Happy Easter! Christ is risen - Alleluia!
One of the most beautiful and impactful methods of our Church includes the opportunities each year to return to the heart of our faith. The liturgical seasons mimic the cyclical seasons of God's created world. We pass through times of penitence and preparation (Winter and Spring) into phases of celebration and harvest (Summer and Fall).
The yearly celebrations of Lent and Easter - among other periods of the Church's liturgical calendar - provide many chances for disciples to return to the foundations of our faith: the Trinity, the Incarnation, the Paschal Mystery, and the Eucharist.
Lest we grow numb out of familiarity or fall out of practice due to lifeless routines, the Church keeps us awake and alert and active with these moments to return to the origins of our faith.
Because I definitely need more than one entry point into these types of formative messages, God has layered individualized instruction for me on top of the whole group lessons given to all.
First, my son will soon receive Holy Communion for the first time. I recently witnessed him on retreat in preparation to receive Jesus's Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. Part of the retreat experience included parents and family members writing letters of encouragement to the First Communicants. This provided rich soil for me to remember my First Communion and put into words the seed of faith in and devotion to the Eucharist that got planted in my heart that day.
I hope and pray that my son's journey of faith and reception of Jesus in the form of the Eucharist will be an anchor of his relationship with Christ, a compass for him to deepen his connection to Jesus, and a map for him to use to find his way back to our Lord in times of doubt, darkness, and despair. Watching the wonder and excitement of my children's participation in the sacraments has provided many powerful reminders of the origins of my faith and a desire to stoke those initial sparks into even brighter flames. These moments have served as opportunities to return to the joy, wonder, excitement, and passion of my original seeds of faith.
Second, I also had the immense blessing to visit my alma mater, the University of Notre Dame, for the ACE Teaching Fellows retreat for ACE 32.
I owe so much to the University of Notre Dame and the Alliance for Catholic Education. Not only did my Holy Cross formation plant within me a desire to work in Catholic schools it provided me with the zeal to make God known, loved, and served. Providentially, one of the rooms that housed a breakout session I was "randomly" assigned to was the very room in which I had the inspiration to become a teacher - DeBartolo Hall, Room 117. Working with the Diocese of Cleveland's new ACE teachers and witnessing their motivation for joining ACE and teaching in Catholic schools added fuel to the fire of my faith and my ministry. Part of the retreat invited me to reflect on my early days as an ACE teacher harkening me back to teaching 9th grade English and Physical Science in a mobile classroom at St. Petersburg Catholic High School.
This moment to return to the joy, wonder, excitement, and passion of my original call to the ministry of Catholic education encouraged me to reclaim that initial spark and bring it to life in new ways.
Considering the origins of our lives of faith, our ministries, and our schools can provide renewed vigor and energy for our ongoing growth, work, and efforts. Re-membering allows us to re-profess our vows, re-claim our faith, re-commit ourselves to our work - to once again become a "member" of God's family, our Church, our schools, and our ministry of Catholic education.
As we near the end of the Octave of Easter, may you take some time to return to the origins of your faith, your ministry, your invitation to serve in your respective schools, and even the origins of your school itself. As you retrace the steps that led you to these various moments of faith, ministry, and history, may you grow more convicted in your response to Christ's initial calls to follow Him.
The origin of the word origin is the Latin origo, which means "to rise, get up, or become visible".
May returning once again to these origin stories - of our faith, of our ministries, of our schools - inspire us to rise up with the Resurrected Jesus and propel us into the future with renewed energy and conviction.
Return to the origin and rise.
