Forever Notre Dame

Getting ready to graduate can be stressful – it’s a big transition from college to the “real world”, figuring out jobs, grad school, where we’re living and who we’re living with all while finishing classes – it can be a lot. Without a doubt, Notre Dame has prepared us well for the real world – we’ve seen thousands of people go before and be successful, and so while we may be sad that our time at Our Lady’s University is coming to a close, there is nothing to fear. As we work to ensure that our plans for next year are lined up, we also need to remember to work on our faith as we enter into new stages of our lives.

After talking to graduates from the Class of 2013, here are some tips on engaging in your faith post-college as well as some general tips:

• Find something regular you’re interested in – whether it be a Bible Study, Young Adult Volleyball or a service group – and try to go every time they meet. Seeing people consistently really helps build friendships and it’s a great way to find a community after college!
  
•  Don’t underestimate how important relationships are. Don’t be afraid to pass up a higher salary or a better opportunity in order to live closer to family or friends. And remember that money is merely a means to an end and never an end in itself.
• Living a good faith life is all about will. If you want to live a good moral and faith filled life you have to act like you want to. It takes far more time and effort to attend mass, pray or discuss morality/theology in the real world and to keep a good faith life requires putting in extra effort. You have to make a habit of wanting a good faith life and moral compass.
•  Don’t worry about having a long term plan. Most people still have no idea what they want to do with their life even after college. If you ever feel frustrated or overwhelmed, it’s okay to vent to God about it – He’s always listening!
• Go Parish shopping! Different parishes have different styles and different cultures. It’s okay if you don’t feel at home in the first parish you go to; it doesn’t mean you’re a bad Catholic, try a different one!
• Go to mass every Sunday even if you’re tired, hung over, or don’t feel like you’re getting anything out of it. Mass will help create the cornerstone for your faith.
• Once you do find a parish you like, remember to register! This generally involves just stopping by the parish house and filling out your address but it’s a good way to be more connected to the community and know when different events are going on.

 The Notre Dame Alumni Association also has some great tools available for us to use. You can sign up for the daily email here which sends the Gospel reading, a Reflection, Prayer and Saint of the day to your email Monday – Friday at 5am EST. To find times for Mass, Reconciliation and Adoration in parishes around you, check out masstimes.org. Make sure to connect with your local Alumni Club for help finding a parish. Also check out faith.nd.edu for other events and activities to get involved with and stay connected to the ND community. 

Around Campus: Getting to Know Fr. Lies!

Fr. Bill Lies is currently serving as the VP for Mission Engagement and Church Affairs at Notre Dame and a priest in residence at Alumni Hall. I have the had the great opportunity to get to know Fr. Lies during my past three years here at Notre Dame and am constantly inspired by his dedication to the Lord and to Notre Dame as well as his obvious love for his family, particularly his strikingly handsome, identical twin brother.

What is your favorite thing about Notre Dame?:

The Alma Mater at the end of the football games.  Indeed, the Alma Mater at the end of anything.  It’s really not about football, it’s about the way our community embraces each other in moments like that.  It’s not just a nice tradition; it touches the heart of who we are.

photo from: www. nd.edu

How did you come to your current position?

I was the Executive Director at the Center for Social Concerns and Fr. John [Jenkins] was thinking about ways in which we might be more intentional about reaching out to the U.S. Church, and not just the bishops but Catholic Charities, Catholic Relief Services and a zillion other organizations and ways in which we could more effectively support the Church in this country and beyond through scholarship and service. Through numerous conversations with other people and myself, Father John created this Office of Mission Engagement and Church Affairs. Notre Dame is a robustly Catholic place, so many of these things were already going on.  The hope is that they will be brought together in a more official, integrated ways through this office.

What is one of your favorite memories at Notre Dame?

I have a brother, Jim, who was at Notre Dame for some years; he’s a Holy Cross priest as well. He’s an identical twin… (and strikingly handsome I might add). He first came here for graduate school, and it’s how I came to know Notre Dame and Holy Cross in the first place. Many years later, when I was looking at religious life, Holy Cross became one of the obvious options, which we had both talked about; he joined as well a couple years after me. Jim is now the VP for Mission at Stonehill College doing essentially the same thing that I’m doing here, which is almost impossible for us to believe.  One of the great graces in my life is that Jim and I are both brothers in life as well as in Holy Cross. Regarding the funniest moments here at Notre Dame, they mostly revolve around Jim and I being confused for one another… and the examples through the years are endless.   For instance, when he comes for a visit to Corby Hall, our priests and brothers residence on campus, they put an envelope with his name on it on a board in the front entry. The second that envelope goes up on that board, several Holy Cross guys at Corby will call me Jim the next time they see me. And I just set them straight and tell them that he’s not coming for another couple days.

Can you talk a little about your calling to the priesthood?

I graduated from undergrad, spent a year as a lay volunteer with the Dominicans in Chicago, then I worked for two years. I was contemplating the seminary and priesthood. One day, in the middle of time in Chicago, someone asked me, “What are you going to do?” And I responded that maybe I would be a priest, unless I fell in love and got married.  Well, I thought to myself later, am I just going to let my whole life happen to me? If someone like me, who loves the Lord, doesn’t think seriously about ways to serve Him, then who will? From there, it was a relatively easy choice to choose religious life with Holy Cross. It helps too that I come from a long line of religious people by the way.  In my mom’s family, the first is a Franciscan sister, the next is a priest, the next a Christian Brother.  In fact, it was so much a part of our life and family culture, I used to joke that this wasn’t such a hard choice… I thought everyone was doing it!

