A Childlike Faith

This week my life will be consumed by everything education. Between applying for programs, starting up a club at a local school for my senior thesis, and taking the PRAXIS exam to become a teacher, everything is somehow related to teaching. One consuming part of this process is writing personal statements about how I am a faith-filled mentor and a skilled classroom leader. I have spent a lot of time thinking about how I am going to help my future classes connect with their faith. In fact, I already spend a lot of time working on my lesson plans for the religious education classes I teach so that students can develop a deeper understanding of their faith and a richer relationship with God. I keep challenging myself to give more and more to my students to help them grow. But sometimes I forget that I can learn from them too.

One particular student, Tim*, has been in my catechism class for two years now. He is known for saying a lot of off-topic comments (though to his credit they are usually related to religion in some way), while always looking for ways to be a leader in my classroom. He isn’t always on task, but he will constantly ask,“Megan, am I being mature today?” He usually is. A few weeks ago Tim said something to me that stopped my heart.

He told me, “Sometimes I hear God talk to me.”

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He continued , “God tells me to do good things for others. Like one time I saw someone who needed help and I just went and did it.”

The conversation jogged my memory to when I was little. Though I can’t say I ever heard God exactly talk to me, I do remember making up conversations in my head about what God would say to me; a childhood way of articulating that God-like tug in my gut. I remember asking my mom about it, saying, “How do you know it’s God talking?” She replied, “If it comes from a place of love, then it is what God is calling you to do.” I imagine that is similar to how Tim was feeling too.

When we are children, our world is limitless. The concept of God is easy to understand because there are no restraints to what we believe or dream. We can all grow up to be ballerinas and pop stars and princesses and teachers at the same time. We don’t bat an eye at the idea that a magical bunny delivers gifts to us on Easter. Our world is surrounded by stories of fairytales and talking animals. In this world, believing in God is just part of the ordinary wonder that is childhood.

As we get older we realize God is different from Santa and our imaginary friends. We are given the privilege of being able to understand theology and the complex academic tradition behind what we believe. While we might not be a ballerina-popstar-princess-teacher, we do realize we are called to serve others with the gifts God gave us. We can enter into deep discussions with friends. We can understand mass in a more sophisticated way (because lets face it, 3 year old me danced around the church singing about Teddy Grahams). It is amazing how much we gain in our faith lives as grow up.

But in many ways we can lose track of that simple, childlike wonder for God. I love teaching lessons and watching my students grow in their knowledge about the faith. We can learn so much from them. Here they are, despite being at the beginning of their faith journeys, willing to pray to God, trust God with their problems, and understand the pure ways in which God loves us all. I think back to the ways I saw miracles in cupcakes (link), didn’t doubt the power of the rosary (link), and encountered valuable faith lessons in the books I read (link). My understanding was simple, but my faith was strong. There is something genuinely inspiring about the simplicity of a child’s faith and I hope to look for that wonder in my own life.

I can’t wait to enter into teaching. I’m so excited to share with my students my favorite books and my love for writing. I look forward to sharing my faith with my students. But I also look forward to the ways I can learn from them. I am delighted for the chance to look through their eyes and revel in God’s wonder, to listen through their ears and to hear God’s voice.

*Name changed for privacy

Mountain Top Yoga and Uniqueness

Pictures of mountain-tops, camping sites, yoga poses, and delicate cappuccinos are some of the images I find on many “Christian” and “Catholic” instagrams, tumblrs, and blogs. Don’t get me wrong, I love doing yoga and I have had some awesome insights while climbing mountains (see On Top of the World). But at the same time, there is something unattainable about these pictures. They have an essence of cool and collected I am positive I will never be able to achieve. While these blogs are beautiful, I realize I don’t necessarily see my own faith in camping trips and coffee runs. The fact is, faith looks different on all of us.

I am a Catholic and, as it goes with being a student at Notre Dame, so are many of my friends. Yet for each of my friends, being Catholic means something completely different. For some of my friends, it means rosaries and daily mass. For others, it’s Christian worship music and faith sharing in small groups. For others, it might be hours pouring over theological texts and reveling in the scholarship behind what we believe. For me, being Catholic is serving others by teaching catechism and being part of a community service choir. For me, it’s deep “God talks” with my mom. It’s the thrill of receiving the Eucharist. It’s giving total trust in God’s plan for the future. And that is only the beginning.

The word “Catholic” means universal and while so many aspects of our faith are the same around the world, there are also differences in faith that come from culture and ethnicity. Here at Notre Dame, it is easy to see this from our various groups and masses. Voices of Faith and the Rejoice! Mass bring a refreshing energy and a welcoming community. Cora Primavera and Ballet Folklorico, akin to the Hispanic tradition, come alive with vibrant music, language, and spirit. Masses on our campus range from orthodox services to Root Beer Float Mass. Each of these liturgies is rich in its own way. While we each might gravitate to masses that fit for us better, they all work to bring us closer to God.

Our own faith lives work in much the same way. God made each of us unique and gave us all a purpose. So, it makes sense that we don’t all have faith lives that look the same. It makes sense that Catholicism looks difference on all of us. It is healthy to stretch ourselves to try new things in relation to our faith. It is also healthy to realize what works best for us and to keep working to get the most we can out of those aspects as well.

There  are a lot of peoplewho prefer to make Catholicism into a series of check boxes. It is easy to say “If you do this, If you believe this, If you follow this- then you are Catholic.” But that isn’t realistic. We all have experiences that make us unique. We all have parts of the faith in which  we might struggle and teachings we connect with more. We have questions and doubts,which are natural and normal to have. But that doesn’t mean we aren’t valuable members of the church. In fact, our unique-ness makes the church richer for it.

