First Week of Summer Classes Concludes!

"Poor people are dangerous." That probably wins statement of the week.

Part of chapter 12: "Those Who Don't" from House on Mango Street reads:

"Those who don't know any better come into our neighborhood scared. They think we're dangerous. They think we will attack them with shiny knives. They are stupid people who are lost and got here by mistake....

All brown all around, we are safe. But watch us drive into a neighborhood of another color and our knees go shakity-shake and our car windows get rolled up tight and our eyes look straight. Yeah. That is how it goes and goes" (p. 28).

This selection, along with the comment, "poor people are dangerous" ensued an interesting discussion in class. It was very much a teachable moment, trying to get students to see the danger of ignorance. We are all guilty, "...That is how it goes and goes" I think refers to the cycle of ignorance. How uncomfortable do we get when were with people different from us (culturally, econmically, etc...)?

The stories we read this week in class (Amy Tan's Two Kinds, a selection from Night by Elie Wiesel, and House on Mango Street) had a lot to tell us. When I asked students to list some themes they saw in all 3 works they mentioned: "the need for respect," "you need to work hard to succeed," and "the effects of poverty" were a few mentioned. It made for an interesting Friday discussion and "Lasallian" lesson.


The students here are on top of things, well-prepared. About 45 of the 55 entering freshmen come from two parochial schools. Therefore, 15 of the 17 students I am teaching are from these parochial schools. Apparently, most of them are in the summer program for the math. Again, nice kids.


In terms of my readings, I am still doing my studying of the Catholic Adult Catechism. I am also in the middle of reading, Becoming Who You Are and one I really am enjoying, Traits of a Healthy Spirituality. There are 20 traits discussed in the book. These traits are basic and practical. So far I've read through the following traits of a healthy spirituality: Self-Esteem, Wonder, Friendship, Courage, Teachability, Tolerance, Joy, Interdependence, Perserverance, Freedom, Love, and Generativity. I will share some reflections on some of these in a later posting.

However, before the book begins describing each of these, it begins with the topic of Spirituality in general and asks the question, "Where are You?" It narrows down the definition of spirituality as "the style of a person's response to Christ before the challenges of everyday life, in a given historical and cultural environment." This is a Christian expansion on the initial, and maybe easier definition to understand: "our basic outlook on life."

For me, I interpret it as: who am I in the world today? How do I live in the world today? How do I respond to the world today?

The book adds, "Christian spirituality is lived everyday, in how we deal with the holy things of life, as well as the ordinary things." It mentions that Christian spirituality has three characteristics: "it is one, it is unique, it is ongoing."

Finally, it concludes, "God asks us the question today, 'Where are you?' God asks it not to learn something new, but 'to jolt us into examining our lives and taking responsibility for our way of living.' How far are along are you in your Christian journey."

I had a rather long reflection to all this. But I ended my reflection but trying to articulate my own spirituality at the current moment. My spirituality in light of what I have read and tying it to my ongoing vocation journey:

A spirituality that responds to the realities of the world today as a Christian individual who allows the young to be Jesus to him. He aims to continue to develop his understanding for the mission and spread the Gospel message that is the Lasallian mission. A message of direct service to the poor as a means to salvation, our own and that of our students, all by looking upon everything and everyone with the "eyes of faith, and in view of God, and attribute all to God."

I believe this spirituality can be lived in practical ways. Prayer, teaching (always), relationships, and the list goes on.

Besides teaching, reading, and reflecting, I have kept busy with community duties (making sure I'm pitching in), keeping in touch with people, keeping up with the Dodgers, and all the little details of life!

Midweek Update

The students have arrived! 17 of them!

I think I have all the names down by now. They are a good group. Nice students. We have covered Fiction, Non-Fiction, and have begun reading "House on Mango Street."

I actually found "House on Mango Street" to be an interesting story. It deals a lot with the role of women and the issues of inner-city living. The main character, Esperanza, which means hope in Spanish, is on a path to discover her world and role in it. All in 119 pages.

The length of our discovery story is probably much more than 119 pages and it probably does not lead to the eternal discovery of God, in this world at least. It is simply inching closer to God's magnificence. It is discoverying the goodness of the world and bringing it to others. It is discovering the Gospel call in our lives and then discovering some more.