Do you have any advice to students discerning their future?

Be open and prayerful. As I look back at different times when these questions weighed heavy, I sense that with a certain openness and prayer, grace always filled the spaces of doubt and the Lord ultimately led my discernment. And get someone to talk with, like a spiritual director or confidant, who can walk with you along the way.  

RCIA: Welcome to the Church!

With Easter right around the corner, we are about to celebrate the end of this year’s Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) program on campus. This is a program through which Christians of various denominations receive the sacraments to become full members of the Catholic Church. . I had the privilege of talking with two Notre Dame members of the Elect who will receive the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and the Eucharist at Saturday’s Easter Vigil Mass in the Basilica. Both of their perspectives on joining the Catholic Church were beautiful to hear, and excerpts from their interviews are as follows.

Sean Yuan is a junior Business major at Notre Dame:

Q. Why did you decide to participate in the RCIA program?

Sean: I wanted that sense of peace and to participate in this wonderful community. I decided that the Catholic faith provides me with a lifestyle that teaches me to become who I was meant to be. It's a comforting thought, but not a comfortable lifestyle by any means. In fact, I think being Catholic in this world is one of the toughest decisions to make. But without being intentional, I feel that my life wouldn't have any direction.

Q. Can you walk me through your RCIA experience?

Sean: I was a bit nervous at first, because I didn't really know what I was getting into. However, I learned that I don't have to figure out everything to become Catholic. My faith journey has taught me that it's all about building a loving relationship with God, and as time goes on, God will slowly reveal to me more and more when I'm ready for it. Meanwhile, I'll do my best to keep reading and learning from my friends.

Q. What are you most looking forward to upon entering the Catholic Church?

Sean: First Communion, hands down (or up, in reverence). We're all just hungry, imperfect children, and God promises to keep us nourished in this lifetime until we may finally join him after death. Wow. I could never deserve this, but God gives freely anyway. That's some serious love.

Q. What advice do you have for someone considering joining the RCIA program?

Sean:  If any readers are at all interested in getting confirmed, or know someone who might, please contact Campus Ministry.They're seriously the happiest, most qualified people for this. It's thanks to their tireless efforts and the Holy Spirit that I made it this far. If you're a Catholic and wondering if you can help, consider applying to be someone's sponsor. It's a really rewarding experience.

Faith Spady is a Sophomore Architect Major.

Q. Can you walk me through your RCIA experience?

Faith: I remember being at the first couple meetings and wondering “Why on earth are these people so happy?” There really is a sense that everyone is sharing each other’s joy and triumphs as well as their pain.

Q. What are you most looking forward to upon entering the Catholic Church?

Faith: The Eucharist. It was one of the most powerful motivating factors throughout this process of discerning my faith, long before I ever even knew about RCIA. When I was very little, my dad used to take me to mass with him and he would take me up with him to receive communion. He had to explain to me after the mass that I couldn't partake in it because I wasn't a part of the church – growing up, the agreement between my parents on the issue had always been that I'd choose one day which Church I would belong to when I was older so I had not been baptized or received First Communion.The mass is supposed to be so much more, something that requires full and active participation. I could feel that as a young girl. If I say to anyone else that being denied a tiny little wafer was painful, they will look at me like I'm crazy. If I say it to a Catholic, they'll understand precisely what I mean. It’s rare to find a Catholic who hasn't slipped up at some point by not attending mass for a few weeks or not going to reconciliation. Many will say how hard it is, how painful when you start up again. Perhaps some of the pain is from the guilt of not coming, but mostly it’s the idea that when given the opportunity you denied yourself of the Eucharist, of Christ.

Q. What advice do you have for someone considering joining the RCIA program?

Faith: RCIA is not just to convert "pagans" or bring people back into the church. It is clearly illustrated in the definition of conversion which is supposed to be a turning towards God. That could be the initial big turn or a continued step in the right direction. It’s not supposed be like stepping out onto a straight paved road, where getting on is all you really have to do. There will be rocks and dips in the path, you will get tired and you will question yourself at times. Why did I get on this path? What am I supposed to do now? It looks disturbing up ahead, should I keep going? How can I? The little things are usually what refresh us enough to pursue the faith a bit longer.

Thanks so much to Faith and Sean for sharing your experience in the RCIA program! I am so excited for you both to be able to share in full communion with the Church this Saturday!

“May you cling to Wisdom, for She will protect you…and if you cherish her, she will keep you safe.” Book of Proverbs

Covering the Hard Issues: Gay Marriage

Gay marriage is perhaps the hardest teaching of the Church for our generation. It’s the topic no one wants to talk about because it always brings out very strong emotions and defending the Church's position is widely viewed as discriminatory. While I’ve always been vocal about my pro-life views, defending marriage is something I generally have not taken a stand on unless pressed about my beliefs. I’ve seen the fact that I defend traditional marriage drive a knife into friendships and stop others from progressing and yet I cannot pretend to change my beliefs.

