looking back

My friend Sarah asked me the other day what my favorite month of 2008 was and why, and I thought I'd ask the same question here to all of you...

Anyone who'd like to share, I'd love to hear your thoughts!


PS. Reading Ryan and Sarah's answer reminded me that I didn't answer the question yet. May through December were all stellar months, but I have to agree with them that July was my favorite. Why? Click here , and you will see it is just as they said... a month so full of grace that we'll be unpacking it for years to come. Well said (as usual!!) Ryan and Sarah!!

family!

hope

There are some games where cheering for the other side feels better than winning.

by Rick Reilly


They played the oddest game in high school football history last month down in Grapevine, Texas.

It was Grapevine Faith vs. Gainesville State School and everything about it was upside down. For instance, when Gainesville came out to take the field, the Faith fans made a 40-yard spirit line for them to run through.

Did you hear that? The other team's fans?

They even made a banner for players to crash through at the end. It said, "Go Tornadoes!" Which is also weird, because Faith is the Lions.

It was rivers running uphill and cats petting dogs. More than 200 Faith fans sat on the Gainesville side and kept cheering the Gainesville players on—by name.

"I never in my life thought I'd hear people cheering for us to hit their kids," recalls Gainesville's QB and middle linebacker, Isaiah. "I wouldn't expect another parent to tell somebody to hit their kids. But they wanted us to!"

And even though Faith walloped them 33-14, the Gainesville kids were so happy that after the game they gave head coach Mark Williams a sideline squirt-bottle shower like he'd just won state. Gotta be the first Gatorade bath in history for an 0-9 coach.

But then you saw the 12 uniformed officers escorting the 14 Gainesville players off the field and two and two started to make four. They lined the players up in groups of five—handcuffs ready in their back pockets—and marched them to the team bus. That's because Gainesville is a maximum-security correctional facility 75 miles north of Dallas. Every game it plays is on the road.

This all started when Faith's head coach, Kris Hogan, wanted to do something kind for the Gainesville team. Faith had never played Gainesville, but he already knew the score. After all, Faith was 7-2 going into the game, Gainesville 0-8 with 2 TDs all year. Faith has 70 kids, 11 coaches, the latest equipment and involved parents. Gainesville has a lot of kids with convictions for drugs, assault and robbery—many of whose families had disowned them—wearing seven-year-old shoulder pads and ancient helmets.

So Hogan had this idea. What if half of our fans—for one night only—cheered for the other team? He sent out an email asking the Faithful to do just that. "Here's the message I want you to send:" Hogan wrote. "You are just as valuable as any other person on planet Earth."

Some people were naturally confused. One Faith player walked into Hogan's office and asked, "Coach, why are we doing this?"

And Hogan said, "Imagine if you didn't have a home life. Imagine if everybody had pretty much given up on you. Now imagine what it would mean for hundreds of people to suddenly believe in you."

Next thing you know, the Gainesville Tornadoes were turning around on their bench to see something they never had before. Hundreds of fans. And actual cheerleaders!

"I thought maybe they were confused," said Alex, a Gainesville lineman (only first names are released by the prison). "They started yelling 'DEE-fense!' when their team had the ball. I said, 'What? Why they cheerin' for us?'"

It was a strange experience for boys who most people cross the street to avoid. "We can tell people are a little afraid of us when we come to the games," says Gerald, a lineman who will wind up doing more than three years. "You can see it in their eyes. They're lookin' at us like we're criminals. But these people, they were yellin' for us! By our names!"

Maybe it figures that Gainesville played better than it had all season, scoring the game's last two touchdowns. Of course, this might be because Hogan put his third-string nose guard at safety and his third-string cornerback at defensive end. Still.

After the game, both teams gathered in the middle of the field to pray and that's when Isaiah surprised everybody by asking to lead. "We had no idea what the kid was going to say," remembers Coach Hogan. But Isaiah said this: "Lord, I don't know how this happened, so I don't know how to say thank You, but I never would've known there was so many people in the world that cared about us."