I finally finished reading, The Work is Yours: The Life of Saint John Baptist de La Salle. You could say it is De La Salle's discovery story.

De La Salle's story included (quoting from the book): "the emphasis on the presence and the Providence of God; the importance given to obedience and self-abnegation in union with the mystery of the incarnate Word; the reliance—unusual for its time—on the guidance of the Holy Spirit; the centrality of the gospel message and its maxims; sensitivity to the divine voice to be discerned in the crying needs of the poor; the call to an apostolic mission and Christian ministry on behalf of young persons 'far from salvation'" (221).

Br. Luke Salm states "The spirit of faith is the core Lasallian spirituality. It is the spirit of radical faith in the Providence of God that leads Brothers 'not to look upon anything but with the eyes of faith, not to do anything but in view of God, and to attribute all to God.' This God is the one, true, real, and Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, prostate before whose 'infinite and adorable majesty' the Brothers 'consecrate themselves entirely to procure the glory of God as far as they are able and as God will require of them.' De La Salle urges the Brothers to nourish this spirit of faith by sensitivity to the presence of God, recalled frequently during the day; by fidelity to the practice of meditation; by self-discipline; and by serious doctrinal study and spiritual reading, especially in the Sacred Scriptures" (212).

I was deeply inspired by this. As I wrote earlier, in our church today, how will we be prophetic? De La Salle's radical faith is exemplifying of our need to be modern day prophets--we must proclaim the truth. For me, it means how will I be a prophetic Brother? How will I allow God to work within me in radical fashion? It must begin with a reliance and openness to the spirit. If we are to rely on and be open to the spirit, then we must begin, as De La Salle states, by nourishing our spirit of faith.

Br. Luke Salm ends his book by quoting the final article of the Brothers' Rule:

The Brothers bear witness to their love for Saint John Baptist de La Salle as their Founder. They imitate him in his abandonment to God, his loyalty to the Church, his creative apostolic spirit, and his definitive commitment to the evangelization of young people.

The life of an Institute is a continual challenge to be creative while remaining faithful to its origins. It can sometimes call for difficult commitments, as John Baptist de La Salle discovered at various points in his life. Today, as in the past, he challenges the Brothers, not only as the one who established the Institute but as the Founder who continues to inspire and sustain it.

Filled with the spirit which he left them as their legacy, the Brothers grow in the living tradition of the Institute. In communion with those who have gone before them, they continue to respond with ardent zeal to the appeals of the Lord, the Church, and the world, in order to procure the glory of God.

For me, a call for radical faith, radical commitment, and radical hope through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Weekend Adventures

Saturday, Br. Dat and I decided to venture over to Seattle. Seattle is about 2 and a half hours from Yakima. We left at about 8:30 AM. It's quite the beautiful drive from Yakima to Seattle as you could see from the photos taken from inside the car. Nice mountain views and lots of trees!

Our first stop was actually at Br. Dat's uncle's house where we dropped off some things for him. After that stop, we proceeded to Seattle.

We arrived around lunch time, so Br. Dat suggested we do the Chinese brunch of Dim Sum at a Chinese restaurant in Seattle's Chinatown. It was interesting, but good Chinese food. To the right, is a view from the parking lot of the Chinese restaurant. Being a baseball fan, it was cool to see Safeco Field, home of the Seattle Mariners.

After lunch, we decided to head down to the pier to walk. It was quite an amazing walk, lots of people too. We walked about 2 - 3 miles I would say.

After that walk, we headed over the the Pike Street Market, another amazing place with a lot of hustle and bustle. Bought some postcards to send out and a shot cup for my mom who collects them. We also made a stop at the original Starbucks. Wow! It is, sadly, a tourist attraction, says the guy who went in bought a drink and took a photo.

It was a nice Saturay!

Sunday, was a day to sleep in since mass was not until 11:00 AM. We attended mass at the St. Joseph Mission, doesn't compare to San Xavier Mission, but it was nice to see it. It was actually an outdoor mass because of the occassion. However, it was cold! Everyone warned me about how hot it would get (still waiting), but no one warned about about the cool weather. Not complaining, but let's just say the Sunday night low was 38 degrees and it was windy!