In many conversations I’ve had with friends, they bring up the fact that they have friends, siblings, or other family members who are hurt because they wish their relationships and love to be recognized in marriage. I too have close gay friends who have struggled and have been hurt by this, but this should lead us to delve deeper into Catholic teaching rather than reject it outright. It is only through study and reflection along with much prayer that we can properly discuss the Catholic teaching on marriage and come to realize it’s based not on emotions, but on the ability of a man and woman to participate in creation. Consider that the Church does not officially recognize the relationship between two friends, which can be full of love, and so there must be another reason for recognizing marriage while not recognizing other relationships.

In order to understand the Church’s teaching on gay marriage, we must first understand its teaching on marriage. Marriage is one of the seven sacraments of the Church. It is important to note that it is not the wedding that is the sacrament but the marriage itself. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “The matrimonial covenant, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life, is by its nature ordered toward the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring”. (Part 2, Sec. 2, Ch.3 Article 7). According to this definition, the outward sign of the sacrament of marriage, sex, must have a procreative aspect, which is not possible among two members of the same sex. This definition of marriage is stated in Genesis 2 and restated in Matthew 19: “Haven’t you read,” He replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore, what God has joined, let man not separate.” (Matthew 19:4-6). The design of marriage is seen in our complementary creation, a complementarity which places the possibility of procreation at the forefront of our relationship in a marriage and which cannot be disengaged from marriage.

It is important to note that the Church does not persecute homosexual people. Pope Francis’ remarks on this topic are perhaps most revealing, “If they accept the Lord and have goodwill, who am I to judge them? They shouldn’t be marginalized. The tendency [to homosexuality] is not the problem…they’re our brothers”. Rather than persecution, the Church calls homosexual people to live a life in holiness just as they call all men and women of the Catholic faith to live a life in holiness. Recently, great work has begun to consider more fully the Church’s teaching on homosexuality and especially the call to a deep friendship. I’d encourage anyone looking to find out more, to explore the writing on this website.

As Catholics living in an age in which gay marriage is the culturally accepted norm, we are called to engage this teaching through love and a prayerful heart. The Catholic Church considers defending the Truth as a duty of every Catholic, seen from the Apostles down through 2000 years of history. We as Catholics must do all we can to reason and learn why the Church teaches what it does and ultimately, have faith. 

Catholic Aerobics

We all know that Sunday is a day of rest, so why is it that the Church insists we move around so much during mass? Kneel, sit, stand, sit, stand, sit, stand, sit, stand, kneel, stand, kneel, walk, kneel, sit, stand. Try saying that one ten times fast. The meaning behind the movements of the mass, or Catholic Aerobics, are often lost or forgotten among the other parts of the mass. So why do we go through these movements and what do they mean? I’ll admit that I knew very little about why mass involved so much movement, so I created a cheat sheet on certain aspects of mass for us to reflect upon the next time we go:

Standing: The times in which we stand during Mass are the times in which we are showing respect to either the Priest or the Word of God (during the Gospel). Just as we stand when we are introduced to a person, we stand when the priest enters to show respect. We also stand during the Gospel and Profession of Faith to show reverence and emphasize the words which we are hearing or professing.

Sitting: We sit primarily during the first and second reading and the responsorial psalms. This set-up, with us sitting and the reader standing, imitates a classroom with us as learners. During the Liturgy of the Word, we are the students, learning from the readings and from the lesson proclaimed through the homily.

Kneeling: We kneel during the sacrifice of the mass, standing only for the Our Father and Sign of Peace. We kneel during this time because we are witnessing the Eucharistic Consecration, kneeling symbolizes our reverence and respect for the sacrifice of Jesus and his physical presence. The act of kneeling links back to the beginning of the Church through Peter as he “knelt down and prayed” in Acts 9:40.*

Other aspects of the Mass that every Catholic ought to know:

Genuflecting: We genuflect when we enter or exit the pew to show reverence to the physical presence of Jesus in the tabernacle.

Transubstantiation: That hard word that we had to memorize how to spell in the 4^th grade if we went to Catholic middle school and were too busy spelling to remember the meaning. Transubstantiation occurs during the consecration when the bread and wine are transformed into the true Body and Blood of Jesus. The second time that the bells are rung during the consecration alerts us that the fact that transubstantiation has just occurred.

Of course they are many more aspects of the Mass that have not been covered in this blog. If there is an aspect of the Mass you're confused about or have just learned about and would like to share, please comment below and we can continue learning!

*According to The General Instruction on the Roman Missal #43 (U.S. Version), “In the dioceses of the U.S.A., they should kneel beginning after the singing or recitation of the Sanctus until after the Amen of the Eucharistic Prayer, except when prevented on occasion by reasons of health, lack of space, the large number of people present, or some other good reason.” Perhaps this is something that we ought to look into at our dorm masses!

A Universal Church: Catholic Style

Perhaps one of the greatest things about the Catholic Church is its universality – that Church teaching and the celebration of the sacraments does not change from culture to culture. This unique facet of the Catholic Church allows for one to be at home wherever you may travel. While it is true that one can pray anywhere, the physical presence of Jesus through the Eucharist is something that Catholics always have access to, even in cultures in which they are not familiar.

This past week I was lucky enough to spend my spring break in Switzerland conducting research and visiting the country for the first time. Switzerland is a very interesting country because its culture is highly influenced by its neighboring countries, Germany, France and Italy. In fact, the culture within Switzerland changes drastically from one part of the country to the other depending on which bordering country is closest.

