Sunday, April 19, 2015

Choosing Vulnerability

Vulnerability has been a theme in my life for the past several months. Why? Because I made the decision that for Lent I was going to practice being more vulnerable in various areas my life. The topic of vulnerability had been one that kept showing up in my life in the months prior to Lent, and so I decided that Lent might be a good time for better understanding how vulnerability can play a part in my faith life. I will admit that this decision was a little frightening. Choosing to be more vulnerable is somewhat of a daunting task, but through this process, I have come to see many fruits I had not expected. Several of my relationships took on a deeper level as I learned to better trust others with myself. I also found myself becoming aware of what’s going on inside of myself in a whole new way, and this has spilled over into my prayer life, allowing me to be even more vulnerable in prayer.

What is vulnerability? Brené Brown describes it as “the cradle of the emotions and experiences we crave. It is the birthplace of love, belonging, joy, courage, empathy, accountability and authenticity.” It creates space for us to shed our false selves and become the person God calls us to be. It leads us to become a resurrected people. While in my mind I saw it as a “Lent-thing” associated with suffering, I’ve now come to appreciate it at as an “Easter-thing” because it invites me to go through the suffering and experience the resurrection.

I found myself during the Triduum reflecting on the vulnerability present in those events of Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter. It started with the Last Supper and Jesus’ washing the feet of the disciples. It’s a gross act (their feet would’ve been pretty disgusting) that requires vulnerability on all sides of the parties involved. Then he moves to the garden where he holds nothing back. He’s crying, he’s in distress, he’s scared, he’s asking God to take this suffering from him. Then we find him on the cross, abandoned by most of his friends, exposed to everyone who sees him. It’s not really a great advertisement for encouraging people to embrace vulnerability, but what happens afterward is. He is resurrected and, as a result, those in his life are changed. They gain a new understanding of themselves and their mission as followers of Christ.

Vulnerability isn’t weakness. It’s courage. It is in this space that we can best live out our life of faith. We break down walls and discover our true selves rather than the person the world tells us we should be. Where before, we kept our distance from others out of fear that they might judge us, when we’re vulnerable we’re brought closer to others. When we practice vulnerability, we have more compassion for ourselves and as a result we have more compassion for others.

It what areas of your life is God inviting you to be more vulnerable?

Robby Francis is a Campus Minister in Griesedieck Complex.

Saturday, April 11, 2015

He is Risen!

One of the conversations that I remember having with my grandfather when I was a teenager was on the resurrection of the Lord. My grandpa was a Free Methodist minister who modeled Christ’s love to me beautifully. Undoubtedly his reflections came out of a devout prayer life along with a deep love for life in general.Though I do not recall his precise words, I remember him marveling at Jesus’ resurrection.
In some moments, Jesus was there and then would disappear. At other events he simply appeared or became recognizable. There are passages where he seems to walk through walls, and we have to question in the Gospel passage today whether or not Jesus might have eaten with the disciples. He could be identified, but not always. Mary of Magdala thought he was the gardener before he heard Jesus call her name. The disciples on the road to Emmaus only recognized Jesus in the breaking of the bread though he had journeyed with them throughout the day.
I wonder what resurrection was like for the early disciples? Could they have really understood the fullness of resurrection even as witnesses to the event? And how did they recognize Jesus? Every story seems unique to the person or persons seeing the risen Lord. Not only did they see the Lord risen, but it changed their lives, their understanding, their way of seeing the world.
What if a time machine existed to take us back to that first Easter morning? Would we be astounded as many of the disciples seem to have been, or would we simply apply science and worldly knowledge to the event in order to classify it differently? I wonder if the same story would have reached our hearing if it had happened in 2015 AD instead of in first century Palestine.
This is not to say that scientific knowledge is not essential, but as with all human knowledge, it is limited to our understanding. And ultimately Jesus’ resurrection is beyond what can be dissected, quantified, or perfectly analyzed.
First century Palestine was not privy to reality as we now have come to understand life. When Jesus rose from the dead most people professed that the Earth was flat and believed it to be the center of the universe. The Eastern world had yet to perceive the West (North and South America and probably Antarctica). And I suppose heaven was a place up in the atmosphere just beyond our reach.
Human constructs of God have certainly changed over the years. The question I often think upon is what do we lose when our construct of God shifts? If it is lost, then perchance it was never God at the onset, but merely our limited perception of who we name God to be.
In a few thousand years, many will look at and wonder perchance at our unknowing. Science tells us that human knowledge is accelerating faster than it ever has. And yet, around every corner there is something we do not yet know or have not perceived fully as yet.
Thus, I continue to wonder and pray into the mystery of that first Easter morning. Though Mary of Magdala, Peter, John, James, Thomas, Didymus, Nathanael, the disciples on the road to Emmaus, and many others might have witnessed Jesus’ resurrection, I cannot say they knew exactly what was happening to them.

Maybe had the event taken place in 2015 we would have analyzed it all differently, but I suspect the results would be similar. Some would be sceptical and others would believe--and no one would fully understand. So today as we rejoice in the miracle of Easter, I am thankful for both what I have yet to perceive and for the gift of faith that says: Jesus is Risen. Alleluia! Alleluia!

Christy Hicks is a Campus Minister in Griesedieck Complex.

Friday, April 3, 2015

Contemplate Love on Good Friday




Rituals and traditions are important to my own Catholic faith. Some are steeped within the rituals of the Church; some are cultural. Growing up in Chicago, my parents built these traditions into our faith life. On Good Friday every year we observed two traditions. In the morning, my mom and I visited several Catholic Churches to pray and venerate the events in Christ’s life. We always went to the Basilica of St. Hyacinth.

They had a crypt in the lower level of the Church that was set up as a tomb. We prayed there on Good Friday. I remember it being pretty creepy, but as I reflect on that experience, I cherish the image of walking with Jesus in his suffering and death.

I also love the story of St. Hyacinth (in Polish: Święty Jacek). He was born in Poland in 1183. He was ordained a priest in Krakow and in 1217 he joined the Dominican Order. He is known as the Apostle of Poland and had a great devotion to Mary. During his time in Poland in Kijow, he was told that the Tartars had invaded the city. Quickly he seized the ciborium from the Church containing the Blessed Sacrament and was about to leave the church, when he heard: “Hyacinth, you have taken my Son and you leave me behind?” He looked to the marble statue of Mary and Jesus and to his amazement the marble statue was as light as a feather as he carried it to safety across the Dnieper on to Krakow. It is said that he walked over the surface of the waters of the Dnieper.

This image of St. Hyacinth gives us a pretty good indication of the love that St. Hyacinth also had for Christ. This love also manifested itself on Good Friday when my parents encouraged me to be silent from noon to 3:00 pm to commemorate the death of Christ. Who knew that my parents were setting me up for an experience of Ignatian Spirituality? While the silence for me at the time was difficult, as I’ve come to understand my own spirituality, the silence is what I cherish. In experiencing the silence as an adult, it gives me pause to contemplate the life and death of Christ in a very prayerful and loving way.

It allows me to contemplate the love I’ve received and the love which I am called to give back to others. It allows me to contemplate my own actions in a broken and suffering world and calls me to show my love to others through my actions. As St. Ignatius tells us “love shows itself more in deeds than in words”.

On this Good Friday, take some time in silence and prayerful reflection. Contemplate the great gift you have been given and pray about how you can manifest your love for others through your actions.


Sue Chawszczewski
Director of Campus Ministry