Hi everyone, welcome to the new layout for our My Daily Delivery blog. My name is Nick Padley and I am the product manager at My Catholic Faith Delivered. Between Barb and myself, we will be posting blog entries about our thoughts regarding technology and faith.
A little bit of background about myself: I have spent about 8 years in the technology industry, in various capacities as a software engineer, youth minister and managing the technology in a high school. I'm very interested in using the Internet to help people better understand their faith.
In fact, along with working on faith-based initiatives at My Catholic Faith Delivered, I co-author a podcast for young adults (like myself), designed to help them grow in their faith. If you are interested in checking out the podcast, head on over to inbetweensundays.com.
That's it for myself and my own introduction. Check back here often to see more of our thoughts on the convergence of faith and technology. As we continue to work on our projects, we get closer to bringing some great Catholic content to you!
Blessings on this Easter Monday! I pray that you all enjoyed a beautiful day of faith, and family and a few eggs.
Today is a busy, busy day for me as I am finalizing all the details to travel to the National Catholic Education Association's annual convention in California. Rather than presenting this year, I'll be in the exposition showing people the new online version of the Didache textbooks which we've been developing. Then I'll go to Chicago to present a grant proposal for the Faithful Learning Foundation to support efforts to connect students and teachers after school hours via technology. Hoping you'll keep me in your prayers during this very busy week?! (And I'm sure Brad and the boys could use any form of nutritious sustenance rather than the pizza and mac-n-cheese I'm sure they'll eat all week.)
Anyway, interesting title above, isn't it? For those who don't know me, I would start by telling you that I love planting things. I love the actual digging the hole, getting dirty, putting a small seedling in the ground, watering gently and then sitting back to view my work. That part's great. Weeding? Watering when it's 100 degrees in late July in Kansas? Hmmmm... not so much.
That's why I have learned to use very few annuals and lots and lots of bulbs and perennials which only need to be planted once and then come back to demonstrate that original handywork year after year. I LOVE to see the bulbs emerging from the ground--sometimes even poking through the late snow. I like to think of the years that have passed since I originally put that plant or bulb in the ground, and to add a few more each year. It is so like the Lenten and Easter seasons--the time of planting, putting in the work of our Lenten sacrifices, only to be blessed with the Easter season of rejoicing and rebirth.
So you can imagine that each morning now, especially on this Easter Monday, I'm enjoying the site of my hostas (which by now should number around 50 plants) looking something like this...
Like I said, that's what my front yard should look like. Instead, I'm getting to see a lot of this....
That's right. We've got moles. Those mounds of dirt exist in every spot that a hosta plant should be emerging from the ground. Those mounds of dirt indicate that I must have the fattest, happiest stinking mole in the state of Kansas as he has now consumed hundreds of dollars of perennials which should now be reminding me of the rebirth and resurrection of this Easter season.
How's that for lasting through the Lenten season, prayerful and planning during all those 40 days that Easter is coming--that the Lord will rise again, that we will be reborn, that the plants will emerge from the ground once again.. but the plants don't come?
You know, I admit to being so irked for the last few weeks as I looked each morning for those buds and gradually realized that they were all gone, that hundreds of dollars of plants had gone down those stupid brown mounds of dirt circling my trees and front yard. Then this morning as I walked out to get the paper, I saw them... not many, but budding hostas nonetheless. He had missed a few of my plants! They lived.
What a great reminder I needed for the lesson of trusting in the continual and ever-enduring resurrection of our Lord. It is certainly not for me to be able to see His plans any more than it is for me to be able to see under the ground of what I impatiently assumed didn't exist. What great comfort there is in this simple reminder that He is always there whether we can see Him or not, that He will rise again, and finally that He calls us to trust and to rest easy in the knowledge that He is always, always present--even when the mole is eating the flowers!
May God continue to bless and keep you in His care.
Barb
Dear Friends, keeping you all in my thoughts and prayers during this week of our Lord's passion. May God bless and keep you in His care.
Okay, I'm trying to train for a triathlon later this summer (Sr. M. Mercedes would immediately point out how 'trinitarian' this activity is!) and I've set myself the goal of getting up early each morning to go out for a run. I set the goal a couple of weeks ago and actually achieved it--maybe three times. Hey, it's cold and dark at 6:30 in the morning in Kansas.
Anyway, I recommitted myself to this challenge especially for this Holy Week. It's hardly the suffering of our Lord, but it's still mighty early and really cold! So, I'm 2-2 this week. Today's sunrise was about 6:45am and I was out on the street shortly thereafter. My husband had said, "Oh, it's pretty warm," when I asked him what it was outside. It was 22 degrees. I'm thinking he must have worn some snowsuit to go get the morning paper because warm it was not.
One of the greatest joys for me when I actually get out for a run is to use that time for prayer. No iPod. No cell phone. Just the quiet of the road. I'm not terribly original so I most often use that time to pray the Rosary. Today was no different, and recognizing the upcoming events of the week, I chose to pray the Sorrowful Mysteries.