The history of Switzerland is closely tied up with the history of Catholics and Protestants’, especially as the home of John Calvin. With such a rich history, Switzerland is full of majestic sacred architecture, of both Catholic and Protestant denominations, and touring Switzerland includes viewing countless churches and basilicas. Perhaps one of the most striking realizations of this trip was the ease in which one is able to immediately tell whether a church is Catholic or Protestant or another denomination. Upon entering a church, it is so easy to tell whether Christ is present in the Eucharist there or not, easily ruling out if the church is Catholic or not. I’ve heard other friends and family members describe to me this feeling, that walking into a church where the Eucharist is not celebrated is not the same as walking into a Catholic Church and I had a hard time believing them until this trip.

This immediate understanding of the presence of the Eucharist greatly attributes to the universality of the Catholic Church. Being in a foreign country or experiencing a new culture is always an exciting adventure but it can get overwhelming at times and having that opportunity to find a church and feel at home is one of the greatest reliefs of being Catholic.

While in Switzerland, Elizabeth, my fellow travel companion, and I decided to go to one of the great churches we had visited earlier for Sunday mass. We were excited to go to an English mass after dealing with language barriers for a couple days. Unfortunately we misread the schedule and ended up at a German mass much to our confusion. Although we were unable to understand the readings and the homily was completely lost on us, there was a beauty in being able to celebrate the Eucharist in a form in which we were familiar even though the language was foreign. We may not have learned the lesson the priest was promulgating from the pulpit through his homily, but we were able to celebrate the Eucharist in a community that was truly one, universal and apostolic.

As we traveled throughout Switzerland, unable to read any of the signs and frequently having to ask people if they spoke English, I realized that this is what it must be for children before they are able to read; unaware of their surroundings beyond what they are able to perceive for themselves or what an adult may tell them. In many aspects we were forced to have the faith of children, both a disconcerting and humbling experience. Similarly, while celebrating mass, we were asked to believe without fully understand the words, to have the faith of a child and believe. The experience was very rewarding and one which I can’t wait to repeat in future travels!

Reconciling fears of Reconciliation

Growing up, reconciliation was something I always dreaded. I didn't understand why I had to tell a priest my sins when I could just communicate them directly to God. Looking back, I really didn't have much to confess to the priest, it was probably the most innocent confession he ever heard. Yet, I remained nervous about going. My childhood-self saw the purpose of reconciliation as a shaming process: a practice designed to make you so embarrassed about your sins that you never commit them again because otherwise you have to tell the priest again and that would just be downright humiliating. Really, it’s no wonder I feared confession so much!

When I was in junior high, I remember my older sister coming home and sharing the view her friend had on confession, that confession was like erasing a dirty chalk board. I liked this metaphor because it was one I could understand. The priest absolving your sins was like walking away cleansed, free from the marks that had been there before. And there was nothing shaming about this process: chalkboards get marked up all the time, of course they had to be cleaned! While this metaphor might not exactly encompass all aspects of reconciliation, it was a metaphor that I was able to understand at the time.

Human relationships are broken all the time because we are imperfect beings. It is in our nature to get upset, to disrupt a harmonious relationship or end up hurting someone. This does not mean that we are oriented towards this end but that these things happen, and it is not necessarily something we have to be ashamed about. Rather than being ashamed, we ought to work towards fixing these broken relationships: seeking forgiveness and moving forward. This same concept applies to our relationship with God.

The Sacrament of Reconciliation is a way of cleansing our relationship with God. God loves us so much that He sent His only son. Jesus carried the weight of our sins on His shoulders and through His Passion, the doors of Heaven have been opened for us. To be able to enter fully into Heaven, however, we must be in a state of complete grace, a state of sin-lessness. Reconciliation is a way of entering into that state, even though it may be temporary. It is a way of deepening our relationship with God.

Many Catholics seems to lie in two different categories: either it seems as if they are going to reconciliation every day or they only go when obligated. For some, reconciliation is a sacrament that evokes fear while for others, the graces of the sacrament are truly a joyful, or freeing experience. Although there is no right or wrong amount of times to seek Reconciliation, we need to make sure we are not comparing ourselves to our neighbor but doing what is right for our faith life.

As Catholics, we have an obligation to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation at least once a year. Receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation is one of the five precepts, or duties, required by Catholics. These precepts are outlined by the Catholic Church in order to “guarantee to the faithful the indispensable minimum in the spirit of prayer and moral effort, in the growth of love of God and neighbor”.

In my experience, Reconciliation is an especially rewarding experience when you are struggling with something in regards to your faith life or your relationship with others. It allows you to take a deep breath, acknowledge your wrong-doings and move on, striving to do better. Even though the fears of my childhood self sometimes creep up, I try to remind myself that Reconciliation is not about being ashamed, it is about striving to understand and do God’s will, and that is not something to be scared of!

Reconciliation is particularly pertinent as we enter the Lenten season. Lent provides a time for us to evaluate our lives, figure out what is holding us back and try to form new habits going forward. Reconciliation is a perfect complement to a sacrificial exercise. There may be times when we fall, but what matters is that we dust ourselves off and try again. With the beginning of Lent, I’d encourage all of you to seek out the sacrament of Reconciliation, we are blessed to have many opportunities to attend on our campus. Also check out the Campus Lenten Opportunities.

Why Should I Know My Faith?

