The World Outside

So, as some of you may know, I am not REALLY Canadian. However, when asked, I will say that I AM Canadian. Even when I was younger, when people asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, I would say, "Canadian." .... okay.... so that's not exactly true, I also said I wanted to be a busdriver, a singer, a helper, a movie-reviewer, a cool grandmother or aunt, older, and happy. But I still have much love for all that is Canadian: maple syrup, Nickelback, the Rockies, funny-sounding French, saying "eh", kindness, and hospitability. I even get made fun of for being Canadian.. so there's that too.

But I am also a SUPER big fan of Korean pop. LOVE it!! Especially this beautifully talented human being. Seo Tai-ji. Oh yeah. When I had cable, I saw a clip from a live show he was in and I was hooked! So what if I can't understand any of the lyrics? His music has evolved and changed as has my ever-changing favorite-music-genre-of-the-moment moments.

Which brings me to this.

There is a whole big world out there. I've seen bits of it in person, but there are people here who really haven't been out much. Either they have never left town, never seen stuff that wasn't in thier own language, or made friends with people who weren't already a part of thier family - or looked like them.

The New Year is coming up and offers an excellent time to find a challenge for yourself. Find a way to see more of the world around you. There are TONS of people on this planet. Tons of different cultures, music, ideas, foods, (yum... just thinking about it makes me kinda hungry) and things to learn. And while you're at it... make more of an effort to literally get outside. The internet is great and all, but you'll gain much more if you actually EXPERIENCE life instead of watching it. Happy New Years Eve Eve Eve Eve!

2nd Sunday of Advent - Prep Time

Today is the 2nd Sunday of Advent - Preparation Season. What are you preparing for? In today's readings, John the Baptist is telling of one who he is not worthy to carry the sandals for. Many of us are preparing for the Christmas season- decorating trees, homes, purchasing gifts, writing out cards- but are we doing anything else really Christmas-sy? What does this season mean for us?

The Pope popped up in the news today with his concern over the materialism of Christmas- especially as it relates to the younger generations. Remember, not too long ago, how nutty everyone was getting over Hannah Montana concert tickets? Imagine if we took that same energy, fervor, and spirit to just love and help one another- how beautifully mad would that look? Let's make an effort to lead younger generations by example in really living out what this season truly means.

5 days until the Lock-In

I have been asked about the date for the Lock-In since the school year started this past Fall. We're almost there....

Ask A Priest Night

"Ask A Priest" Night went well. We started with an interrogation mixer to get to know as much about everyone as you could discover in 1 minute- and learned a lot of interesting little facts about each other. Then, for absolutely no real practical reason, we broke up into 3 groups to perform a super-short random-prop skit. Finally, we segued to our main event, our "Ask A Priest" questions. Fr. Nick covered each single question covering an array of topics from personal, suicide, death, sex, homosexuality, forgiveness, sin, therapy, and more. Fr. Ken joined us towards the end of the evening and we closed (a little past our regular time) with a shortened closing prayer. Everyone I spoke with expressed an interest in doing this again (I even had a phone call from someone who was upset to have missed it).

We had questions drawn up in advance so they would be anonymous and no one would feel on the spot, but as Fr. Nick answered each question sincerely, people just started asking their own questions and sharing their reflections aloud. There was no sense of judgement, embarrassment, or ridicule. Fr. Nick reminded us, almost literally in every other question, of the greatness and true extent of God's love.