FJV Moments

JVC

It's been official for over a month now - I'm a Former Jesuit Volunteer. In the spirit of being "ruined for life", however, I've decided to continue my (less-than-frequent) blogging activity. It's a new chapter, but the same book...same Author of Life filling in the pages.

In addition to being an FJV, I'm now also a first-year medical student.

When I was trying to discern whether or not entering medical school was the right step to take after JVC, one of my greatest fears was that pursuing a medical degree would be all about following my will at the expense of God's. I was afraid I would get caught up in the intellectual excitement and the academic prestige of it all and lose sight of what is really most vital in my life.

Fortunately, as is usually the case, medical school turns out to be a both/and, not an either/or, situation.

The resources and opportunities in medical school are amazing - it's been a little bit like a science and medicine playground :) I've loved the self-directed learning environment, the synergy between seminars and problem sessions, the welcoming faculty, and the multitude of paths that seem open to us. I've been thinking about specialty choices, Master's degree options, research projects and service opportunities. There is no shortage of things to keep me busy!

But intertwined with all of these exciting developments has been that constant pull towards God. I come across reminders every day of how deeply I need Him, and how radically I will need to rely on Him in order to stay true to my faith over the next five years. It's becoming clear to me that if I want to be happy and at peace, I'm going to need to put down my own will, even in medical school. I'm going to need to be still and listen to the One Who not only sustains my life, but gives it meaning and purpose.

Some of the challenges awaiting me are ones I haven't directly confronted before - most explicitly, challenges to Catholic teaching about the sanctity of life and the meaning of human sexuality. But I'm realizing that even in medical school, many of the challenges are the same as they were in JVC. There is still the challenge to live simply and act justly. Still the challenge to bear witness to an authentic Christian faith in the midst of a secular society. Still the challenge to see and love Christ in others. Still the challenge to serve.

And there is still the sure and constant knowledge that my deepest happiness is bound up inextricably in God's desire that I find the whole of my life and being in Him. That's true whether I'm in a DV shelter or a hospital. And in the end, I think that's good news - Good News even. 

The path not taken

Got an email from Sister M the other day. Just a simple email checking in... but all of a sudden, that pull was back. That inner longing for religious life. That inner longing that is really a longing for God, for communion with Him. Why is that longing so strong at some times and not at others? Part of me is telling myself that this is all transitional anxiety - just the uncomfortable process of stating something new, of being in a new place and meeting new people. Just a little dip in serotonin, nothing serious. Exercise. Have some vitamin B12. Don't uproot your life.

 View from the monastery bell tower. Can you really blame me for wanting to live there?

Part of me wants it to be something more. Part of me still thinks that nothing in this world could be any better than living in a monastery and serving God with my whole heart and mind and being. Not that I can't do it out here "in the world"...I just have this desire to live in greater intimacy with the Church's liturgy, with the rhythm of the Church year, in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. I started listening to an audio book of Scott Hahn's The Lamb's Supper today - he writes about the interconnectedness of the Mass and the Book of Revelation. The Mass is that foretaste of Heaven, a real participation in the heavenly liturgy that is taking place right now with all the angels and saints, in the presence of God the Father, Son and Spirit. Oh! How I long for that. What on earth could be better?

And of course, there is the call to serve. I want to serve. I want to reach out to others as Christ did - but I want to live rooted in Him. I want to rest in Him. I want to go out and come back to Him.

Sister J wrote in her journal about becoming Your bride, Lord. About marrying you. I was so startled and joyous to discover those words. It seemed like a sign that the community is rooted in You, despite lacking the external signs of habits and the like.

Times like this, I'm not sure if I've made the right choice. I want to be a doctor, Lord...but I want to be all Yours. And I know I am all Yours...I just want to live like I am. I want the whole of my life to be suffused by You.

The Long View

We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that. This enables us to do something, and to do it very well. It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter and do the rest. We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker. We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs. We are prophets of a future not our own.

~Archbishop Oscar Romero

The Credo Project

Prayer for Generosity

Lord, teach me to be generous
Teach me to serve you as you deserve
To give and not to count the cost
To fight and not to heed the wounds
To toil and not to seek for rest
To labor and not to ask for reward
Save that of knowing that I am doing your will

~St. Igantius of Loyola