As I plodded along (really, 'plodding' is a much more accurate description than 'running.'), I was so drawn to those Mysteries. I was tired, I was cold, I just wanted to go back home. How appropriate I thought, and yet how pathetic on my part. Certainly our Lord went through thoughts such as these. "I'm tired. I hurt. Father, I just want to go home." We see this in Mark 14:36. "Abba, Father, all things are possible to you. Take this cup away from me, but now what I will but what you will." Reflecting on the idea that He must have known somehow what He was going to endure, how hard must it have been for Him to offer himself, and yet we see His humanity when He asks His Father to take this cup from me.
I used that reflection to keep on 'plodding' regardless of the cold and wind. Finally, I made it to my turnaround spot--and there it was. The sun had come out while I was running east and had risen into the western sky. Immediately I was warmed by its presence and cheered by its sight. The run home was relaxing and painless. It was exactly the reminder that I needed--that we will go through times in our lives when we might be tired, cold and in despair, but that the Son will be there when we turn around to accept Him.
For today, I am so incredibly grateful for His reminder to me that He is always there. I need only to turn to Him and be warmed by His presence. I will offer my prayers that each of you may also be warmed by His love.
May God bless you and keep you in His care today.
Barb
Before you get too far into the reading of this blog, I'll be honest and inform you that you aren't really going to learn too much about the "Sacramentality of the Body." The term is a reference to John Paul II's Theology of the Body and has something to do with the idea that our physical bodies reveal something about creation as well as something about the Creator. I'm sure there's more to it than that, but that's not really the point of this posting. (If you want to learn more, here's a link to more information about JPII's incredible document: www.theologyofthebody.net)
Anyway, back to my posting. I was privileged to get to visit a Theology class last week. This was an Honors Theology course which included a group of Seniors, grabbing coffee cups, sprawled on the floor, on the couch, in their seats--but all engaged in the discussion for the day which was analyzing the Summa Theologia of St. Thomas Aquinas. (Okay, if you want to learn more about this one, try here: www.newadvent.org/summa/) A traditional, straight row, raise your hands to answer kind of classroom? Hardly; and yet it was an incredible example of what I believe that all young people should have the opportunity to experience.
It was a classroom that challenges its students to integrate all their previous learnings and experiences with their faith into the frequently difficult foundational documents of the Church, and then asks them to be able to defend their opinions and ideas. I spent half of my time in absolute awe of the intelligence and fervor of their responses and the other half of the time praying that Mr. Aranda would not call on me!
So where does the above title of JPII's "Sacramentality of the Body" come into play? It actually was given as a response from one of the students in the class. This posting is about that young man. I'll start by admitting that while this specific student obviously was aptly assigned to an Honors Theology course, you probably won't find him enrolling in a variety of other honors courses. I first met this student when he was an incoming freshmen to a new Catholic high school.
Inauspicious beginning? You could say that. After introducing myself to this young man, he made no bones about informing me that he was not at all happy about his parents' idea to enroll him in this school, that he didn't know anyone who was coming from his current school, and that if he was given any say in the matter, that he would most certainly NOT be attending St. James Academy. Hmmm... to be honest, I wouldn't have taken too many bets that this young man would ever show up on the first day of school, let alone be discussing the "Sacramentality of the Body" just 4 years later. This young man, who I believe could make an incredible priest some day, is as comfortable leading a meeting of the Airsoft Club as he is discussing his faith. His support for the mission of Catholic education and those who lead our Catholic schools has blessed my life in many different ways.
So while I didn't learn as much as I might have about St. Thomas Aquinas during my classsroom visit, I admit that I took the time to reflect on what I had learned about this young man and so many others--that incredible young people come wrapped in many different packages, that every young person deserves an environment that makes them feel that they belong and are important, and that people, both young and old, are hungering for someone who will walk the faith journey with them. Whether he knows it or not, that young man has been alongside the path with me on the journey a number of times over the past four years. For that, I gave thanks to the Lord today.
May the good Lord bless and keep you in His care.
Barb
PS. My gratitude and prayers to Mr. Aranda, Greta, Emily, Caitlin, Kaitlin, Ellie, Allison, Kristen, Megan, Abe and Jake for sharing their faith in such eloquent and honest ways.
Some readers might know that in my past life of 20 years I worked in Catholic education as a teacher and school principal. Last year the Lord led me to a change. Many of my family and friends keep asking me, "Barb, what exactly do you do now?" That's been a bit hard to describe. I work for a company that is producing software that can teach basically "anyone anything you want." We are using this "platform" to become online publishers for theology textbooks, to partner with others who have written Bible studies with varying themes, to teach business leadership and management skills, and about a dozen other things! That's a bit hard to understand, but the video below can hopefully give you some idea of what we are doing with the software to help others learn about the Catholic faith.
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