Today, I went to school for the first day! We arrived at 9am to meet the principal for the first time, get re-introduced to the office staff, and bumble around as the administration tried to find something for three "interns" to do for a week before our supervising teachers arrive.
Points of clarifications: We are not technically interns, but it is as close to anything else for a description of our work today. Three = myself + one housemate + one Marianist volunteer. None of us are teachers by ministry or by trade, but we're all going to try really hard.
I may have mentioned in a previous post how much the staff and faculty impressed me last time I was at the school, and they continued to make a positive impact today. The new principal exudes competency. I haven't seen enough to know if the impression he made was true, but presentation is half the battle. I didn't have very much interaction with him, but I think I'm going to like him and enjoy working under him.
As for today, the other two volunteers filed paperwork and analyzed claims for free and reduced lunches. Somewhere around 90% of the school is on free/reduced lunch, and seeing the numbers of reported income lined up against dependents broke my heart. Luckily for me, I did not spend all day looking at them. I spent my day (get ready for a surprise) writing and editing!
After spending 2 months over the summer writing and editing, with some research thrown in, I would not have believed anyone who told me I would have fun on a day where I did nothing but edit a student handbook. I really must be cut out to be some sort of a writer, because I had a ball. Time flew. I didn't want to leave it when we went home. It made me cringe when I had to follow the archdiocese's wording when I could think of a more efficient (and probably more open to legal interpretation) way to say it.
Most of the house, however, jumped right into work today, and between that and ripples from yesterday misadventures into one of the less safe parts of St. Louis, emotions were slightly fragile. We remedied this with a trip to Home Depot to make keys (where the key-cutter extraordinaire teased some blonde girl with confusing math) and a stop at McDonald's for some economically thrifty dessert.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Sunday, August 9, 2009
The Others
Sometimes, I know I made the right choice (read: God called me where I needed to be and I had sense enough to follow). Today we went on an adventure to the Jesuit Volunteer Corps' house for a potluck lunch.
St. Louis has a plethora of volunteer organizations, especially Catholic ones, and today we had the blessing of meeting the JVs, re-meeting the Marianists, and networking (read: playing Apples to Apples) with former volunteers, including teachers, who offered sage wisdom about my coming career, including: "Remember that you're the adult."
Ponderings on that bit of wisdom aside, I enjoyed the time spent with other people who have made similar decisions and will lead similar lives to mine for the next year. The JVs have a for-real house, not a former convent, complete with a sketchy basement, that looks fun by day but would really creep me out by night. It comes complete with a beer pong table. (See what I mean about right choices?)
Each community has a very different vibe, and it's hard to pinpoint exactly what feels different about each of the other communities. Each (ours included) has the potential to become something very beautiful for God this year. But each will take a very unique shape and be something completely unique for God. It reminds me of forming retreat teams: no two are alike, each images a piece of the grandness that is God, and I am sure that I belong where I am.
Side Note -- According to Apples to Apples: Wild, Dangerous, Unscrupulous, Desperate, Lucky. Hopefully this is not the first impression I left with the people I just met.
St. Louis has a plethora of volunteer organizations, especially Catholic ones, and today we had the blessing of meeting the JVs, re-meeting the Marianists, and networking (read: playing Apples to Apples) with former volunteers, including teachers, who offered sage wisdom about my coming career, including: "Remember that you're the adult."
Ponderings on that bit of wisdom aside, I enjoyed the time spent with other people who have made similar decisions and will lead similar lives to mine for the next year. The JVs have a for-real house, not a former convent, complete with a sketchy basement, that looks fun by day but would really creep me out by night. It comes complete with a beer pong table. (See what I mean about right choices?)
Each community has a very different vibe, and it's hard to pinpoint exactly what feels different about each of the other communities. Each (ours included) has the potential to become something very beautiful for God this year. But each will take a very unique shape and be something completely unique for God. It reminds me of forming retreat teams: no two are alike, each images a piece of the grandness that is God, and I am sure that I belong where I am.
Side Note -- According to Apples to Apples: Wild, Dangerous, Unscrupulous, Desperate, Lucky. Hopefully this is not the first impression I left with the people I just met.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Matthew 17:17-20
One of the things David Bereit has mentioned in every talk I have heard or heard about is the day when abortion is illegal and the end of legalized abortion occupies a page or a chapter in history books. Our children will read about it in school and bring the book to us and say, "Mom, where were you then? What were you doing?"
He says it with such confidence. He believes that the United States will come to recognize abortion as causing a death and take legal steps to end it.
The uniqueness of this position struck me at Mass today. The reading from Matthew ended, "If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." We can have confidence in God of His triumph -- yet often we don't. We speak conditionally: "If we can end abortion..." or in terms of attempts: "We're trying to affect change..."