In the afternoon, I headed over to the school for the final preparations. The had been waxing the floors, and since my classroom was last on Friday, it means having to move all the furniture back in! Once that was completed and I got everything else set up, I headed over to Starbucks to read for a while.

Br. Dat prepared dinner, delicious fried rice, and then we took our 2 mile walk around the park. Br. James came in from L.A. in the evening. I did some reading and postcard writing before heading to bed.

Wrapping up the week...

The last two days have been very similar. A lot of reading and reflecting. It's amazing how much thinking one does when they're not working. I find myself pausing for a little prayer a few times a day. I pray for people, issues, etc... that come to mind. Usually, I begin "God please..." I also try so listen if God is saying "Chris please..." That one is a little harder. But we must come to listen to ourselves, to listen to God, to come to rest in God. As I've been reading the life of St. La Salle and the Catholic Chatechism I am more convinced, well more aware, that all must come from and come to God. Jesus and the Holy Spirit should be our guides that give us the grace necessary to continue along the path to God. Wow, that's a lot of work, but ever so rewarding.

In terms of preparing for summer classes, I have done a lot of photo copying and organizing myself. Making sure dictionaries are available, creating homework sheets, etc...

Thursday evening, I cooked some very spicy enchiladas (by accident!). We spent a lot of time talking about the vocation program. We followed our dinner with a 2 mile walk around the park in our backyard (4 laps). I'll post pictures later.

Friday morning, I made my presentation to the La Salle Yakima Board of Trustees on my journey through the Lasallian world and discovering my vocation.

Friday also consisted of a Target run, post office run, reading, and my Catechism class with Br. Dat.

The summer community decided that Friday would be a outing/dinner out day. Since Br. James left to L.A. for a wedding, Br. Dat and I were left to venture on our own. We decided on bowling and dinner. The bowling alley is only 5 minutes away, so we headed there and bowled two games. Chris scores: 134 and 120. We ate dinner at the "Flaming Asian Grill." I had the almond chicken with fried rice. Br. Dat has mentioned that the portions were substantial, but what I got was unbelievable. It must have been the biggest plate I have ever been served, about 12 inches in diameter. It really makes two meals, all for $12.00!

Finally, we headed out for a walk. We kept it consistent and did 2 miles.

Tomorrow, we will visit Seattle. Seattle is about two and a half hours from Yakima. Br. Dat has family there, so we will drop by for a visit before touring Seattle.

Amen!

Wednesday, June 20

Hi, Debbie! I got an email yesterday from Debbie Gordon (teacher at San Miguel; first one on left in picture). It was great to know that I'm not the only one reading my blog. Hahahaha. Anyway, Debbie, San Miguel is blessed to have you! I hope Debbie does not mind, but I wanted to share part of her email:

"I so enjoy working for the Brothers. It’s taken me 23 years to find the “right” school...I feel that God does have a place for me at SMHS and that he led me there. I feel so at home and I feel that I am growing spiritually."

I must reiterate San Miguel is a powerful place!

Yesterday (Wed., June 20), began with us making it to the correct mass this time at St. Paul's Parish. St. Paul's is about 15 minutes from the Brothers' Community. After mass, we headed home where I had some coffee and toast and even read the paper! It's unusual I do anything besides grab coffee and run out the door. However, one of my goals is to establish healthy patterns.

There was much "academic" work to do so I quickly turned to that. Currently, I am reading four books as part of my preparation for the novitiate. The Work is Yours: The Life of St. John Baptist de La Salle, United States Catholic Catechism for Adults, Traits of a Healthy Spirituality, and Becoming Who You Are. I have not begun the last two yet. However, I must say Br. Luke Salm's The Work is Yours is a powerful book looking at all he and the early Brothers went through in establishing the Institute. One of the recent things I found interesting is all the complaints and lawsuits against De La Salle for doing what he was doing. He was made to close schools, furniture was confiscated, and basically it was illegal to educate in the manner he was educating. Yet, in his own quiet way he persisted with a firm belief that if it is God's work, it cannot fail. What faith!

