Based on my understanding of faith now, I recognize my baptism was not a one-time event of the past, but a new reality into which I entered and in which I still abide. That's where the calling comes in to make something of my baptism. Even though I was too young to remember my baptism, it has attained great importance because of what I've done with this gift of faith.
It's poignant this year to recall my baptism because it's the first time I mark this occasion since St. Cornelius ceased regular parish functions, including Masses, as those functions have been transferred over to a new unified parish.
When the news was announced about this merger back in November 2019, I made it my business to attend Mass at St. Cornelius as often as I could in the final months before Masses ceased there. And so I was there on August 16 for the final weekend of regular Masses. The pastor, Father Dan, had petitioned Cardinal Cupich to celebrate the Feast of St. Cornelius in lieu of the prescribed Sunday liturgy for that weekend, and the petition was granted. So Father Dan spoke about St. Cornelius, one of the early popes, in his homily. At one point, St. Cornelius was sent into exile, and was unable to minister to His flock in the usual way. Yet he still carried on faithfully in his ministry. And so the community of St. Cornelius continues on, even if it doesn't exist in the official sense anymore, as its members continue to live out the Gospel.
While I haven't been an active part of the St. Cornelius community for years, the community continues to exist in me as I live out my baptismal calling, as they were faithful in doing their part to bring me to the waters of baptism for rebirth.
In baptism, God bestows His graces upon us, as we enter into the Paschal Mystery, dying to ourselves and rising to New Life in Christ. Indeed, God has given a great gift to each of us who has been baptized, and such a great gift calls us to live in a more abundant way.
I have attained the purpose realized in abundant life in teaching Religious Education. There was something absolutely providential that when I turned 30 on my birthday last month, it fell on a Tuesday when I had Religious Education class scheduled, and I offered tribute to my students for being such an important part of my life, along with all my former students in past years. Teaching RE has been an extraordinarily important part of my life in my 20s, and it was profound that I started a new decade engaged in the same work. I have learned to give of myself in tending to the souls of my students, to lead them to encounters with God, and so I have discovered who I am truly called to be.
It's also profound that I hand on this gift of faith, which is a significant part of my life, onto my students, and to be part of their lives as middle schoolers, which was the time of my life when faith first became important to me, with the hope that abundant faith would be spawned in the way they live their lives. I never realized growing up and having major events like Confirmation that the journey launched by these sacramental encounters with God would lead me to give of myself this way, and that I would discover my ability to so powerfully support others. It's been an incredible discovery to find such purpose in life by teaching RE as I seek to inspire a new generation to grow in faith.
During that class on March 16, I gave a short introduction to Pope St. John Paul II's Theology of the Body teaching. The main premise I sought to convey follows this line of thought: We are created in the image of God, which means we reflect something about God. God is love, which means He is Gift, giving of Himself totally to us. We are therefore called to reflect God by being a Gift, giving totally of ourselves in that same love of God.
Indeed, God has created us, and by the Paschal Mystery, we are restored to the glorious purpose of living life to give of ourselves so that God's life may abound in the world. Recently, while listening to The Cale Clarke Show on Relevant Radio, Cale talked about a homily Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI gave in 2012 on his last birthday before he retired as Pope. In this homily, Benedict talked about how God gives us the great gift of biological life, but then adds to it rebirth, which grounds us in a promise that is stronger than anything evil in the world. It is such a marvel that God would add to the gift of life to make it something more awesome through rebirth into newness of Life. It is through faith that we come to live a more abundant life.
As I planned for the 2020-21 RE year, I decided to reach out to various people I have known in my life to share their perspectives on faith. Because we mostly met online, I could seamlessly bring in people to join class from all over, and many of these guest speakers were from outside Illinois. Manywere people I met during my years at Valparaiso University, which shaped my faith in very significant ways. As I think back upon the classes with these guest speakers, I recognize how blessed I am that in my journey of faith over these past 30 years, from the very start, I have been in the company of some amazing people who are truly devoted to God. Their presence certainly invigorated my faith journey when I was regularly interacting with them in the initial years after first meeting, and it invigorated me in these past few months when I could reconnect with them when they joined my class to share with my students.
I marvel when I realize that my baptism 30 years ago was an extraordinary time when I entered into a community of faith, and how that sense of community would expand to include so many others on my journey. And it was so wonderful that I was able to bring all these meaningful parts of my life in contact with my RE class during the course of our year together.
Providentially, the RE year concluded yesterday evening, when we gathered together in Church to spend time in prayer and reflection, as well as to recognize and bless the 8th graders and bestow gifts on them. As I told my students, even though our time together in class has reached its conclusion, we go forth into the rest of our lives still remain connected as part of one Church. I know that these 33 students, along with all my other 178 former students, won't fade into the background. I've invested so much in them, and I know that my life has not been the same because they have been part of it.
It's just like how I still remain connected with my baptism and St. Cornelius Parish as I continue to grow in relationship with God and put faith into action, being a gift that brings new life into the world. In the sense of Kairos time, these experiences continue to exist.
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