And it was a good thing everybody's heads were bowed because they might've seen Hogan wiping away tears.

As the Tornadoes walked back to their bus under guard, they each were handed a bag for the ride home—a burger, some fries, a soda, some candy, a Bible and an encouraging letter from a Faith player.

The Gainesville coach saw Hogan, grabbed him hard by the shoulders and said, "You'll never know what your people did for these kids tonight. You'll never, ever know."

And as the bus pulled away, all the Gainesville players crammed to one side and pressed their hands to the window, staring at these people they'd never met before, watching their waves and smiles disappearing into the night.

Anyway, with the economy six feet under and Christmas running on about three and a half reindeer, it's nice to know that one of the best presents you can give is still absolutely free.

Hope.

(You can find the story here on espn.com.)

journey to bethlehem

If you have six minutes and thirty eight seconds to spare today, I highly recommend stopping by a nearby blog to watch this beautiful family's Christmas video, A Journey to Bethlehem.

(A little background~ This family from Minnesota lives and serves in Haiti with Heartline Ministries and World Wide Village.)

Their perspective on the birth of Christ is beautifully profound and just down-right adorable. I love creative families who make the world such a beautiful place to be!

a beautiful message from fr. rick frechette

Those of you who stop by frequently have read of Fr. Rick Frechette, who lives, works and pours his heart into loving the people of Port au Prince, Haiti as a priest and a physician. I recently received his Christmas letter via e-mail, which I wanted to share here with all of you.

God's blessings as we wait in joyful hope,
nicole

Dear Friends

As Christmas draws near, lets thank God together for the gift already received- the gift of life that was ours throughout the past 12 months , a true year of grace-and another chance to make the life we share together on mother earth a little more human and a little more divine.

Yet, it is hard to ignore the challenges and the sufferings in the world of 2008. These sufferings have been abundant all over the world, and in Haiti, once again, these have not been few. The hurricanes, the floods, the collapse of the schools, the poverty that is quite difficult to bear. But you and I and our Haitian team have together lightened the load for many people, shown friendship and generous solidarity in good times and in bad. The signs of God present have been everywhere, and we discovered them together. We find them by offering whatever we have, humbly and generously, to each moment.

So many times over the past year, the hungry were fed, the naked were clothed, the oppressed have been set free. The homeless have found lodging. The dead have been buried tenderly, the wounded have been bound with care. We have cared for the widow and the orphan, making room for them at the table of life. Those whose disabilities give them even more challenges than any of us have had to face, have also found a way toward a better tomorrow through friendship, schooling and physical therapy under your and our wide wings.

God did not give us life just to survive, but rather to thrive. We are not here to help each other survive. We have to discern the star of hope, and chart our way into a world of fullness of life. And so together it has been important that in 2008 we have raised again the star of hope for many people, the sign of ascending light, trying to unleash in the hearts of the young strivings for a better world.

We have offered even higher levels of education, university studies and opportunities for short study abroad. We have introduced computers to the most desolate slums, in order to include the children in the most important of all literacy: connection to the whole wide world. We have helped any number of young adults start small enterprises to help them get ahead. We have introduced not only movies, but movie stars and movie making, to children whose imaginations and dreams are wild like stallions, but are held back by mud and garbage and wide social margins. We are improving our treatment of childhood cancers, and have prepared our hospital for digital xray and beyond.

The world’s economic crisis, while generating abundant tragedies at all level s of society, will hurt the poor exponentially much more than it will hurt any of us. And the worse enemy of all, a sense of cynicism and discouragement, is always waiting in the wings and represents a constant danger.

We are celebrating the feast of Christmas, God’s full offering of Self to us, whose marvelous meaning is that God finds us so valuable as to join us even in our suffering and pain. May our generosity mirror God’s generosity. May our hope in tomorrow be grounded in God’s vision of who we are and what we can become. May our hope itself be a star, brilliant enough to drive cynicism and despair into the shadows forever.

