The Barometer Online

Issue date: 4/9/07 Section: News

Media Credit: Cory Reed Students participate in a potluck dinner at the Newman Center in celebration of Easter Sunday. The center offers Bible studies and mass on Wednesday and Thursday nights for students.

In celebration of Easter Sunday and the beginning of a 50-day-long celebration, the Oregon State University Newman Center threw a potluck dinner for a few of its regular attendees.

"We sent out e-mails to students asking to join if they're interested," said Mandi Wilson, a fifth-year senior. "It was just a last-minute thing we threw together."

Wilson and Anna Harrell, a volunteer at the Newman Center, organized the event.

"This is a good opportunity to celebrate Easter for students who can't be home for this holiday," Harrell said.

Easter Sunday is a culmination of events that began last Thursday.

Holy Thursday is the "heart of this holiday," Harrell said. It's the day of Eucharist, more commonly known as Communion. Good Friday celebrates the death of Jesus Christ, a solemn day by most accounts. Saturday is marked by the Easter Vigil. The events of the day took place at St. Mary's church in Corvallis.

"We light candles and read from the Old Testament," Harrell said.

Part of the Easter Vigil is also the baptism of all adult candidates. "We baptized about 15 people last night, and those of other Christian denominations were confirmed as Catholics," Harrell said.

Easter Sunday celebrates Jesus Christ's resurrection from the dead. People were able to attend mass on four separate occasions. About four pews of the church were filled with college students, said Harrell.

"Easter celebrates the salvation we receive from Jesus Christ," Harrell said. "It's as much about this life as the next."

Thomas Palmer, a student majoring in exercise and sport science, is from Colorado. "Going home for Easter is not an option," Palmer said on why he was attending the potluck. "Being Catholic is a big part of my life, so I celebrate Easter here."

For Erik Guiremand, a political science major, the church has become an important part of his life. " [Easter] is the pinnacle of my faith," Guiremand said. "Death is final. If someone overcame death, that's divine."

"Most of the people here are regulars," Wilson said. Discussion between the gathered group ranged from food and God to songs and Christian rock music.

"For me, Easter is the promise of there being something great that we are meant for beyond this life," Wilson said. "As bad as things get, there's always something that can't be taken away."

Easter is considered to be the most important religious festival in the Christian faith. "It's 50 days of celebration," said Ignacio Clorente, a missionary from Argentina who lives at the Newman Catholic Center while studying to become a priest. "We celebrate the resurrection of Christ, which is the real mystery of our faith, and the passage of being enslaved by sin to being free from sin."

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