In a conversation with friends the other day, the question was posed on why one should bother to study his or her faith? Why continue study beyond the basic building blocks of fundamental faith understanding? In an earlier post I discussed the Church’s call to evangelize, specifically in regards to the New Evangelization. How, then, would it be possible to evangelize and spread our faith if we cannot explain it? Both in my work in the pro-life movement and as a Catholic, I have found that a deep understanding of one’s beliefs is essential to being able to share and explain your viewpoint with others.

Campus Ministry's Theology on Tap series is a great way to
learn more about your faith

Last year as President of the Right to Life Club, I was thrown into a position where people often looked to me for their answers. In all honestly, in the beginning of the year I was not prepared to answer questions about why the Catholic Church teaches that contraception is wrong or where the Church stood on the death penalty or to thoroughly explain the pro-life teachings of the Church. In many cases, I believed in certain teachings of the Church because they were just that, teachings of the Church and as a Catholic, these were the teachings I believed in. Especially in regards to contraception, I would not have been able to defend my beliefs beyond saying it was a teaching of the Church. In conversations about whether contraception is right or wrong, I would be easily persuaded to the other person’s beliefs – whether they were for or against it. It wasn’t until I really started to look into the issue, knowing that I’d be asked about it at some point, that I began to see the Church’s teachings as a truth that I knew I could believe in and actually began to develop my faith around the issue.

What I learned from this experience is that if I don’t take the time to educate myself on my beliefs, then not only will I have a difficult time discussing my beliefs with others, but I would also be at risk of being easily swayed to an opposing view. This is not to suggest that we should not listen to other faith perspectives but that we ought to understand more than just the surface of our beliefs. For me, knowing that I was pro-life was a good thing but eventually it was not enough. Without researching the issue, it became very hard to defend my beliefs and even harder to share them with others, to evangelize the pro-life mission.

The study and a deep understanding of one’s beliefs is so essential to being an evangelizing Catholic because it allows you to express your beliefs in terms that the person you’re in conversation with can understand. Without a deep understanding of your beliefs, it can be very easy to fall into a trap of doubting all your beliefs, especially when you are not surrounded by a community as supportive as Notre Dame.

Our Lady is always close to us, especially when we feel the weight of life with all its problems.
— Pope Francis (@Pontifex) February 24, 2014

Understanding your faith can be as simple as keeping up with the Pope’s activities and teachings (try following @Pontifex) and discussing points you don’t understand with family and friends or the religious on campus. Here at Notre Dame, we are surrounded by some of the premier theological scholars of our age, take advantage of that and visit them at office hours or attend one of their lectures. Don’t be afraid to have these discussions with friends of opposing beliefs, often time their questions can make you question what is at the foundation of your belief and make you research what exactly your beliefs mean. Remember that it’s okay to question where your beliefs come from, and why you believe what you do, but these questions should fuel our studies of faith rather than lead us to abandon it. 

Perceiving Pornography

Until last year I was very naïve about the pornography industry. To me, it wasn’t something that existed, wasn’t something that people wanted to look at. In a conversation with friends last year, the topic of pornography came up and I was surprised to learn that it was something that so many people on campus struggled with, people who I cared about and people who I never would have expected to struggle with it. Since then I’ve talked with friends about it, trying to figure out if it was true and what it all meant.

What I’ve learned from these conversations is that pornography is something that everyone, and especially men, have to deal with at some point in their lives. (Women are affected as well, but historically it has been far more prevalent among men.) In a conversation with a friend on how he fell into porn, he described it as an “innocent accident”: “you can find anything online these days, just type something into Google and hundreds of thousands of possible sites come up. All it takes is being a little too curious and clicking the wrong link and you find something you never intended to see…for me, as a boy just hitting puberty, when I would see swimsuit ads of course I was going to be curious. It doesn’t take much at first to get the hormones running as there is no desensitization. One nude picture would be enough to get sufficiently aroused, but as time progresses it takes more. And more.” As this testimony suggests, advertisers understand that men are very visual and use this to their advantage. Once boys view porn, even if it’s on accident, they are going to be bombarded with more ads, making it a struggle for boys to consider not looking at porn.

Viewing porn, especially continuously over a long period of time, has a huge effect on a person’s mind. Having struggled with porn for several years, my friend suggested that “porn is a perversion of love in the ultimate sense. Instead of giving fully of yourself, you are taking from another. In viewing porn all I would care about is my pleasure, how to get what I want…I was literally killing my sense of love. Pope John Paul II tells us very clearly that we live to love, while pornography told me you live for my lust. It rewires the brain such that I would see others as objects for my pleasure and not as humans with dignity…Once porn has turned your definition of love on its head, you turn to it instead of proper sources of love. When you’re stressed, super busy, get rejected, or searching for something to do all it takes is just one little click of the mouse and you are back into it. In all of those cases, I was looking for love and instead of turning to friends or family, pornography filled that hole.”

Movies rated X often have displays of pornography

Unlike drug or alcohol addictions, porn addictions are never talked about on campus. We persuade ourselves that as Catholics or good students, this is something that surely does not affect our friends or family members. Or if we are struggling with it, we persuade ourselves that it is something that we must struggled with alone; in some ways, it is not something that we are not allowed to struggle with. Rather than shying away from this topic, however, it would be much more fruitful to acknowledge its presence. Challenge friends we know who view porn to stop.  As my friend suggested to me, “I cannot count the number of times I wish I had been caught. Deep down I wanted someone to discover it, to force me out, to bring the shame to the surface so I no longer had to hide it…I was a lucky one though, for just as porn had driven me away from an understanding of love, my friends and family, and the love that we shared brought me back. After years of struggle and finally opening up to some friends with similar struggles, I was finally able to dump porn altogether…Pornography distorts love. That is its most basic and harmful aspect. The best weapon we have against that is living a life of true love by gift of self. ” Perhaps in bringing to light some of the effects of porn in conversations with friends we can work to change the culture. 

