Catholic Community UCSD

Amazing parish community! The priests are genuine, the music is good and you leave there feeling like it was well worth taking time out of your Sunday to make it to Mass. I highly recommend this parish.

I’ve been to 100+ Catholic churches in my life, and for me, this is easily my favorite. The sermons have a lot of depth and relevance, the music is fantastic, and there’s a definite sense of community. Highly recommended.

Praise the Lord this place is AWESOME!
It was really hard for me to find a catholic church when I first moved to La Jolla, and luckily this was the only one near by. The priest (Father John Paul) is the best! His sermons are the best, because somehow every time he speaks it relates to my own life and motivates me in some way to do better. He is so smart, and light-​weight looks like Denzel Washington. haha.

Reminds me of college again (best thing I can say)… they have sunset cliff mass on saturday which is cool… I’m going to have to check it out one of these days… music book separate (handed to you at the door)… no early mass on sunday that I know of (12:30 the earliest)… or maybe i haven’t gone enough to this church to figure it out… music is decent (I’m bias cause my church in college was so awesome)
Oh yea… parking lot is jam pack when leaving… cause of one exit, so you might want to park intelligently if you’re in a hurry to get out…
I will have to write more after attending it a few more times… I’m still searching for a catholic church that’s as good as my days in college…

Father John Paul Forte–
you’re missing out if you haven’t met him!

The Newman Center Catholic Community at UCSD is a great welcoming place for Catholic students, and young adults in the area.
I grew up in this community and here are some of its strongest programs:
*Student ministry — not only does the community primarily cater to the spiritual needs of UCSD undergraduates, graduate/​medical students, faculty and staff, they get these groups involved in the church — with students serving in leadership positions on the different committees: Liturgy, Education & Faith Development, Social Justice, Social Life, etc.
*Music — top notch choir brings life to the mass.
*RCIA (Rite of Catholic Initiation for Adults) — interested in becoming Catholic? or just getting Confirmed? this program is great for those looking to learn more and become Catholic. I went through the Confirmation program about a decade ago, and served as a sponsor for a student getting confirmed about 5 years ago.
*Tijuana Housebuilding Trip — every year, a large group of community members goes to Tijuana to help in the construction of a house for a family. an even larger group of community members helps to raise the funds needed for the project.
*Small Church Communities — i don’t actually do this, but many of my friends do participate in weekly gatherings to open the readings for the coming Sunday and reflect on them, and share their spiritual journey with their fellow group members.

Can you really say anything bad about a Catholic Church… YES YOU CAN!!! But not this one The Catholic Community at UCSD aka The Newman Center is very very different from any «normal» Catholic Church. Unlike the usual large, Gothic, and dull Catholic Church the Newman Center is completely opposite. The church is large, but has a very warm and homey feeling to it and a Sunday service is never dull, but it is most of the time longer than 1 hour (you have been warned).
The Catholic Community at UCSD does not on its own the church, but shares it with the Episcopalian community, which throws people off when you pass the church. Every Sunday there are three masses 12:30pm, 5:30pm, and 7:30pm…they start late because the church is occupied earlier, but I think it works well because college students do not really like to wake up early so by noon you have had enough time to sleep and have already gotten rid of that pesky hangover from clubbing the night before.
The masses are amazing at 12:30pm on Sunday and this is due to the amazing choir. The other masses are also equally as great, but the larger choir sings at 12:30. The music is always meticulously selected and is accompanied by a plethora of musical instruments. The choir is always amazing usually consisting of all 4 vocal parts and usually a few soloist whom sing the psalm and other selected songs. Under the direction of their amazing choir director.
They also like to mix things up at mass by having different themes and celebration different cultural months. Some of the masses and themes include:
Jazz Mass
Hip-​Hop Mass
Black History Month
Asian and Pacific Islander Month
Women’s Month
Multicultural Mass
And many others
It just happens that Hip Hop mass is this Sunday May 18^th 2008 at 5:30pm. It is a very interesting mass which includes dancing, rapping, and spoken word. So if you happen to come by you will see me dance and sing. But be warned we are a very friendly church so do not expect to be able to walk in and out unnoticed like at other churches… the community will say hello to you, you might get hugged and they will make you feel comfortable and loved like you have been going there for years.
I cannot really say anything else about The Catholic Community at UCSD, Newman Center, but that I truly love this church and it is really apart of my heart and who I am. They have been my second family ever since I moved to San Diego for college. If you happen to stop by you can usually see me there at 12:30 singing with the choir or sometimes dancing in the middle of the church like a person possessed by the spirit of GOD (Excluding major metropolitan holidays). Please stop by and say hello… also I would just like to say that I am not pushing my religion on anyone. I feel that everyone should choose their own religion… just how everyone chooses what they to eat.