I have received a couple of phone calls complaining about the Catholic Campus Ministry’s Spring Retreat theme: “It’s Getting Hot in Herre! How to Avoid the Fires of Hell.” Apparently, this theme has been interpreted by some to mean that we, at the Catholic Campus Ministry, believe that one has to be Catholic and attend our retreat in order to avoid burning in hell. Let me assure you that this is not at all what we meant. However, to those who we have offended, I would like to apologize to you on behalf of the Catholic Campus Ministry.

In an environment where students have so many options of how to spend their weekends, we wanted a theme that would catch people’s attention. Each student is inundated with advertisements every day, and we wanted to try a different advertising technique. We picked a line from a Nelly song (“It’s Getting Hot in Here”) to connect with the student’s world. All we meant by the second statement (“how to avoid the fiery pits of hell”) was that with all the temptations on earth, it is difficult for one to live a Godly life. We are supposed to create the City of God on earth “as it is in heaven.” Instead, our world has become Satan’s playground, and thus, it is getting hotter here on earth and we must learn how to combat the evil and temptations we face in our daily lives.

When a person reads a magazine, most likely he or she will come across a “how to” article. For example, a women’s magazine might advertise “How to get the guy you want.” Does that mean that if you don’t read the article, you won’t be able to attract the guy you like? Hardly. That was our logic: a simple “how to” retreat that would better equip students to resist the temptations of this world.

The irony is that our retreat theme did catch people’s attention. I only wish that everyone could have seen that our intentions were truly benign.