Anyways, I spent Wednesday morning blogging and reading. After becoming more indoctrinated, I headed over to the school. I basically spent a couple of hours there preparing for my presentation to the Board of Trustees on Friday. I was asked to focus on my journey and its connection to the Lasallian world.

After lunch and a little TV, Br. Dat and I sat down to discuss the first chapter of the Catechism. Chapter 1 discussed "The Universal Desire for God" where there are 3 paths through which every person can come to God: creation, the human person, and Revelation. It describes God as an intelligent, wise, and eternal Creator. We also discussed Thomas Aquinas' views.

Here are a couple of "did you knows" from what I read in the Catechism for Adults.

Doctrinal Statements on longing for God:

• God has planted in every human heart the hunger and longing for the infinite--for nothing less than himself.
• Only in God will we find the truth, peace, and happiness for which we never stop searching. Created in God's image, we are called to know and love the Lord.
• God can be known with certainty from his works in creation and from the spiritual nature of the human person by the light of natural reason, although there are many difficulties in coming to knowledge because of humanity's historical and sinful conditions.
• By our openness to goodness and truth, our experience, our sense of moral goodness, our listening to the voice of conscience, and our desire for happiness, we can discern our spiritual soul and can come to see that this could only have its origin in God.
• We can speak of God even if our limited language cannot exhaust the mystery of who he is.
• While we can come to know something about God by our natural power of reason, there is a deeper knowledge of God that comes to us through Divine Revelation.

After our session, I finally got to doing some laundry, reading some more of House on Mango Street, and worked on some details for the Lasallian Leadership Conference in July at St. Mary's College. 11 students from San Miguel will attend.

Wednesday evening we were invited to attend a potluck at a parish in the next town over, Selah. Our Lady of Lourdes holds a weekly potluck. It was nice to continue to explore the community, and realize how different people are here. I must say it was a very good potluck though. Selah is only about 25 minutes from the community. That's me in Selah!

When we returned home I did some more reading. I want to make sure I stay on top of things. Since San Miguel has one of the prayer services at the Lasallian Leadership Conference, I put together a rubric for the students to use as they put the prayer service together. Finally, I concluded the night my putting some finishing touches on the powerpoint for the Board meeting.

Another day in the Northwest!

Settling in...

I am beginning to settle in here in Yakima. I will be here 5 weeks after all.

Tuesday morning began at 6:45 AM here at the community. We decided that Tuesday and Wednesday mornings would be mass days and we would travel to a local parish for morning mass. However, this morning we forgot to double check the schedule. We arrived at 7:00 AM to an empty parking lot. It turns out twice a week mass is at 8:00 AM and not 7:00 AM. So, we headed back to the house.

Br. James and I then headed to the school. The classroom I will be teaching in for the summer is room 104, so I began to settle into "my classroom." I have never taught a reading class before, so this is new preparation for me. After looking at the course description and material, I developed sort of a structure for each day. I think it will actually be fun. I think i will convince students that there are many "settings" one could read in. Obviously, the classroom setting, but also a coffee shop, outdoors, home, etc... I will see if we could do some of our own class reading in different settings. Anyway, I spent about 4 hours developing the 4-week course.

La Salle also has various summer day camps going on. On Tuesday, the school was beginning their Soccer plus Science Camp for K - 5th graders. The science teacher, Jeff, is teaching the science class and helping with the soccer camp. Good guy. I was exposed to the science room, which is quite a room. Lots of reptiles in there! Also, two rodents which I can't stand!

In the afternoon, I prepared a slideshow I will be using for the Board of Trustees meeting here. I was asked to present something as part of the Lasallian formation aspect of the meeting. I will be using part of the "Characteristics of a Lasallian School" presentation Br. Dan and I presented to the faculty at San Miguel High School.

Br. James and I headed home at about 3:00 PM. We stopped at Safeway for some quick grocery shopping. It was my cooking day and I decided we would have pasta, salad, and garlic bread.

After dinner and prayer, Br. Dat and I decided how we would cover the U.S. Catholic Catechism. He will be my summer teacher. We then headed to Dairy Queen for some ice cream, followed by a tour of Yakima. It actually does remind me of a very small Tucson.

