Draped in purple robes-a sign of the time in the liturgical year- Father John Titus stands thoughtfully in front of a full audience at the front of the St. Philip Neri Chapel.

He walks slowly up to the altar where the unconsecrated bread and wine await his blessing. The soft swipe of his shoes is heard on the hard floor. The black open-toed sandals paired with his black socks are an obvious fashion faux pas, however, such things are of no importance to him.

Titus lifts up the bowl containing the bread made of flour and water toward the sky. Pointing his gaze in the same direction, he holds it there for several seconds. When it is laid back down on the table, it has become the body of Christ.

This bread, called the Eucharist, is a key part of the Catholic faith.

This is the main part of a Catholic Mass. It comes right after the homily, or message, that Titus gives.

Now a priest at the local Newman Catholic Center, he was born into the Methodist faith and raised in a Presbyterian church; his career goal at one time was to become a Presbyterian minister.

“It was really scary when I realized I was being drawn to the Catholic Church. That meant not having a wife or kids.” Father said.

However, in his words, it was a trade off, not a sacrifice that was made when he decided to enter the priesthood.

“It’s one thing to say you’re going to do what God wants you to do, but to really do it is different,” he said, pushing his glasses to the top of his nose. He explained that his nieces and nephews have always played an important role in his life. To Titus, the people who attend his masses are his children, and the church, his wife.

As of 2001, almost a quarter of the U.S. population was Catholic, according to adherents.com. The church, referred to in the feminine form, she, is a universal one.

Next door to the Newman Center sits the Christian Campus House. Danah Himes, the Associate Campus Minister, said that at this nondenominational church, the members see the bread as a symbol of Christ’s body.

“When I receive it, I visualize it being the body and blood, but I don’t believe it actually is,” she said, trying to settle her 6-month-old squirming baby whom she brings with her to the office many days. “Here, we allow anyone to partake in communion as long as they believe Jesus Christ is who he says he is.”

Himes graduated from Eastern in 1999. While she was in college, Himes said that God transformed her life through campus ministry. She explained that this is a crucial time in a person’s life because a person can claim his or her religion as her own.

“I can’t imagine doing anything different,” she said.

Titus’s hands move toward the cup holding the wine. In the same way as he did the bread, he lifts the cup up toward the heavens, consecrating it. He gingerly sets it back on the table taking great care not to spill a drop of what is now Precious Blood.

Stereotypes about all Christian Churches exist, and many of those have to do with the Catholic church: The church worships Mary (the mother of Jesus), it praises idols, even the subject of cannibalism has been brought up because of the belief of transubstantiation in the bread and wine. Titus, however, disputes these things.

“On a very human level, [the stereotypes] make me angry. It makes me want to respond. But after a few seconds of reflection, I realize I’ve heard it all before. It’s more like, ‘Here we go again.'”

Stereotypes were broken on Nov. 15, when women who had taken vows to become nuns were invited to the Newman Center to share their stories. Women from the Sisters of St. Francis of the Martyr St. George in Alton, and one from Springfield, talked to college students about their own journeys of faith. Wearing the traditional habits, they enthusiastically shared their stories with college-age women around a throbbing fireplace. For 53 minutes Eastern female students sat and listened intently to these women.

Sister Mary George dreamed of going to college and meeting the man of her dreams. However, after feeling a tugging at her heart, she joined the sisters right after high school. She is now a music teacher for the seminary.

23-year-old Sister Mariela decided she wanted to give herself fully to the Lord. After a visit to where the sisters lived, she saw how at peace they were. She also witnessed them, surprisingly, in a rousing game of soccer. It was after this visit that she felt something telling her to give herself fully to Him. She made her vows earlier this year.

Sister Teresa, from Rantoul, was a coach with the Springfield Dominicans at the Catholic high school. After she and Steve, the man who she thought she was going to marry, had been dating for two-and-a-half years, she felt the Lord talking to her. After thinking it over and talking to Steve for quite some time, she had to say goodbye to him and she joined the sisters.

Titus places a small square of the Body of Christ in his mouth with his eyes closed in reflection. Immediately after, he takes a sip from the chalice. With a white cloth he wipes the rim of the cup so as not to leave any remnant of the blood behind.

“I’m probably not normal by society’s standards. People may assume I’m crazy because I’ve devoted my entire life (to God),” Father John Titus later said. “I see myself as a parent to those who come to church. I have come to love them all. I try to meet them where they’re at and bring them to the next good step.”

Titus explained that all he can do to try to lead people toward the faith that he loves so much is to share his own enthusiasm and his love of faith, the sacraments and the word.

“I share what’s real. Even if people don’t agree with me, they will see a witness,” he said. “You can be sincerely wrong, but you have to be sincere, first.”

Himes said that to her, one of the most important parts of the church is the gospel.

“God is holy, loving and just, but people are not perfect. So God has done what he can to bridge that gap for us,” she said, coaxing a pacifier into her son’s mouth. “He has taken the initiative to pursue a right relationship with every person.”

She explained that she has many different types of relationships with God. As a fairly new parent, she reflects on God’s love for her as His child. As a married woman, she sees God as the lover of her soul.

“He loves us through different angles,” she explained.

Titus pours the blood into four different cups and hands them over to the volunteers who have lined up behind him waiting to help give communion to those sitting in the pews. Bowls with the body are given out to the other half of the volunteers. As they were trained, they exchange turns offering and consuming the body and blood before taking their places at the front of the aisles and offering it to the rest of the congregation.

Most Protestants and Catholics believe in the same God (this one God has three different manifestations: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). However, Father John explained that there are key differences in how Protestant leaders of churches and priests do their jobs.

“A priest has to consecrate the body and blood of Christ. He has to absolve people of their sins,” he said. “Other churches have clear stances, but it’s not as defined (as the Catholic Church). I think that’s because everyone has heard of the Catholic Church.”

Titus lifts up pieces of the bread and offers the body to those who come forward. He blesses those who aren’t able to take communion by simply saying, “God bless you.” and offering a comforting smile. As the lines dwindle, the pews fill again, and Titus pours the wine from all four cups into one wiping the empty ones with the white cloth to make sure none of the precious liquid is wasted. He drinks the last remains in the final cup and wipes it, as well. The consecrated bread is stored in the tabernacle for later use during communion and for followers to pray in front of the presence of Christ. As he invites people to stand for the final prayer before the closing of mass, his green robes flow with his arms as they fly upward as a cue for the congregation to rise. He places his right hand on his forehead, his chest and then his left and right shoulders, in that order, to signify the end of the prayer.

“In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.”

Melissa Sturtevant can be reached at 581-2812 or