By Zoebelle Bean, Catholic editor
(From left to right) Br. Andrés Trujillo, O.P., Michael Starbuck, Mary Clark-Keiser, Dr. Briana Asmus, Sr. Diane Zerfas, O.P. and Michael Ingram – Photo by J.T. Doudna
In celebration of the 2025 Jubilee Year, a Jubilee Panel, titled “Being a People of Hope,” was hosted by Campus Ministry and moderated by Mike Ingram on Mar. 19. A total of five panelists from different backgrounds and stages in life were invited to give an account of what it meant to be pilgrims of hope in their own lives.
The panel consisted of Dr. Briana Asmus, Sr. Diane Zerfas, O.P., Mary Clark-Kaiser, Michael Starbuck and Br. Andrés Trujillo, O.P..
Mike Ingram began the panel by explaining the significance of a Jubilee Year and describing the intention behind the Jubilee logo. “Beneath [the four stylized figures] are rough waves, illustrating life’s challenges,” Ingram said, “while the elongated lower part of the cross forms an anchor, symbolizing the stabilizing power of hope in difficult times.”
Jubilee 2025 logo – Photo by the Vatican
Each of the panelists also gave an account of how hope had stabilized their lives. Sr. Diane began by explaining how she had begun as a math teacher after leaving Aquinas College and, after many powerful experiences, she pivoted careers to become a spiritual director. She found hope in helping others encounter God and making sure God sees and hears them through her job.
Dr. Asmus shared a similar experience because she also taught in the school system and encountered many refugees and their individual experiences as well. “I am a person who is lucky enough to anchor others,” Dr. Asmus said. She finds hope in the refugees and undocumented people she sees who maintain hope despite their situations.
Mary Clark-Keiser recalled getting into a serious accident where she had to reconsider who God was and find him again. She had lost her hope, but after a few years, she realized God walked with people in their sorrow. “I became more aware that trust was essential,” Clark-Keiser said, “and that brings hope [to me].” Michael Starbuck had also lost hope in his life after losing his daughter at 36 weeks old. He was shaken to his core about who God was at that time, and he felt distant from other people. God came alongside him in that grief and after he listened to a sermon about how God hates pain as much as we do, it changed his perspective. He regained hope for what was to come in the future in his life.
Starbuck explaining what hope means to him at the Jubilee Panel – Photo by J.T. Doudna
Br. Andrés shared how he finds hope in those who have taken a vocation, mainly the other men in formation around him. “God isn’t a liar,” Br. Andrés said. “God has shown us His promises and we have a taste of what is to come, and this has grounded me as a hopeful person.”
Mike Ingram led the panel with a question about how hope has become tangible for the panelists. Sr. Diane began by stating that she got to watch God at work in other people’s lives through her ministry, so she found tangible hope in the people she watched find an anchor in God. Dr. Asmus said more specifically that it was other people in her life that deepened her practice of hope. “[You] have to practice hope for it to be tangible,” Asmus said. “Which includes trust, trusting in humanity, which makes you vulnerable but is ultimately worth it.”
Starbuck added that action is essential to hope as well because anticipating without action is simply wishful thinking.
Ingram continued with the question, “What are some of the troubling problems you think will be on the horizon, and what hope do you have for overcoming these?” Br. Andrés led the discussion by listing off some of his most prevalent worries: international relations, the climate and the world getting more unstable and discontented. Yet, he found faithful, Christian witnesses to be a probable solution. Starbuck agreed that there was an abundance of uncertainty in the world, but the solution is to not look at the whole and instead focus on something specific and start there.
Clark-Keiser listed some sustainable solutions to fighting off these troubling problems on the horizon. “[It’s a] matter of what we, personally, can do, not what others can do,” Clark-Keiser said. “[Things such as] impact investing, supporting KIVA, giving money to a project and micro-lending.” Sr. Diane went further and emphasized that the Catholic people of hope need to be a circle of compassion, where we can offer an alternative to despair.
Sr. Diane speaking at the Jubilee Panel – Photo by J.T. Doudna
Ingram’s last question asked the panelists who they found to be the person who gives them hope. Sr. Diane said her senior Sisters and the way they help the world. Clark-Keiser said her husband, Kurt, and how each day with him is new and beautiful. Starbuck said his daughter, Clare, and how he has a tattoo of her last ultrasound which is a physical reminder of his personal mantra. “Live twice as hard, love twice as much,” Starbuck said. Br. Andrés said the brothers he lives with and the ones he’s returning to in St. Louis give him hope. “There’s something impactful about seeing others say ‘yes’ to vocations and living life together,” Br. Andrés said. Dr. Asmus said seeing everyone who came to the panel gave her hope. “But also my dog, Dr. Wiggles,” Dr. Asmus said.
The panel concluded with a gift from the Campus Ministry department for the panelists and encouragement from both the panelists and Ingram to find hope in every day through the Jubilee season.
The Saint 