What the world needs now...

...is mercy.

I am so blessed to have been reminded of this today on retreat with fellow young adults at a local church. Through prayer, Scripture, witness, Adoration, confession, and fellowship, God's mercy was made truly tangible. For me, it's easy to fall into the role of the older son in the parable of the prodigal son - one who has always followed the rules, doing what he's supposed to do, but in reality not as close to the father as he may think (or want). How many times do I do things because I know they're the right thing to do or because I really just want to check off a box? Said morning prayer - check. Prayed the Rosary - check. But life isn't about check boxes. God loves us and showers us with his mercy in a prodigal (wasteful) way. We don't do anything to deserve this - He has chosen us. He loves us and comes to meet us even when we are a long ways off from him.

And if that wasn't enough, I went with a friend to bring communion to the nursing home after retreat. (Part of me had wanted to stay for Mass, but I decided to go tomorrow - and Marisa came too.) All of the residents were welcoming. One woman told me that she hopes she meets me again in heaven. (I told her that I hope I meet her again before that too.) I hadn't brought communion to anyone outside of the regular Mass in quite some time, so it was a wonderful experience, albeit different from bringing communion to the hospital. I look forward to continuing to go in the weeks to come. Eventually I may switch over to a hospital if that is where the need is.

My life is far from perfect, and it is far from ideal. But it is beautiful because I am loved by God, and I am called to show that love to others in that same prodigal way.

Called to Be Childlike

It's impossible not to notice that in the recent Sunday Gospel passages (October 4, September 27, & September 20, to name a few) Jesus focuses his followers on being childlike (not childish). Yes, children - they rely on their parents to provide for them so they don't have to worry, and they accept faith without reservation (and without letting limited human knowledge try to reason out and prove everything God has done).

So, if the disciples and others didn't get the message the first time, Jesus tried again...and again...

Being a middle school religion teacher, I'm at a crossroads with my students - it's the time of their lives when many of them start leaving their childlike faith for one where, instead, they try to fit God into a box, so to speak. (He doesn't belong in a box, by the way - He's too big for that.) In fact, a large percentage of my 8th graders are probably at a point where they think they know everything, or, if they don't, they at least feel like they need to sound like they have all the answers.

But there are some that are holding on to that childlike faith...

The students just finished their first unit of the year on prayer and the Mass. Their culminating project was to create a children's picture book about prayer - it could be informational (just the "facts") or it could actually be a story that illustrates the ideas behind prayer and having a relationship with God. About 80% of students chose the former format (which was undoubtedly the easier way to go), but the remaining ones opted for the latter. What resulted was incredible - these 13 and 14 year olds crafted stories that could probably only be told by children:

- One girl told the story of a young child who had a special relationship with her grandfather; she would call him, text him, write him, and draw him pictures, depending on how it best felt to talk to him that day. At times she would forget or not have time to call him, and she would feel sad. But, when she finally would pick up the phone again, she would only have to ask him to forgive her, and he would do so because he loved her. (Wow.)

- Another girl told the story of a young boy who planted a seed. He watered it and talked to it, but other kids made fun of him. So, after a time, he neglected it; the plant withered and shriveled up. The boy felt sad. He was sorry, and he tried to take care of the plant after a time...and it started to grow back. Eventually, a flower blossomed, and then many more did too. In the "epilogue" my student explained what everything in the story represented. (Again, wow.)

- One student wrote of a boy who was sick and dying from a disease. As his health deteriorated, so did his faith. At the end of his life, he ended up turning back to God, who welcomed him into heaven with open arms, praising the boy for his courage and faith. In this student's epilogue, she explained how everyone from time to time has challenges with his/her own faith, yet God remains there for us, waiting to welcome us back with open arms. (Holy cow - most adults have a hard time putting such things into words.)

There were other stories like these too. What a wonderful living and breathing example of what it means to be childlike as the Gospels have pointed out.

Again, Jesus is trying to tell us something. Let us be open to seeing as children see and entering into a relationship that is completely dependent on God.

