Spring Break

This week is Spring Break for us here at Notre Dame, and as a member of the head staff, I've stayed behind to cover duty for break and also to get in some good library time (aka catch up on homework I should have been doing all semester long).

It's a beautiful time to be on campus for a number of reasons: it's super quiet, which means you can slow down and hear yourself think think again; I can spend some time in prayer because my life isn't going at the pace of insanity; I can really invest myself in my work and put together quality papers that are well thought out instead of hastily thrown together at 2am. Not to mention that campus is gorgeous right now, particularly in the early and late afternoon. First, the sun shines so bright during the day; the sky is a magnificent bright blue. Though the campus is "dead" (quiet), the warmth and light of the sun seems to make everything radiate with new life. The days are growing longer now, and it's beautiful to see the soft pinks and oranges of the setting sun reflecting off the dome and bathing campus in a colorful hue well into the early evening.

All of this makes me think about the fact that we're just about at the midway point for Lent. Though there are signs all around me of new life bursting forth (the crocuses and daffodils and hyacinth are poking up out of the ground already!), I'm wondering whether the same is true in my soul. How has my life become bathed in the light of Christ this Lent? Where are the little buds poking up through the hardened soil of my heart? How can I feel the warmth and see the colorful light of new love shining through?

In some ways, I feel like this Lent hasn't been as productive as I wanted it to be. I'm wondering if I should be doing more in the few weeks ahead. I made some Lenten commitments, which I have been following, at least, somewhat even if not perfectly. I feel I have been spending more time in prayer, though not always in the ways I feel I should be. At the same time, perhaps my heart, my soul, my spirit have begun to show signs of growth, of new life. There is still time.

Lord, help me to make the most of these last few weeks of Lent. Help me to let the light of Your love shine ever more brightly in my life. Help me to love more totally, more purely, and more disinterestedly.

Laity Not Collaborators, says Pope Benedict XVI

I got this in my inbox the other day and had to post it here. This is EXCITING STUFF!

Laity Are Not Priests' Collaborators, Says Pope
Clarifies That All Are Co-responsible for the Church

ROME, MARCH 7, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI today told parishioners of a Roman parish that there is a need to change mentalities, so as to see laypeople as co-responsible for the Church, not merely as collaborators of the clergy.

The Pope made this reflection today when he celebrated Sunday Mass at one of the parishes in the north of the Diocese of Rome, San Giovanni della Croce in Colle Salario.

The Bishop of Rome made various concrete exhortations at the parish. [and then]... The Pontiff expressed his satisfaction that the community "wishes to promote, in regard to the vocations and the role of consecrated persons and the laity, the co-responsibility of all the members of the People of God."

To do this, he said, "demands a change in mentality, above all with regard to the laity, 'moving from considering them ‘collaborators’ of the clergy to recognizing them as truly ‘co-responsible’ for the being and action of the Church, promoting a mature and dedicated laity in this way.'"
Finally, the Holy Father exhorted the Christian families and youth of the parish to "let yourselves be more and more drawn by the desire to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ."

"Do not wait until others bring you other messages that do not lead to life, but make yourselves missionaries of Christ for the brothers and sisters where you live, work, study or only pass your free time," he encouraged. "You should also establish here a strong and organic vocational program that educates families and young people in prayer and the living of life as a gift that comes from God."

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Prophets of a Future Not Our Own

So this week in field education, we had a time of faith sharing, and my classmates who led it had us reflect a beautiful passage from the writings of Archbishop Oscar Romero. The words were so beautiful, I thought I'd post them here:

PROPHETS OF A FUTURE NOT OUR OWN

It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view.
The Kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,
it is even beyond our vision.

We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the
magnificent enterprise that is God's work.

Nothing we do is complete,
which is another way of saying that the Kingdom always lies beyond us.

No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.

No confession brings perfection, no pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the Church's mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.

This is what we are about.

We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.

We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces effects far beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything,
and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.

This enables us to do something,
and to do it very well.

It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning,
a step along the way,
an opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter and do the rest.

We may never see th ened results, but that is the difference
between the master builder and the worker.

We are workers, not master builders.
ministers, not messiahs.

We are prophets of a future not our own.

Winter Wonderland

So we've continued to get little bits of snow every few days. We have a ground cover of about six inches right now, with certainly more to come. All this snow and the Olympics being on makes me think about skiing. Although I'm in pancake land, all I can think about are the mountains. The last time I went skiing was back in 2006, with my Mom and my sister. It was quite a hilarious trip! My Mom and I enjoyed it - my sister, not so much. Perhaps our 2 minute "detour" on the double black trail was enough.

Anyway, I think that when I graduate and finally get a real job and a real life (although I resent the idea that my current life is not part of the "real" world- as if I'm living in some parallel universe) I think I'll take up skiing as a hobby. That would mean I'd have to live somewhere near mountains... Makes me think of Frassati, to whom my blog is dedicated, and about whom I have not spoken in far too long, who wrote: "Every day that passes I fall more in love with the mountains; if it weren't for my studies, I would spend entire days up in the pure mountain air, contemplating the greatness of the Creator..."