Today, was also a day where I was able to reconnect with several people from San Miguel High School through email. It was nice to hear how people are doing, man I miss them.

It was also a day where faith and love seemed to stand out for me. Our evening prayer was very much focused on the Spirit of Faith. A selection from the Rule reads, "The life and development of the Institute depend primarily on the mystery of and the power of grace...The Brothers live their faith as a gift to be used for their ministry of Christian education. In faith they contemplate God as the one who chooses them to be workers bringing his salvation to the least and poorest." This was encouraging to read. I must say, as I reflect sometimes, I find myself frusterated by the use of certain resources, frusterated by looking at who we are serving.

Now, I think all the work that is being done by our schools is valuable. I think that there is an incredible Lasallian spirit alive. However, we must be reminded: "especially the poor." We must especially serve low-income families. We must challenge ourselves to have the faith to believe it is possible. We must have the love for the mission to believe it is possible. De La Salle writes, "The spirit of this Institute is first, a spirit of faith, which should induce those who compose it not to look upon anything but with the eyes of faith, not to do anything but in view of God, and attribute all to God..." This serves for me as a personal reminder about looking at the future with faith. The future for me entails shifting to serving "especially the poor." And this must be directly. It cannot be artificial. I find De Marillac Middle School and San Miguel High School as the examples for our future. In a day in age, where, for the survival of the mission, we must focus on working with our lay partners, I think the Brothers have an important role in leading the work towards the roots of our mission, towards "especially the least" of our society. This will be the revitilization of the Institute.

Traveling to Yakima

Br. James Joost and I left Portland this morning at 8:30 AM. It really is a nice drive from Portland out to Yakima.

It was also a great time to catch up. Br. James and I had been real well-connected for about 5 years when he was Director of Vocations.

I must say, Br. James worked tremendously hard while Director of Vocations. You knew something was always happening. The amount of activity that he was doing and how well-connected he stayed with Contacts and Aspirants was great. It was always personal. It was always relational.

So driving up to Yakima together gave us some time to catch up on what has been going on in the past year for each of us.

We arrived in Yakima at about 11:30 AM and headed to La Salle High School. It really is a beautiful campus--lots of green!

We then headed to lunch and at this good taco stand. I am really looking forward to checking out the Hispanic part of Yakima.

It is an interesting city, which I wil get to know over the next four weeks.

We finally arrived at the Brothers' Community. Br. Dat, Br. James, and I will be the main ones here this summer.

I am finally beginning to prepare for my duties. While at La Salle, I will be teaching a Reading and Study Skills course to incoming freshmen. Our main readings will include Sandra Cisneros' The House on Mango Street and The Pearl by John Steinbeck. I will also be helping with the math course and in the admissions office. It should be an active summer.

While I am up here I will also continue my preparation for the novitiate by doing some book reading of books assigned by Br. Kevin and doing some course work with Br. Dat on Church Doctrine.

Where am I with things?

Over the past week, I feel like I have grown closer to God. I feel like there is an active relationship consisting of prayer. Spiritually, I feel I am growing.

I miss San Miguel High School and the apostolic work, but I think the involvement here at La Salle will be good.

I have not enjoyed not being able to settle in a place, but 4 weeks here in Yakima will help.

I am trying to view this journey as part of the big journey of being a Brother and being open to the Spirit. I guess I realize, wow it is hard to leave a place, but that is the life of a Brother, responding to the need. It also brings on a feeling of being disconnected, which I think that has to do with being away from those people I left behind in Tucson. There's a feeling of being dependent, since so much is sort of planned for me for the next few weeks. Yet, I feel like this is all good and will help my development as I enter the Brothers. New relationships will be made, new connections will take place, and the work will come. One walks the journey with God. It has been a blessing to also walk the journey with my family, whom I am in constant communication with and Br. Nick who is encouraging and keeps in touch.

While I do feel some frusteration about being away from the work, I take consolation in the example given by Jesus. He took time for renewal, for rest. As my relationship with God becomes active, I see it not only as a time for rest, but for developing spiritually now and especially in the novitiate.

Well, off to dinner and prayer I go.

Have a nice evening!