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A Time to… ?

Written by Andrew Morris on Wednesday of the Second Week of Advent

Somewhere between childhood Advent calendars and just the busy reality of daily life, Advent for me was pretty much just a countdown clock for Christmas. (I.e. Crap; I was supposed to finish buying gifts before we got to that funky pink candle Sunday) But as I’ve grown, I have slowly come to better appreciate what the season of Advent offers to everyone. There is a deeper message or lesson that’s supposed to come out of a season versus just a reminder a day or week before Christmas.

Advent has really grown into a season of reflection upon the other “seasons” of life I am in. In this past year, what seasons of my life am I in or still in? What frustrations, mistakes, or joys stand out, and why? Are there circumstances, other people, or even myself that would be better served to move toward forgiveness? How do I think and see God leading me further into his grace and shaping me into becoming the truest version of myself?

I personally can’t say 2015 has been the best year for me, with the death of a close grandparent, and the natural upheaval and major life changes following graduation from college being the major highlights of my year. Yet even in this chaos and stress, I can see how some of those threads and circumstances that initially just seemed to be challenges led to unexpected opportunities for growth and more meaningful relationships with others.

By understanding which seasons of life I’m in, I am more open and able to see how God is leading and inviting me to really live, appreciate, and take advantage of the opportunities that are here today. Advent ends with Christmas, and the birth of the savior, but you don’t need to wait for Christmas. If you closely examine your own life, he is already active and at work and inviting you into deeper relationship with him, no matter what season of life you’re in.

Questions for Reflection:
What seasons of life are you in (or were you in this past year)? How do you see God present?
Are you taking advantage of the unique opportunities that each season has?

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Andrew Morris
Andrew graduated from the University of Michigan in May 2015 with a degree in Chemical Engineering. His favorite season is definitely Fall.
Email: andrewtm@umich.edu

Anticipating the Arrival of Grace

Written by Sarah DeWitt on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception

I’ve never much identified with or felt much in praying the Hail Mary. Perhaps it’s all those times reciting it in school as a kid. Perhaps it’s the language that doesn’t feel particularly easy to engage with. For whatever reason it’s never my go to.

Today is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. So I looked up how Mary’s conception came to be known as immaculate – a word I identify with a white marble countertop in a spotless kitchen, or a pristine garden: neat and ordered in every way, not a leaf out of place. It’s a word that sounds almost sterile and unattainable…and well, since it refers to Mary’s freedom from original sin – this is definitely sounding unattainable. But the piece of the Immaculate Conception I can sink my teeth into, the words of the Hail Mary I’ve never much bothered to focus on: full of grace. Now that’s attainable, because grace is a gift.

Mary’s life was encapsulated by grace. Full of it. I want that for my own life. I want those crevices of bitterness in a broken relationship to be illuminated. I want to be better for my family when tiredness gets the best of me. I want my work to be guided by that grace. I want whatever makes us “…eternally capable of rising from mud and sticky mess,” as Edwina Gateley so beautifully reflects in her poem, “Mary.”

Grace is a gift. It is a window of holy opportunity to be the gentler and more compassionate versions of ourselves. It is the gift that filled Mary up, accompanied her on many a challenging and painful part of her own journey. I want that in my life.

And so in this season of waiting, I will anticipate the arrival of grace.

Grace to listen and to receive.

Grace to forgive and to embrace.

Grace to marvel and to rejoice.

Grace that will fill me, as it filled the Mother of God.

What a gift to receive.

Question for Reflection:
What grace do you need this season?

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Sarah DeWitt
Sarah has been part of St. Mary’s since 2009. She manages the Ann Arbor Farmers Market and lives in Ann Arbor with her husband, Steve, and their son, Moses.
Email: sardwtt@gmail.com

California Dreams and the Promised Land

Written by Jerin Philip on the Memorial of Saint Ambrose

When I was in high school, I thought California was the place I wanted to be. My Quiz Bowl coach would even tell me that California was the “Promised Land.” There was something about Hollywood, the palm trees, and the Pacific coast that seemed utterly enthralling. In the end, I didn’t make it to the Golden State until just recently–on a three day work trip to San Francisco. As lovely as that limited visit was, I haven’t made any plans to go back.