"Fall"ing

I keep joking with coworkers, family, and friends that maybe after the 6th grade girls' volleyball season is over I just might have a life. Seriously, though, there have been so many things that have been piling up that I want to blog about, but I just haven't had the time to sit down and do it.

And, just to be clear, I'm not saying that I'm not enjoying and learning from every bit of what life is throwing at me right now - don't worry, I haven't gotten to this point:

If I ever do get here, you'll know - I'll be miserable. :P

Enough about all of that; let's turn our attention to Fall!

Don't you just love the Daily Quipple?

Fall is my favorite season - it always has been, even though growing up in Florida we never had the changing leaves or cooler weather (at least not until January, really). It's football season, and school is still fresh & new. There are apples to be picked (doing that with some friends today!) and coats to be taken out of the closet (need to do that sometime soon). There are pumpkins to be carved and pumpkin treats to bake/taste.

And change is in the air - both changes we're excited about and changes we may have mixed feelings or be sad about. One of my good friends from church just got a new job (awesome!)...in St. Louis (not so awesome). As a few of us (including the gal who just got the new job) were sitting around at dinner last night (see image below for what our sushi looked like), we were talking about how on one hand we are going to miss her a lot but, on the other hand, how it's impossible not to be thrilled for this new opportunity where she will have more job satisfaction than she does now and be back with her immediate family. One of the other girls said something along the lines of "It's not about me. If it were, it'd be easy to say, 'You can't leave. I need you here.' But since it's not, I want what's best for you."

Mixed emotions, there we have it.

But all in all, there is so much to look forward to and be excited about on personal and professional levels. Here are just a few things:

Personal --> upcoming young adult retreat next weekend, apple picking with friends (today!), Chicago marathon cheering, friends' birthday celebrations, CST show...
Professional --> ongoing leadership opportunities with my school's data/school improvement committee, a unit on Catholic Social Teaching with 8th grade, a field trip to the theater with 6th grade, continued collaboration with the middle school team...

So, there you have it: Fall in a nutshell. I hope you find change and contentment in the beauty of this Fall...

Shaking things up with Pope Francis

Pope Francis was in America this past week, and, while I could not physically be in DC or NY or Philly, I did my best to celebrate here in Chicago...

Yes, that's my little Flat Francis in the background. (I also got a matching shirt for my sister.)

It was somewhat difficult to keep up with the events in real time, so these websites were (and remain) my go-to's for playing catch up:

*America Magazine's coverage

*USCCB's coverage, including videos from all the live streaming events

*Pope Francis's visit 2015 coverage (this is the site I got the shirt from)

There was quite a bit of excitement (or, at least, talk) surrounding the Pope's visit at school, with my family, and with many friends. But, on the flipside, I think that since Pope Francis is very much centered on reaching out to those on the margins and making a place for everyone, regardless of circumstance or past history, in the church, that some people were turned off by his visit and became closed off to his messages surrounding immigrants, the death penalty, the homeless, etc. 

And this makes me sad because Jesus himself dined with sinners and chose to spend his time with those on the outskirts of society. In the video (from the USCCB website) I watched from Pope Francis at the prison in Pennsylvania, he reminded everyone how we are all sinners in need of God's mercy - we must first find the log in our own eyes.

Pope Francis came to shake us up - it should make us uncomfortable because chances are many of us may be doing something, but there are things we can do more and better. (Trust me on this one - I'm right there with you.) 

Thank you, Pope Francis, for your example, your wisdom, and your courage!

Fourth Grade Refresher

Can we say deja vu?

I subbed in one of our fourth grade classrooms (actually, it was my old room) this morning for writers' workshop and religion class. While the students were far from perfect (there are some little chatterboxes, I can tell you), they were eager to learn.

Writing was fun because the students were writing "I Am" poems as their last addition to their poetry portfolio packets. We used a model poem from my previous co-teacher, so that was pretty neat! With only a few exceptions, the kiddos set to work writing their own "I Am" poems for about 10 minutes. After that, I saw each one's writing stamina meeting its match, so I called them back together. They each shared one line from the poem they had written: "I am a big brother," "I am a sports player," and "I am a hockey player" were some of the lines they chose to share. It was a fun close to writing.

