"It's funny how you never know
exactly when you're asked to grow,
exactly when you'll take the load
or head up on your own road,
exactly which the day will be--
maybe Ash Wednesday
or Mardi Gras.
So I will change
'cause I have changed..."
(Nerissa Nields)
exactly when you're asked to grow,
exactly when you'll take the load
or head up on your own road,
exactly which the day will be--
maybe Ash Wednesday
or Mardi Gras.
So I will change
'cause I have changed..."
(Nerissa Nields)
My friend D inspired this blogging-venture-as-Lenten-practice. Like her, I am more for "doing" than "giving up" when it comes to Lent, because there is sacrifice in "the more," or in magis as the Jesuits would say.
A little background on me. I am a dyed-in-the-wool Irish-Catholic. My parents and grandparents are the products of Catholic education.I went to Catholic school from kindergarten all the way through graduate school.
Even after all that, to the surprise of many, I am not a "fallen" or "recovering" Catholic. I am a (mostly) practicing Catholic. After college, I taught in an inner-city Catholic school for three years, then found myself back at my (Catholic) undergraduate alma mater where I worked for four years. Today, I am in the midst of my first year as Campus Minister and Service Program Coordinator at an all-girls Catholic high school, working again with a diverse, urban population.
I am lucky. I have had amazing role models in my life--grandmothers who had regular seats in the front pews of their home parishes and carry their own rosaries and prayer books with them wherever they go; parents who brought us to Mass every Sunday and, more importantly, showed us every day what it meant to be a person of faith; and incredible youth ministers and chaplains who demonstrated the potential for women in ministry today. In my expeirence, priests are compassionate, intelligent, and caring.
A little background on me. I am a dyed-in-the-wool Irish-Catholic. My parents and grandparents are the products of Catholic education.I went to Catholic school from kindergarten all the way through graduate school.
Even after all that, to the surprise of many, I am not a "fallen" or "recovering" Catholic. I am a (mostly) practicing Catholic. After college, I taught in an inner-city Catholic school for three years, then found myself back at my (Catholic) undergraduate alma mater where I worked for four years. Today, I am in the midst of my first year as Campus Minister and Service Program Coordinator at an all-girls Catholic high school, working again with a diverse, urban population.
I am lucky. I have had amazing role models in my life--grandmothers who had regular seats in the front pews of their home parishes and carry their own rosaries and prayer books with them wherever they go; parents who brought us to Mass every Sunday and, more importantly, showed us every day what it meant to be a person of faith; and incredible youth ministers and chaplains who demonstrated the potential for women in ministry today. In my expeirence, priests are compassionate, intelligent, and caring.
"So I will change, 'cause I have changed..."
This is my Lenten goal. For months, I've been thinking that I wanted to create a space to talk about my job--maybe even a place (big dreams here) where others can come to share ideas. I'm a "big idea" person...and lack something on the follow through. I can pass, half-assing my way through things, blessed with the ability to make half-assed look pretty good. Maybe this Lent can bring change. More than anything, I want to be good at this job. More than anything, I want to be good for these girls. I want to give them moments, experiences, and lessons that they look remember 5, 10, even 25 years from now.
It's time to grow.
This is my Lenten goal. For months, I've been thinking that I wanted to create a space to talk about my job--maybe even a place (big dreams here) where others can come to share ideas. I'm a "big idea" person...and lack something on the follow through. I can pass, half-assing my way through things, blessed with the ability to make half-assed look pretty good. Maybe this Lent can bring change. More than anything, I want to be good at this job. More than anything, I want to be good for these girls. I want to give them moments, experiences, and lessons that they look remember 5, 10, even 25 years from now.
It's time to grow.
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