Thank you for investing in children, in the unfortunate, in tomorrow. This investment, according to the Gospel, brings its riches even to you, and touches the very heart of God.

May your generosity and good heart attract many blessings upon you and your family, from our loving God, throughout the new year of grace.

Fr Rick Frechette
Dec 19, 2008
Port au Prince

my new year begins...

Tonight at our Young Adult Christmas party at Sacred Heart I shared Sister Rose Therese's family tradition of picking a saint for the new year. Actually, as she always told me, "the saint picks you."

The day before Thanksgiving I received a letter from Sister Rose Therese in which she told me that her community chose their saints for the year on the feast of All Saints Day. And guess who had chosen her?
Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta.

Tonight as we all, probably 30 of us or so, went around the circle to pick our saint and read our quote and prayer intention for the year, I was so happy thinking of Sister Rose Therese and how she continues to spread so much joy through this tradition even though she is unaware of it.

When the basket came to me I said a silent prayer, reached in and unfolded the little slip of paper to find...



Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta. (Beatified October 19, 2003)

"The more we are united with God, the more eager we will be to love and serve the poor with our whole heart."

Pray to serve the poor with joy.



For now I'll just say...

AMEN.

amazima ministries

Hi everyone,

I wanted to take a little study break today to write a little bit about the link I've added to the right of this page for "Amazima Ministries." I've been following this story for the past few months now, and I know I've said this before, but truly... Katie is such an amazing person. She is only 20 years old-- not much unlike our Blessed Mother who was a teenager when she gave her "fiat" to God-- and what she is doing is so beautiful, selfless, humbling and inspiring.

Katie has begun Amazima Ministries to serve poor and orphaned children in Jinga, Uganda. Here you can read of the meaning behind the name "Amazima" and of the children who have been entrusted to her care. I have just one request... if her story touches your heart, please share it with others. I'm certain that this one's meant to be shared...

Also, here is info on how to sponsor one of the children if you would like to learn more about that opportunity.

Blessings as we wait in joyful hope,
nicole

gaudete sunday

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand. Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer let your petitions be made known to God”
- Saint Paul's letter to the Philippians 4: 4 – 6

Gaudete Sunday always me think of Sister Rose Therese... not only has she always loved the color pink, but her life (and now her very name!) proclaims the joy of hope in Christ that we celebrate today on Gaudete Sunday... symbolized by the rose vestments and the rose candle of the Advent wreath. In honor of Sister Rose Therese, and her hero and now namesake Mother Teresa, I wanted to share an excerpt from Benedict XVI's Angeuls last year on Gaudete Sunday...

"... Christian joy comes from this certainty: God is near, he is with me, he is with us, in joy and in pain, in health and in sickness, as a friend and as a faithful spouse. This joy remains even through trial, in suffering itself, and it remains not superficially, but in the depth of the person who trusts in God and confides in him.

Some might ask: Is this joy still possible today? The answer is given, with their lives, by men and women of every age and social condition, who are happy to consecrate their existence to others.

Was not Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, in our day, an unforgettable witness of true evangelical joy? She lived daily in contact with poverty, human degradation, death. Her soul knew the ordeal of the dark night of faith, and yet, she gave everyone the smile of God.

We read in one of her writings: “We await Paradise with impatience, where God is, but it is in our power to be in Paradise starting here and starting now. To be happy with God means to love like him, to help others like him, to give like him, to serve like him” (La gioia di darsi agli altri [The joy of giving oneself to others], Ed. Paoline, 1987, p. 143).

Yes, joy enters the heart of whoever places himself in the service of the little ones and the poor. God takes up his dwelling in he who loves this way, and the soul is in a state of joy.