On to religion...(Well, we did a quick shake it out energizer first.) I believe I actually ended up teaching a religion lesson plan I had planned back in 2012 - go figure. It was about the Nicene Creed and the 4 Marks of the Church. It's some dry material (in comparison to some Church teaching or events surrounding Pope Francis - of whom we did speak briefly today!), but the fourth graders managed to focus and seemed to enjoy reading about and coming up with symbols for each of the Marks.

The time passed quickly, and soon their teachers returned, and it was time for me to go. It was so refreshing to be with younger children, even if it was just for that one hour. At the younger grade levels, there is more of a sense of love for learning, while many middle schoolers seem to have (at least outwardly) lost that sense of joy for school.

I am grateful for that hour today - it makes my 8th grade class (epic failure) not overshadow my whole day. :)



On a church-related note: Pope Francis spoke to Congress and visited with the homeless in DC today. While I wish I could have watched (in person or via livestream), I am glad I could read about these things tonight instead.

You've Got to Be Taught

Never have I been a more firm believer of the idea that you have to be taught prejudice and fear, just like the classic musical, "South Pacific," reminds us:

One of my 8th grade students took the initiative to present to her classmates about her summer experience at a leadership institute through one of the local universities that allowed her some field experience working with the homeless population in our city. I could clearly see that spending time just talking to people had made a huge impact on her outlook, no matter what preconceived notions she had before. Her classmates, on the other hand, who did not have such an experience, were quick to offer their own "experiences" of seeing people on the street who take money given to them to buy cigarettes or drugs.

"Why don't they get a job?"

"Why don't they just go to school?"

Do you hear what you're saying? (Probably not - it's probably just repeating what they hear their parents say...) What would you do if you had to choose between providing shelter for your family or getting them food? What would you do if  you were mentally ill (or someone in your immediate family was) and you couldn't afford medicine without forgoing other necessities?

The young people I teach have not even begun to grasp how fortunate and privileged they are - not everyone in this world can send their children to private/Catholic school, let alone one like ours with such fine facilities and opportunities. And why should we be so lucky to have these chance? There's no answer - it's pretty simple and straightforward: many of my students have won the proverbial "middle to upper white class" genetic lottery - they were born into their families, doing nothing to earn where they are today.

It's so easy for those of us privileged with opportunities to point fingers at those who have less, when, in reality, we need to turn those fingers around and ask ourselves what God wants of us because we've been blessed with so much. We are in the prime positions to make a difference. (Granted, I'm a Catholic elementary school teacher so it's not like I have money flowing out of my bank account, but it's enough to get by on and then some, for sure.)

My 8th graders are on the brink of their unit on Catholic Social Teaching, so this is as good a time as any to address these prejudices. But I've been in enough situations to realize that it's going to take more than merely trying to tell them facts, figures, and stories - their prejudices may never change (or at least maybe not until they get a chance to spend time with others outside of their immediate social class), but I'm going to try. I'm trying to think through some optional enrichment projects that include students reading a book like Crenshaw, Paper Things, or No Place (any other suggestions are welcome too!), and then having them spend time on websites or with agencies that reach out to those in need in our community (church or otherwise). With the insight from the book and information researched, I am hoping they can put together a Prezi, Weebly, iMovie, etc. that helps them demonstrate some new-found understanding and just maybe helps them start to shift their views towards homelessness in our community.

Let's not forget the FUN

In all the craziness of this weekend, I forgot to post the FUN pictures. Yes, we did have a GRAND time at the game. ND played well and we got to hang out with friends all day - what's not to love?

Here you go! Have a wonderful Wednesday!

My favorite shirt by far...obviously

Win one for the Gipper!

Look, you can see Touchdown Jesus from our seats!

Got our game faces on

token band picture

all smiles after an Irish victory

speculoos cookie butter shake 

definitely all smiles after that one!