God makes His own promises about a fantastic place in today’s reading from Isaiah. The supernatural images described provide an exultant foretaste of heaven. “Streams will burst forth in the desert . . .The burning sands will become pools, and the thirsty ground, springs of water.” Indeed, God makes a promise in each and every one of our hearts about the indescribable joys He has laid out for us.

Heaven is our great hope. Yet, if we truly believed a place like heaven exists, wouldn’t we drop everything we’re doing now to go there? I often feel that I treat God’s promises like I treated my vision of California–a nice place to visit, but nothing to change my life for. I haven’t sold out in my desire for God’s plan.

Today’s readings from Isaiah and the Gospel about the men lowering their sick friend through the roof to meet Jesus invite us to “rise up and go,” to run from whatever bonds keep us from God and seek wholeheartedly, without reservations, the land He has promised.

Questions for Reflection:
What promises has God made in your heart?
How can you become free from the bonds that keep you from rising up and seeking God?

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Jerin Philip
Jerin came to St. Mary’s as an eager undergrad before graduating in Biomedical Engineering (’06) and coming back for Public Health (’13). He currently makes the long commute to Lansing to work for the Department of Health and Human Services. He has enjoyed participating in SCCs, RCIA facilitation, and writing for the Advent Blog. 
Email: jerinp@gmail.com

Crying Out in the Desert

Written by Kelly Dunlop on the Second Sunday of Advent

Today’s Gospel would be torturous to proclaim at mass. Itiraea? Trachonitis? Lysanias? Yet I recognize that including these names is important because it situates the unfolding story in a geo-political context, the particular moment and location in history within which Jesus was born. God chose to come into the world in a backwater town, in poverty, in a battle-state. This context would shape Jesus’s reality and sense of self as well as how others would receive his message.

As Advent comes around each year, filled with familiar stories and rituals, my place changes. While I may physically reside in the same house or town and work for the same organization, personal, campus and world events influence how I enter into each Advent. As I write today, news of the San Bernadino shooting is being broadcast on every major news outlet. On the heels of the Paris attacks, questions are being raised regarding the couple’s religious affiliation and whether this was an act of terrorism. Fear is heightened and assumptions are being made. Some cry out for stricter gun control. Others see the need for open carry. Within myself I experience a real tension between grieving with those gunned down and those being discriminated against because of the fanatical actions of a few and feeling desensitized and paralyzed, seemingly without any answers.

It is in a particular time and place that John the Baptist cries out in the desert,  prepare the way of the Lord. The gospel writer intentionally names the space within which he makes this proclamation- a place without plants or wildlife, covered primarily with rock and stone and not heavily populated. And yet, people seek out this wilderness man to hear what he is preaching. Some likely out of curiosity. Others because they wanted to size up their competition. Many who believed John was a prophet and even questioned if he was the Messiah sought him out.

The desert realities of our current world order bombard me in multiple mediums. If the only story told is that according to the news and social media, hearts appear to be hardening and signs of abundant life seem fleeting. This challenges me to be an active seeker this Advent in the desert places of my life and to create space for the Lord to surprise me. Today, I will turn off the news coverage and spend some time in prayer listening for the promise that comes in the desert that “valleys will be filled in” and “rough ways made smooth.”

Suggestion for Prayer:
The space and place within which we pray matters. Where are you now? (body, mood, historically, geographically, spiritually? )
Whatever your desert reality might be today, seek the Lord in that place and pay attention to what beckons you.

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Kelly Dunlop
Kelly was delighted to join the campus ministry staff at St. Mary’s in 2011. Before coming to St. Mary’s, Kelly was the associate director for social justice at the Newman Parish at her alumnus the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill where she studied psychology (’02) and social work (’05). While her heart still bleeds Carolina Blue, she and her family (husband Paul and children Conor and Erin) have truly come to find a home in Ann Arbor.
Email: kdunlop@smspnewman.org

Love and Mercy

Written by Lisa Hirsch on Saturday of the First Week of Advent

Advent – a time of preparation, a time of planning, a time of waiting. What about a time of being sent out? A time to heal and forgive, a time to tend to others’ needs, a time to help Jesus be born into our suffering world?

In today’s Gospel, Jesus sends the disciples out into the world to minister to those in need and to tell everyone that “the kingdom of heaven is at hand”. He encourages them saying “Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give”.