The 40 Days for Life campaign, run by the man who speaks of "when" not "if," has cut the abortion rate and closed abortion facilities. And I can't help but believe that his faith has moved mountains and wonder how I can do the same.
He says it with such confidence. He believes that the United States will come to recognize abortion as causing a death and take legal steps to end it.
The uniqueness of this position struck me at Mass today. The reading from Matthew ended, "If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." We can have confidence in God of His triumph -- yet often we don't. We speak conditionally: "If we can end abortion..." or in terms of attempts: "We're trying to affect change..."
The 40 Days for Life campaign, run by the man who speaks of "when" not "if," has cut the abortion rate and closed abortion facilities. And I can't help but believe that his faith has moved mountains and wonder how I can do the same.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Here I Am, Lord!
Say that phrase with as many variations in inflection as you can imagine, and you will probably accurately reflect my feelings since arriving in St. Louis.
Our house used to be a convent, so is laid out particularly well for this program. Each volunteer has her own bedroom with a sink, though we share toilets and showers. We have a kitchen, a dining room, several guest rooms, and several sizes of common rooms. Best of all, we have a tiny chapel with a tabernacle where Jesus lives, in addition to living right next door to the church.
I have a community of 6 volunteers, and we have spent the past few days getting oriented, a process which will conclude this Saturday with a commissioning Mass. Since settling into the house here with my "Six-Pack" community (as the priest next door christened us), I have discovered several of the best-kept secrets of the Catholic world.
We have learned about Vincentian spirituality, discussed community and simple living, and visited the ministry sites of each group member. At these ministry sites, I have been blessed to see the workings of justice -- both direct service and systemic change -- that I only discovered fully in college. As we visited site four (of five) today, I found myself wondering why I had never seen or heard of these operations before. Why are we not exposed to this part of the Church as young Catholics? When Mass fails to hold our attention, when the Rosary seems boring and repetitive, when saints are too holy or only found in books, why are we not taken out here, to where men and women living out the faith in confidence day after day? This is the part of the Church that should draw people, and then when they ask (as one must ask after a little time): "How do you keep going?", we can answer by bringing them to the Eucharist. And this good is a side affect of the good of serving the least.
After all, Jesus gives us service of others as a mandate, not an option. It's something we as Catholics, as Christians, myself especially, can recognize but fail to act upon. This year is about that action, but it shouldn't be merely a year. This is my challenge to myself. The motto of VSC Central is "A year of service makes a lifetime of difference," and I have adopted that as my personal resolution.
Important Sidenote: Most of my 4 loyal readers have my address. I need a piece of mail with my name on it in order to get a library card. Please help me remedy this.
Our house used to be a convent, so is laid out particularly well for this program. Each volunteer has her own bedroom with a sink, though we share toilets and showers. We have a kitchen, a dining room, several guest rooms, and several sizes of common rooms. Best of all, we have a tiny chapel with a tabernacle where Jesus lives, in addition to living right next door to the church.
I have a community of 6 volunteers, and we have spent the past few days getting oriented, a process which will conclude this Saturday with a commissioning Mass. Since settling into the house here with my "Six-Pack" community (as the priest next door christened us), I have discovered several of the best-kept secrets of the Catholic world.
We have learned about Vincentian spirituality, discussed community and simple living, and visited the ministry sites of each group member. At these ministry sites, I have been blessed to see the workings of justice -- both direct service and systemic change -- that I only discovered fully in college. As we visited site four (of five) today, I found myself wondering why I had never seen or heard of these operations before. Why are we not exposed to this part of the Church as young Catholics? When Mass fails to hold our attention, when the Rosary seems boring and repetitive, when saints are too holy or only found in books, why are we not taken out here, to where men and women living out the faith in confidence day after day? This is the part of the Church that should draw people, and then when they ask (as one must ask after a little time): "How do you keep going?", we can answer by bringing them to the Eucharist. And this good is a side affect of the good of serving the least.
After all, Jesus gives us service of others as a mandate, not an option. It's something we as Catholics, as Christians, myself especially, can recognize but fail to act upon. This year is about that action, but it shouldn't be merely a year. This is my challenge to myself. The motto of VSC Central is "A year of service makes a lifetime of difference," and I have adopted that as my personal resolution.
Important Sidenote: Most of my 4 loyal readers have my address. I need a piece of mail with my name on it in order to get a library card. Please help me remedy this.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Meet Me In St. Louis
While I may backtrack and recount some adventures of my last 3 days in the DC Metropolitan Area, I did want to update and say that I am now in St. Louis, beginning my Vincentian Service Corps adventures. I have a wonderful community and a great God!
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