I recently read an article lamenting “Cafeteria Catholics” who don’t believe every single teaching of the church and instead “pick and choose” from the giant dining hall of Catholic teachings. This view is dangerous, judgmental, and hurtful. It fails to see the uniqueness that each person brings to the faith. It fails to see the wonderful imperfections we all have. It fails to understand that we have a God who is always welcoming us and reveling in the wonder we have become. And in the end, our relationship is always between us and God.

The Year of Mercy is about throwing the doors wide open and yelling loudly from the rooftops “All are welcome.” It is about realizing there is no oneway to live out our faith or one type of person who is Catholic. It is about reaching out to make members of the church feel more included. It is about showing that God-like love to everyone who is part of the church. In fact, the only way we truly fail to be Catholics is when we fail to love. God is always, always calling us to be the most loving humans we can be. That should be our only priority when it comes to the members of our church. 

One of the most important things I’ve learned about myself through my faith life at Notre Dame is that you need to live out your faith life in a way that is authentic to who you are and what you believe. Learning to be comfortable with the way Catholicism looks on me, imperfections and all, is one most important journeys I’ve undertaken in my faith. So go out and discover what that means for you- event if  it means praying on mountaintop doing yoga in a corn field. Whatever it is, setting your heart aflame with heavenly love is the best place to start.

Breaking the Bubble: On Traveling Alone

“You went to Germany by yourself for a week? Why would you do that?”

“You must have been so brave to travel by yourself.”

These are some responses I receive when I tell people what I did last year for spring break. It’s weird because looking back, I don’t feel like my choice to travel alone was particularly radical or brave, but I do think it was one of the most important things I did while I was abroad.

There were many amazing things about studying abroad in Paris, but one of the best parts was  getting two weeks off for spring break. My mom was going to be there for part of it, so I was already planning to visit Barcelona. I had also made plans to meet my friend in Greece. But in between these two trips, I had a whole week free to travel. The rest of my friends in Paris were going to places I had already been in Europe and I was itching to go somewhere new. There was no way I was going to spend that week sitting in my room. So, I decided to grab a train ticket for Munich, rent an apartment  for the week, and sign up for some day trips while I was there.

I’m a pretty independent person. I’d traveled to Edinburgh by myself, so this wasn’t my first foray, just my longest. I have a good sense of direction and basic common sense, so I wasn’t afraid of anything going wrong. But I did have one small hesitation. I’m an extrovert. I like talking, being around people. So I was worried that travelling alone would be really lonely. I couldn’t imagine going a week without talking to other people. I prayed about this before I left, asking God to keep me safe, happy, and never alone.

I was blessed in my travels in that loneliness never came to fruition. My trip began with a six-hour train ride. About half way through the train journey, we realized everyone in my compartment spoke English- an Italian woman, a Chinese girl, and another American. Once we started talking, we couldn’t stop and spent hours chatting on our way to Munich. Even better, the American guy lived near the apartment I rented and was able to give me a crash course in the Munich public transportation system. I felt relief that night when I got to my apartment (which was actually the coolest apartment in the world) that my trip had already been less lonely than I had expected.

This continued for the rest of the week. The next morning, on a walking tour of the city, I met a group of girls who were studying abroad in London and invited me to tag along with them to the Spring Festival in Munich. The next day, on a day trip to the Neuschwanstien Castle, I made friends with two American girls studying abroad in Paris. It’s always amazing to make new friends especially when it means you have someone to take pictures of you with a fairy tale castle. Later that week, when visiting Saltzburg, Austria, I made friends with an Australian guy and a girl from New York. We spent the rainy afternoon recreating scenes from the Sound of Music and adventuring in a fortress at the top of a mountain.

Each day of my trip, I encountered new people, new stories, and new worlds. Each person shared with me stories of their travels, their hometowns, and their unique perspective of the world. In turn, I realized how when travelling on your own the social barriers that exist in our own lives stop existing. So often in America, when I meet new people, I am constantly sizing myself up and assessing them. When travelling though, I felt like I met others with my eyes wide open. I had no context in which to judge them, so I was free to listen and share with them without jadedness. I began to feel as if I was part of something bigger than myself, a community of people linked together through nothing more than humanity.

I also love how travelling alone let me be independent. I could stay up late watching Netflix or go to bed super early if I was exhausted. I could eat ice cream for dinner if I wanted (and I did). I didn’t to worry about upsetting anyone else’s plans. It was during this trip that I started writing a story that eventually became a novel of over 100,000 words. This trip let me be myself as much as possible.

Notre Dame is a wonderful place and I love every minute being here. But our campus is a bubble. We see the same people and the same places. While study abroad is a chance to escape the bubble, many people spend their time abroad traveling only with the same Notre Dame students. I don’t want to make those experiences sound invaluable. I took many trips with ND students and I treasure the way those trips helped me grow closer to my friends and create new memories with them. But study abroad is also an opportunity to exchange cultures, to take risks, to get to know yourself better, to get to know your world, which can only really happen when you let the bubble burst.

Many of my junior friends, including my friend and fellow blogger Katie Arndorfer, have embarked on the beginning of their semesters abroad. Studying abroad is one of the most life changing opportunities I’ve had Notre Dame. It wasn’t always easy, but it was always rewarding. But the true rewards came when I challenged myself to strike out on my own path and travel on my own. This is the same challenge I am posing to my friends who are starting their study abroad adventures. See where your travels take you and whose paths you might cross. When you take the risk, trust God, and travel on your own.   

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