our Heavenly Father chose not to deny us the Gift of Life? Lord, please ingrain this rule within our hearts. May we love our neighbors as we love ourselves, may we accept everyone with open hearts and open minds, may we freely give the peace, You gave us, to all those we meet, may our hearts ache with a desire to help when we see the suffering of others, may we be as Christ.

Lord, please pour out Your blessings upon, not only us in this room, not only the students and staff at this school, and not only those who live in this country, but everyone in the world, and may Your peace descend upon us all like a majestic mantle sheltering us from malice and, even still, unifying us in Your ever-abiding love.

Ryan Cullitan
Class of 2012
Business

Taking Back Catholicism

Here at S.M.U., I often find myself in a quarrel with a fellow Christian about the Catholic Crucifix. I am nearly always defending a Catholicism bashing with the Crucifix being the issue of resentment. I am offended and hurt when non-Catholic Christians say that the crucifix is a horrible instrument of torture and that Catholics are "re-crucifying" Jesus with this particular symbol. We Catholics are not "re-crucifying" Jesus any more than all Christians do every day. Technically speaking, every day Christians sin, sinning is "re-crucifying" Jesus; therefore, everyday Christians are "re-crucifying" Jesus. People say that Catholics unnecessarily focus on the pain of his death that he shows his immense love that he has for each individual in existence. It also shows his humanity.

I feel that the general rule is that it is okay to bash on the Catholic Church in today's society and Saint Martin's University is no safe haven from this persecution. Seriously, the Catholic presence on campus has been more than welcoming to all outsiders and I just feel like it's about time that other Christians return the favor.

People bashing on the crucifix that Catholics use hurts me as a religious and moral person. I know that the Catholic presence on campus has been very welcoming to non-Catholics, but it seems that this welcoming attitude has hindered our Catholic identity here on campus. We as Catholics are no longer proud of our beautiful and majestic faith; rather, we tend to keep it dormant or hidden in fear of confrontation from other non-Catholic Christians. Sometime it is just easier to go with the flow. This is a shame on a Catholic campus.

In order to have a further discussion on the issue of the Crucifix and to have an open dialogue about this particular issue, it might help us to flip the issue around. Let me propose a question; does the Catholic presence on campus demonize the cross used by Christians? The answer is overwhelmingly no. Both symbols are both beautiful and profound. The Crucifix is merely a tool that Catholics use to orient themselves to God. By focusing on the pain Christ went through on our behalf, the crucifix is a reminder that we are all sinners and in need of forgiveness. The image of Jesus on the cross shows the magnitude of Jesus' love for us. The best part is that Christ has already paid the price for our sin. All we need to do is genuinely ask for forgiveness and it is granted. God is waiting to forgive you. He wants to forgive you. He yearns to forgive you.

Enough is enough. We Catholics just don't want to feel repressed in our faith anymore. All denominations are welcome here. Catholics love God too. Please let us be and give glory to him in our own way.

Chris Hoiland
Class of 2011
Religious Studies