Being white, middle class, and Catholic, I fit the Notre
Dame stereotype to a T. I love being in college with people from different
backgrounds and I really enjoy hearing about different cultures, heritages, and
traditions, yet I’ve never considered myself a very “diverse” person.
Recently, however, I was at Celebration Choir rehearsal and
we pulled out a song we had sung the year before with the Voices of Faith
Gospel Choir as part of the Interfaith Prayer Service. Part of the song was in
Swahili and I realized how excited I was to sing it again. As I continued
singing and thinking about the delight this song has brought me, I realized
that so many parts of my spiritual life were products of a diverse community.
Meditation and Yoga come from Buddhist and Hindu traditions,
yet it provides me richness in my prayer
life. Meditation helps me clear my mind and focus on God. I often like to
use the mantra “Be still, and know that I am God.” Yoga for me is an extension
of my meditation practice. It allows me to cherish and appreciate the body that
God gave me.
The music from
Africa and the African-American tradition really excites me about my faith and
my love for the Lord. Last year I had a great opportunity to sing in the
Concert for the Missions. I loved learning and performing our repertoire
because it was such a joyful expression of God’s love for us and our love for
God.
One of my favorite ways to celebrate mass is with the French speaking community at Notre Dame. As a
French major, it’s a really unique experience to have monthly mass with my
classmates, professors, and members of the community. It continues to remind me
the way our faith goes beyond language barriers and it’s never ending way to
bringing people together.
The America’s brings us many beautiful role models of faith. They give us people who stand up for what is
right, like Archbishop Oscar Romero and Jean Donovan. At my mom’s work, the
Solanus Casey Center in Detroit, MI, there are two life size statues of them.
Whenever I visit there, I am reminded of our immense responsibility to live
lives that serve others and work for justice.
The thing about the church is that it is catholic. The small
“c” means universal. Despite the fact that Catholicism and Christianity are
spread out and practiced throughout the world, we are brought together by the
same God and the same faith. As we are drawn together, we become one body, one
church. “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there
is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus,” says Galatians
3:28.
In the end, it doesn’t matter where you are from- we are all part of our own rich traditions and we partake in a myriad of others. But most
importantly, we are beyond that, we are part of a nation like no other, that of
Christ.
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