Advent offers us a new opportunity to realize the great gift of Love that God has given us “without cost”. We don’t deserve the gift that is Jesus. We can’t do anything to earn this gift. God freely gives his Son to us to show us the depth and breadth and strength of God’s Love for us. Advent offers us a chance to see anew the great Love that God gives to us and to respond in gratitude by giving “without cost” to those in our world who are most in need of Love.

Giving without cost – without the expectation of receiving anything in return. Giving not out of guilt or because “it’s the right thing to do,” but because our grateful heart can think of no better response than to give love to those who are in need of it. Because our heart breaks when we see someone homeless or hungry, cold or in prison, lonely or sick. And we remember that God’s mercy has been lavished on us so how could we not have mercy on those in need?

In our time of preparation then, may we remember the many ways in which God has and continues to love us and forgive us. And may our hearts be filled with the gratitude that leads to love and forgiveness toward all those we meet.

Questions for Reflection:
In what ways has God lavished love and mercy on you?
How might you reach out this Advent with love and mercy to those in need?

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Lisa Hirsch
Lisa is a long-time St. Mary resident parishioner and is involved in our Social Justice Ministry lead team.
Email: mcdfam5@sbcglobal.net

Growing God’s Plan

Written by Mary Waller on Friday of the First Week of Advent

“God has a plan.” I don’t feel reassured. Am I just supposed to coast along and trust God to get me through?

Even with so many brilliant people around me, I struggle to make meaningful friendships in my new environment. Classes and readings take up a lot of my energy, and when classmates want to meet up for beers, I don’t want to go. I work on maintaining relationships that I already have—my mom, my boyfriend back in California, my roommate from freshman year who had become best friend from college. I continue to lay roots in places where I am not, but that leaves me without a garden where I am.

For me, recognizing that God has a plan isn’t so hard—that next step to figure out how God is leading me is the real challenge. How could feeling isolated and unsure of my path be leading me anywhere? I continued my normal “faith routine:” church on Sundays, prayers before bed. Still not grounded, I joined a Small Church Community at Saint Mary’s where I engaged peers in faith discussions, shared my fears and developed new habits for prayer and reflection.

Looking back over my semester at my last meeting, I found that my uncertainty and time alone exposed me to a “waiting for a response” component of prayer. My prayers ground me in my faith goals and challenge me to trust that God will answer. The actual waiting slows me down. I have to focus on “listening” to God, and the listening further invests me in the seeds I have sewn.

I still don’t have a thriving garden, but I’m proud of the faith I’ve grown this semester, and I’m glad that I didn’t grow it alone.

Questions for Reflection:
What problems or worries have you brought before God?
How are you engaged in waiting for a response?

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Mary Waller
Mary Waller is a first year law student from Chicago. Before coming to Ann Arbor for law school, she studied Spanish and Cognitive Science at the University of Southern California.
Email: wallerma@umich.edu

Transformative Love

Written by Aren Newby on the Memorial of Saint Francis Xavier

At the university, I am on a journey to become a doctor. My classes in the sciences, the health clubs I participate in, and my job as a nursing assistant are providing me with the knowledge necessary to become the best doctor I can.

However, as a Catholic Christian, God has called me on another journey alongside my road to becoming a doctor; He as called me on a journey of love. “Aren,” he says, “Will you love me and my people?” In order to answer this call, I must prepare myself and learn to love as Jesus loves us.

So how do I prepare for this journey?

This preparation requires my time, my devotion, my diligence, my wants, my dreams, and my troubles. Love does not come easy. It is not passive, it is not lazy, it is not scared, and it does not come in pieces.  In order to truly love my God and my neighbor, I must learn to give all that I have and learn from his guidance.

When Jesus was on the earth, in order to fulfill God’s call to love, he needed help. Countless times, Scripture tells us that he escaped to go and pray where he sought out his Father and asked for help. Jesus prepared himself for the troubles that lie ahead and to love God’s people.

So we too must seek out God with all are hearts before we take part in this journey of love. This entails humbling ourselves to let God change our hearts and lead us into the men and women he called us to be. In order to prepare for this journey of love, we must take note of the Scripture and let God transform our minds to resemble what he called us to be.

Questions for Reflection:
In our busy lives, will you take the time to prepare for this journey?
Will you spend time with God to learn from his heart?
Will you let God transform you?

