February 15, 2025 // Bishop

Purdue Fort Wayne Students Reflect on Prayer with Bishop

Clare Hildebrandt

Reporter

As students and faculty walked past with confused looks on their faces, nearly 50 students squished into a small conference room on the campus of Purdue University Fort Wayne to greet a special guest. The students weren’t there to meet a pop-culture celebrity as some may have thought, but rather Bishop Rhoades, who came to spend the afternoon with the students.

On Wednesday, February 5, the university’s Catholic student organization, Mastodon Catholic, hosted Bishop Rhoades for a pizza lunch and a reflection on prayer. The room was filled as students listened to the personal experiences of the shepherd of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend.

“Mary’s my mother and the person I often go to in prayer,” Bishop Rhoades told the students. “She can be anything to you, really – friend, sister, or mother. For me, she is always my mother or the one I go to when I need comfort.”

Bishop Rhoades then detailed his daily schedule to the young people, emphasizing that prayer is done best at the times you can concentrate on the Lord.

“I pray first thing in the morning for about an hour, because that is when I can give my best attention to the Lord. When I was younger, I could do this type of prayer at night, but now it works better to set aside an hour at dawn,” he explained.

Above all, Bishop Rhoades said, “Remember we are individuals, and our prayer routines are individual, too. This may be good for me but not for you.” After his talk, Bishop Rhoades joined the students for pizza.

Julia Langford, president of Mastodon Catholic, told Today’s Catholic that the on-campus event “was really good for the club. We saw some new faces come out.”

“Four years ago, [Mastodon Catholic] was really small. It has grown a lot. We don’t have a full-time priest or Newman center, and that means it’s more work for the students,” she said.

Langford said the most rewarding aspect of serving as the club’s president is seeing people around her grow in faith.

“I’ve known these people for years now, so you get to see that transformation,” she said.

Brothers Nathan and Nick Mills, Purdue Fort Wayne students and attendees of the event, commented on their experience.

“It used to just be once-a-week Mass on Wednesdays and a monthly event; now, there’s two events per week at minimum, and that excludes the monthly event,” said Nathan, who added that he particularly enjoyed reflecing
on prayer with Bishop Rhoades.

“Bishop mentioned he felt his faith became more independent in college. I think a lot of people feel similarly right now at this school. There is a group who converted recently who are just discovering different Catholic prayers like the Rosary,” Nathan explained.

“Bishop Rhoades, the pope, and really a lot of the leaders of the Church have started to focus a lot more on prayer. It seems like a movement in the Church,” he said. “And hearing that prayer can be hard and sometimes uncomfortable from the bishop provides some comfort for us knowing that even he, at such a high position, can experience the same things.”

Nathan added: “I also liked how he says the act of contrition every night. I’ve never really thought about praying it outside of confession.”

Nick echoed his brother’s sentiment: “I know how everyone prays around me, but I never really knew how a bishop does, because his office is so high. It’s nice to know it’s pretty similar,” he said.

“Bishop’s talk in a nutshell was to turn to God, even when it’s difficult,” Nick added. “Just live your life with Christ around you and then prayer comes naturally. Say a quick prayer and turn to God for it, which we all can benefit from.”

Clare Hildebrandt is a staff reporter for Today’s Catholic.