Notre Dating

I’ve heard more often than not that the dating culture at Notre Dame, or “Notre Dating”, is unusual. I disagree though, I think the dating culture is strange in our generation, that this is a not a problem isolated to Notre Dame. The fact that we have single sex dorms, that many students identify as Catholic, or at least religious, and that we have an entire department related to gender relations may give the perception that our culture is atypical, but I’d like to offer a different conclusion: that our entire generation has lost its understanding of what it means to date.

Growing up in society today, young men and women are taught that we must go to the best college possible, focus on our careers, be leaders within our clubs or dorms and everything in between. Peer pressure teaches us that we must look like we are having a great time on the weekend, that we have to be up to date on the latest music, TV shows, celebrity scandals and make sure we have at least a couple of Instagram and SnapChat -able moments throughout the week. Young women have the added pressure of being up to date on the latest fashion trends and young men must finish the newest X-box or PlayStation game and know every possible fact about sports. Oh yea, and don’t forget about classes, you need to get straight A’s. All of this adds up to a lot of pressure, little time for sleep and even less time for relationships; it’s no wonder that we no longer know how to date, we don’t have time for it!

This mountain of pressure and stress, however, does not have the power to overtake our natural desire to love and to be loved. Instead, the pressure allows this desire to manifest itself in a way that is entirely unhealthy. Our generation has managed to replace traditional dating with hook-ups and one night stands. We have been trained to not get attached, check our emotions at the door and allow our physical desires to rule. In some ways, I would argue that we are not responsible for this mindset. We have grown up in a culture in which half of all marriages end up in divorce, we are constantly bombarded with messages from the media that relationships ought to be casual and that we are not worthy of love until we have attained bodily perfection. Yet it is childish to suggest that we are not responsible for our own actions.

In many ways you can argue that this atypical dating culture is because so many of us have grown up in broken homes or witnessed friends struggle with their family. While I think there is a prevalent misunderstanding of marriage that attributes to this culture, I also think there is a prevalent misunderstanding of dating and the goals of dating. What does it mean to date? At what point are we ready to date? And what does dating entail?

These are questions that I’ve heard professors speak about, that I’ve had discussions with friends about and that I’ve struggled to understand myself. To me, dating must have a goal, without which it loses its purpose. The goal of dating seems obvious in my mind, to find the person you are going to marry. But does this mean you have to be ready to get married before you start dating someone? I don’t think so. Marriage is the complete union of two people, it is not something that you can prepare for by yourself and so it makes no sense that you would be ready for marriage before you find someone to marry. I do think, however, that you have to be open to the possibility of marriage in the next few years before you start dating. I’ve heard a professor tell students that dating can only end two ways: in heart break or in marriage. Following this logic, we ought to be mature enough to consider the idea of marriage, otherwise we are simply on a self-destructive path. This goal, this understanding of why we want to date, seems so lost in college life today. I have heard many people say that they want a significant other and yet it seems like we don’t consider what this commitment may entail, and whether we are even ready for commitment. While there is no perfect answer, it is certainly something worth considering and taking an introspective look at, as well as a conversation worth having with friends and family, or someone you are considering dating.

This Wednesday night, Campus Ministry’s event Theology on Tap provides the perfect atmosphere to have this discussion in a relaxed atmosphere with friends and classmates. Join Bree Haler at 8pm at Legends as she discusses the two different extremes of trends in today’s romantic relationships. (All ages welcome).

The University's Call to Love

Two and a half years ago I was confronted with a difficult decision, whether to remain at Providence College where I spent my freshman year or to transfer to Notre Dame, which had always been my dream school. After my first semester at Providence, I really did not even want to apply to transfer to Notre Dame. I loved it. I had great friends, professors who pushed me and a supportive atmosphere. After some encouragement from my parents, however, I decided to apply and was thrilled to be accepted. Even after I received the acceptance I was unsure of my decision. On the final day to send in my letter of acceptance, I was in the car driving through the Blue Mountain Ridge on my way to a family vacation and made my decision to dive in, challenging myself to leave my comfort zone and transfer to Notre Dame.

It wasn’t until I became involved in various activities on campus that I realized that what made Notre Dame so special was its true Catholic identity. Not to say that Providence wasn’t Catholic but that Notre Dame has really been challenged as an institution, constantly criticized and forced to stand strong to protect its Catholic mission.

Last week, the University of Notre Dame received a special blessing from Pope Francis I. Pope Francis’ remarks were one of accolade and a reminder to stay true to the true mission of Notre Dame – to the “missionary spirit” which inspired Fr. Sorin to found Notre Dame in 1842. As we celebrate the 200th birthday of Fr. Sorin, Pope Francis’ words are a reminder to stay true to our beliefs, “It is my hope that the University of Notre Dame will continue to offer unambiguous testimony to this aspect of its foundational Catholic identity, especially in the face of efforts, from whatever quarter, to dilute that indispensable witness. And this is important: its identity, as it was intended from the beginning. To defend it, to preserve it and to advance it!”.

