New Web Site Aimed at Strengthening Ties Among Extended Holy Cross Community

‘Making the Parts Whole’ Offers Space for Prayer and Reflection of Hurricane Victims

WORCESTER, Mass. – A new Web site designed as an "online spiritual community" and maintained by the Chaplains’ Office at the College of the Holy Cross offers spiritual resources to the extended family of the College.

The brainchild of Katherine McElaney ’76, director of the Office of the College Chaplains, "Making the Parts Whole" will offer some of the same spiritual resources readily available to members of the on-campus Holy Cross community. The site will also "provide spiritual resources for anyone interested in learning how to use Ignatian tools for prayer, reflection, and discernment that are the special legacy of a Jesuit college like Holy Cross," she said.

Launched in early September, the site is one of the few of its kind associated with an institution of higher education. It is funded by a major grant from Lilly Endowment. Founded in 1937, Lilly Endowment is a private family foundation that follows its founders’ wishes by supporting the causes of religion, community development and education.

Reflecting the inclusivity of the Jesuit tradition and Catholicism, the Chaplains’ Office builds community on campus through worship, dialogue, service, outreach, prayer, ecumenism, and the integration of living and learning. The new site will offer many of these same spiritual resources to the off-campus Holy Cross community — most notably alumni — and strengthen the College’s outreach.

"We want to encourage Holy Cross alumni to participate in the site: to connect with one another in faith, and to join one another in prayer," she says. Noting that many alumni have an ongoing association with the College through fundraising initiatives, McElaney hopes that the site will be a place where graduates can "continue to share their considerable gifts — many of which are not monetary."

By incorporating white space and neutral tones in its design, "Making the Parts Whole" aims to set visitors at ease and encourage reflection. On one section of the Web site, there will be a weekly theme based on the lectionary readings from Sunday Mass. Based on the readings, reflection questions will be offered, as well as practical tips on "how to reflect."

"Users of the site will have the opportunity to pray or reflect on the theme, the reading, and the questions — even to journal — for as brief or lengthy a time period as they choose," she says.

Other features of the site include a "Reading Room" with various spiritual Web sites; online "retreats;" and a "Light a Candle" section to ask for prayers for special intentions.

The new web site is already turning into an effective spiritual space. Members of the community are encouraged to "Light a Candle" for the many who have died and are suffering in Hurricane Katrina’s wake. As part of "Thinking Out Loud," the weekly reflection section of the Web site, Tara McCabe ’97 shares her chilling Sept. 11 story after escaping from the World Trade Center. Another alumnus who evacuated from hurricane-ravaged New Orleans is also expected to offer a reflection.

McElaney hopes faculty, staff and students will embrace the new site by sharing their own reflections and contributing to other sections of the site. More features will be added as the site expands.

"The idea is to help all of us remember that reflecting on the experience of our lives in the context of faith - in the context of St. Ignatius’ invitation to consider where God is most present — is the task of every person who desires to grow closer to God," she says.

The project also has particular meaning for Patrick Mahoney ’00, who is developing the site. Mahoney spent the year following his graduation from Holy Cross volunteering at a Human Rights organization in Tlapa, Mexico. Through the experience, he discerned his own desire to create a web development firm geared towards leading non-profit organizations onto the Web. Mahoney will direct the continued growth of this site through his company, www.upthought.com.