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Aren Newby
Aren Newby is a sophomore studying movement science in the school of kinesiology at the University of Michigan. Fun fact: Aren is an identical twin.
Email: arenewby@umich.edu

Beyond the Cradle

Written by Elise Huber on Wednesday of the First Week of Advent

“My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end.”
-Thomas Merton, Thoughts in Solitude

I am a cradle Catholic. Except, I don’t really care for that term because it seems to imply that I have always been “Catholic.” I know that sounds strange because yes, technically I have always been part of the Catholic Church. But, what it implies is that I have always lived my life as a Catholic with an active faith and God always at the forefront of my mind. And frankly that’s just not true. Being a cradle Catholic is simply a place to start: a beginning to my journey of discovering what my faith is.

As I was growing up, faith was Sunday mornings and prayers before meals and bed. I learned about Jesus and what was considered “right” and “wrong,” and that shaped me, even though I didn’t know it at the time. I could not see the road ahead and I could not have told you that I would be spending a very large majority of my time in a Catholic church.

Even without my understanding, God was preparing me. He was preparing me for the faith journey that I have and will continue to travel until one day I meet Him face to face. It has been a journey of joy, sorrow, peace, suffering and love. I never knew where I was going, and I still don’t, but God was and is constantly preparing me for continuous journey. It is my job to try and trust Him.

Question for Reflection:
Even though we cannot see the road ahead, are you open to how God is preparing you for this journey through Advent?

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Elise Huber
Elise is a senior studying Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. She plans to continue on to medical school to become a primary care physician. She is currently the Small Church Community Intern at St. Mary and loves spending time outside, playing music, reading, writing, and getting to know other people.
Email: eahuber@umich.edu

**To hear more of Elise’s story, and other’s like it, join us at the Living Library on Sunday, December 6 at 7pm at St. Mary Student Parish.  The Living Library is an inspiring evening of storytelling in which our eleven student interns and two campus ministry associates share excerpts from their recently written spiritual autobiographies. All are invited to come listen to their stories of struggle, triumph, growth and faith.**

Of Wombs and Tombs

Written by John Osterholzer on Tuesday of the First Week of Advent

During a difficult time in my life, I sought a spiritual touchstone for Advent reflection comparable to the powerful Lenten image of a tomb. I thought of a womb, perhaps because it sounds like tomb (not unlike Advent and Lent). Yet by regularly comparing and contrasting these “bookends in life” that Advent, I gained a deeper understanding of my faith and its relationship to Paschal Mystery.

Physically, tombs are dark . . . cold . . . and silent. In contrast, wombs, though also dark, are warm and anything but quiet; immersed in a constant cacophony of sound: heartbeats . . . breathing . . . a mother’s voice . . . laughter . . . even singing.

Biologically, within tombs, what was once alive decomposes . . . slowly . . . inexorably . . . the complex becomes elemental. Within wombs, the elemental become organized . . . expands . . . and develops in ways seemingly unimaginable.

Spiritually, tombs are empty, lonely places that break down our former selves; teaching us to accept this breaking and decaying process. We learn to listen for God’s word in the silence; for if we yell and rage, all we will hear are the empty echoes of our voice against stone walls.   Tombs impart patience, slowly preparing us for new paths in our lives and for new ways of being in relationship. Ultimately, tombs force us to believe in miracles; for only God can roll away the stone that entombs us.

In contrast, our spiritual wombs are joyful, dynamic, and nourishing places that foster growth in a secure environment. Wombs teach us to trust that things are developing as they should, even though we may not understand the complex processes of change in our lives. Like tombs, wombs require patience, yet provide ample reassurance that once adequately developed and prepared, we’ll emerge into a new world full of opportunity. Ultimately, wombs teach us not only to hope for miracles, but to expect them; for God is the source of all new life.

Questions for Reflection:
What are the spiritual wombs in my life (consider your family, friends, St Mary’s or a former parish, an SCC group)?
Am I receptive to change? Despite life’s complexity, do I trust things are unfolding as they should?

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John Osterholzer
John has been a parishioner at St. Mary’s since arriving on campus as an undergraduate 26 years ago and is currently a faculty member at the Medical School working primarily at the VA hospital. He and his wife, Kathy, were married at St. Mary’s and the parish remains central to the faith formation of their three children (Matthew, 13; Danny, 11; and Sarah, 9).
Email: oster@med.umich.edu