The Catholic mission of Notre Dame is what makes me so proud when I tell people that I go to Notre Dame. This mission is constantly shown in various events and activities on campus from Appalachia trips sponsored by the Center for Social Concerns to various worship and leadership opportunities supported by Campus Ministry. This weekend, Notre Dame will host the Edith Stein conference on campus, showing once again that Notre Dame is not only dedicated to educating the mind but to feeding the spirit.

The Edith Stein conference is a yearly tradition centered on the life and teaching of St. Edith Stein who dedicated her life as a Carmelite sister and died in Auschwitz, unwilling to deny her faith. This year’s theme is “Relationships and the Call to Love”, based off of Blessed Pope John Paul II’s call to love as “the fundamental and innate vocation of every human being”. The conference, though open to all, is specifically geared toward Catholic women, highlighting Notre Dame’s dedication to advancing the understanding of the role of women in the Catholic Church. The various conference speakers will address the question of exploring how “the differences between men and women [can] beseen as gifts, and not limitations”.

Notre Dame is a special university not because it is Catholic but because it is committed to educating the mind and the heart, just as Congregation of Holy Cross founder, Basil Moreau intended. The Edith Stein conference is yet another example of Notre Dame’s dedication to its student body and a reminder of why I’m proud to say that I am now a member of the Irish community.

Registration for the conference is free to all ND/SMC/HCC participants, registration and an entire conference schedule can be found here.

Marching for Life, Again & Again

This year marked my 7^th year attending the National March for Life in Washington D.C. Over the past seven years, I’ve had the opportunity to lead the entire national March, be in charge of organizing trips for my high school and coordinate efforts on behalf of Notre Dame Right to Life. I’ve attended the youth rally at the Verizon Center, gone to the Students for Life of America conference, the Rose Dinner, and the National Review conference, met various senators and congressmen and done everything in between.

My first March for Life, I was a naïve high school freshman looking for an adventure and a chance to miss school to hang out with my older sister and friends. Little did I know that this trip to D.C. was going to become a yearly pilgrimage and end up altering my perspective on life so dramatically. Attending the March all through high school, I vividly remember watching Sister Mary, our high school chaperone, marching us girls through hundreds of thousands of people while holding a tiny stick with two pieces of ribbon. We were told that if we lost sight of that ribbon, we were responsible for finding our own way back to NJ. All of us held tightly to each other, scared of being the one left behind. Looking back, I’m not sure how we all made it safely home, but thank God we did!

In college, attending the March for Life became a larger time commitment, missing classes and opportunities to hang out with friends. Eventually, I had to question why it was so important for me to attend this event every year, what was I getting out of it and what did I hope to achieve? At first, the answer was obvious, I was pro-life, and this was an event I was expected to attend as a pro-lifer. But that simple explanation didn’t hold much weight when you considered the idea of 12 hour bus ride, nights sleeping on a concrete floor and standing outside in the freezing cold.

When I really started to question why I come, I found that attending the March for Life served two main purposes in my life. First, it allowed me an opportunity to discuss my beliefs with my friends. Often times, it’s not easy discussing the question of abortion or contraceptives or even adoption, with friends. Many college age students have been affected by these issues, many have strong opinions they are not willing to stray from and get offended when they are questioned at all. More often than not, it is easy to empathize with friends when these issues come up, not wanting to hurt feelings or step on toes, however, when you attend the March for Life, it is hard to hide your beliefs. Friends question why you’re going to be gone for a couple days, where you’re going and why you’re going and you’re forced to face your fear of receiving judging looks and comments from friends or classmates. These conversations, though painful, are so important to being pro-life and showing people that there is another way to live besides what the media portrays.   

The second purpose, and perhaps more central to my pro-life beliefs, is that attending the March for Life is inspiring. Being pro-life is extremely counter-cultural, and it can be exhausting, both mentally and spiritually. Throughout my four years in college, I’ve questioned why I’m pro-life many times but it has always come back to the fact that I cannot stand for injustice. I get so upset when I hear that abortionists are permitted to continue their practice even though they have illegally performed abortions on underage girls and not reported that they may be rape victims or that health violations are not looked into until a woman is hurt at a clinic. I do not understand how ‘feminist’s’ who say that all they want is equality, continue to look the other way after hearing stories like the Gosnell trial. The pro-life movement has morality, economics, and philosophy on its side and yet sometimes it seems as if we are shouting to an empty room. It can be very tiring. This tiredness, and frustration, however, is washed away as you stand packed into National Mall with over 400,000 other people on your side. The pilgrimage to the March for Life every year is about more than seeking to overturn Roe v. Wade, it is about remembering that you are not alone, that there is an entire community of support, and that we can make a difference. Without this support and this yearly reminder, it is easy to be upset, to give up, and it is this reason that I have continued to come back to D.C. every year.  

Catholic Economics: Paradox or Truth?

One of the things that first drew me to learn more about Catholic Social Teaching were the questions I had about the Church’s teaching as an Economics major. Economics is all about supply and demand, searching for the perfect equilibrium and maximizing outcomes. An interest in public policy has also prompted me to question what the role is of Catholic teaching in regards to government and the economy. My interests have prompted some nagging questions about the government’s role in providing for the poor, specifically in regards to people living on welfare and the minimum wage.

Both of these topics inspired many talks and debates with friends and family as I struggled through what the Church thought and my understandings of its teachings. After learning a couple years ago about the difficulty for those in a low socioeconomic group to live on minimum wage, I had become convinced that raising the minimum wage was not only the answer to ridding the U.S. of poverty, but a necessity in order to allow people to live with the dignity that they deserve. At that point, I became a big advocate of the minimum wage.

As I learned more about economics, in particular labor economics, I began to change my mind. I began to understand that increasing the minimum wage would decrease the amount of jobs and lead to many jobs going to part time, similar to the response to the Affordable Care Act seen by many businesses. Many small businesses would not be able to survive in this type of economy as they would end up running a deficit. If small businesses are not able to survive and many jobs are cut, this policy would hurt the poor even more. So perhaps we should not raise the minimum wage. But this did not change the fact that it is nearly impossible to live on a minimum wage in the United States. So what is the answer to this conundrum?

Many conversations with my dad and his perspective as a small business owner, prompted me to look deeper into what the Church teaches on the minimum wage and other welfare policies. My Introduction to Catholic Social Teaching class last semester provided me with the perfect opportunity to study and discuss exactly what it is that the Church teaches on this topic. What I discovered is that the Church’s teaching on these social economic issues are still being worked out as the perfect answer has yet to be discovered.

My biggest breakthrough in understanding the Church’s teaching came with the understanding that the Church does not encourage one perfect system of government. The Church acknowledges that there are pros and cons to different government systems, and that as long as the government is based on human dignity, many different types of government set-ups can be considered just. In regards to minimum wage, the Church advocates for a liberal teaching; not, however, in the traditional terms of ‘liberal’. The Church advocates for a personal liberal stance – that each business owner should take into account his or her employees and pay them both according to their ability and taking into account their dignity and familial circumstances. Small businesses that are just beginning and not producing a profit, may have to pay their employees a lesser wage in order to be able to compete in the market and get their feet on the ground. Once the business starts to return a profit, however, the employees should be rewarded. In regards to a government-set minimum wage, however, I personally do not see a strong Catholic argument for such a policy. The Church does not necessarily see this as the role of government but the responsibility of each of us to look out for our brothers and sisters. I understand the Church’s call to advance the economic freedom of everyone as a call to personal liberalism rather than a liberal government. This idea revolves around the notion of subsidiarity -- that what can be done on a local level, should be done on that level rather than relying on a more centralized organization. This difference was key to my understanding of the teaching of the Catholic Church. Because Catholic Social Teaching is still being expanded upon, these are questions that are being debated and dialogued about with many Church authorities. As a Catholic Economist I will definitely be keeping an eye out for what the future holds in light of these teachings!

Catholic Social Teaching

Entering into my senior year this past August, I decided that I should seize the opportunity to learn more about the Catholic Church while I had access to some of the best theologians in the world. Almost by chance I stumbled upon and ended up adding the Catholic Social Tradition minor. I was looking for a class that offered the opportunity to study some of the papal encyclicals, writings that I did not even know existed until I came to Notre Dame. The class that offered this opportunity was the Catholic Social Tradition minor introductory class and while I was at first hesitant about the class, it ended up opening my eyes to a new perspective on the Church’s teaching.

Catholic Social Teaching is an aspect of our faith that is often forgotten about, regularly referred to as the Church’s Best Kept Secret. The Gospels and the life of Jesus Christ lay the foundation for Catholic Social Teaching. Although this foundation was laid over 2,000 years ago, the philosophy and term “Catholic Social Teaching” did not come about until a series of encyclicals were written on the idea of social teaching. Beginning with Rerum Novarum by Pope Leo XIII in 1891 and continuing today with Lumen Fidei by Pope Francis, the past 100+ years have featured prolific writing on thephilosophy of Catholic Social Teaching. So what is Catholic Social Teaching and why is it that we don’t hear more about it?

At its core, Catholic Social Teaching is a call to love and protect human dignity, most especially the dignity of the poor. Through the recognition of the dignity of the poor blossoms a commitment to improve the circumstances of the poor. We come to recognize this inherent dignity and this commitment through our experiences of Christ in the Eucharist, God humbling himself out of love for us. In seeking to understand Christ, we are often called to study his life. The life of Christ portrays a complete commitment to the poor. Consider that Jesus was born in a manger, the Holy Family fleeing from persecution and that he made a living as a carpenter. Jesus could have been born into any circumstances he chose. He could have been born an earthly king as well as a heavenly one and yet he chose to be among the poorest of the poor. This decision to live among the poor provides a lesson that no other king has been able to provide because Jesus truly lived out his teaching.

In the story of the Rich Young Man seeking to follow Jesus, Jesus told the young man “if you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me” (Matthew 19:21). Jesus’s life and teaching revolve around a commitment to the poor, to loving those whom he considers his equals. This tenement is at the core of Catholic Social Teaching, this is how Jesus calls us to live our lives.

While the call to love and the model of Jesus’s life are a powerful foundation, in my Introduction to Catholic Social Teaching class, I found that the prolific writing on Catholic Social Teaching challenged many beliefs I had always believed to be endorsed by the Catholic Church. This class challenged be to come to a deeper understanding of my faith by way of reason, forcing me to examine and grapple with my beliefs rather than assume them to be true. In my next blog post I will expand upon the aspects of Catholic Social Teaching that I most struggled with and my perspective on them.