If instead one makes happiness an idol, then one loses his way and it is truly difficult to find the joy whereof Jesus speaks. Unfortunately, this is the proposition of cultures which place individual happiness in place of God, a mentality which finds its emblematic effect in the search for pleasure at any cost, in the use of drugs for escape, as a refuge in artificial paradises which then prove to be totally illusory.

Dear brothers and sisters, even at Christmas, we can lose our way, replacing the true feast with something that does not open the heart to the joy of Christ.

May the Virgin Mary help all Christians and men in search of God to arrive at Bethlehem and encounter the Baby born for us, for the salvation and happiness of all mankind.

(The full Angeuls address is available here.)

Sister Rose Therese, I know you will not likely be able to read this, but today I am thinking of you and praying for you especially, and thanking God for the gift of your friendship that since day one has drawn me closer to Christ. Rejoice and be glad my dear Sister! Your reward will be great in heaven...

"To become saints means to fulfill completely what we already are, raised to the dignity of God's adopted children in Christ Jesus... The saints bring to light in creative fashion quite new human potentialities... The saints are themselves the living spaces into which one can turn... There is no isolation in heaven. It is the open society of the saints and, consequently, also the fulfillment of all human togetherness... One might say that the saints are, so to speak, new Christian constellations, in which the richness of God's goodness is reflected. Their light, coming from God, enables us to know better the interior richness of God's great light... Nothing can bring us into close contact with the beauty of Christ himself other than the world of beauty created by faith and light that shines out from the faces of the saints, through whom his own light becomes visible."

- Pope Benedict XVI

I am proud to call her a mentor...

U.N. secretary general grants dean Woo’s request
By: Carol Elliott
Date: December 8, 2008

Carolyn Y. Woo, Martin J. Gillen Dean and Ray and Milann Siegfried Chair in Entrepreneurial Studies at the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business, was a presenter at the first Global Forum for Responsible Management Education, held Dec. 4 and 5 at the United Nations headquarters in New York City.

In her remarks during an address to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as part of the global forum, Woo urged attendees to refocus business education away from a too-narrow agenda of wealth-creation for owners only to a broader perspective considering the role of business in solving the pressing global issues of poverty, disease and conflict.

“In subtle but undeniable ways, through our focus and content, we have let our students walk away from the bigger picture and the big responsibilities,” Woo said. “As we go forward, let it not be our negligence that we continue to foster an attitude of disconnectedness from the common good, a disconnectedness that sows the seeds of unbridled self-interest.”

Attended by senior administrators from more than 150 academic institutions around the world, the forum provided a platform to advance the concept of corporate responsibility and sustainability in management education.

At the close of her address, Woo also requested of the secretary-general two hours of programming time to further engage business school deans on this message. Immediately after the conference, Ban sent word to the dean that her request was granted.

The forum in particular centered on the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME), a U.N.-backed global initiative developed to promote corporate responsibility and sustainability in business education. Woo spearheaded an international task force of 60 deans, university presidents and official representatives of leading business schools who developed the initiative, which was launched under the patronage of Ban in July 2007.

Participating institutions, including the Mendoza College, make a commitment to align their mission and strategy, as well as their core competencies – education, research and thought leadership – with U.N. values embodied by the six PRME principles. Actions encouraged under the initiative’s framework include curriculum development around the corporate responsibility agenda and research in support of sustainable management systems, as well as public advocacy and opinion leadership to advance responsible business practices. Currently, more than 175 business schools have endorsed the initiative.

PRME is part of the U.N. Global Compact, a strategic policy initiative for businesses that are committed to aligning their operations and strategies with 10 universally accepted principles in the areas of human rights, labor, environment and anti-corruption.“PRME is an important counterpoint to the direction that business education has taken over the last 60 years,” said Woo, who added that the current analytical framework often turns human endeavors into competitive battles that glorify a winner-take-all mentality. In contrast, she described how PRME and the U.N. Global Compact re-orders priorities, shifting attention to the fundamental canons of human communities. “First, human rights takes precedence over all other interests. As such, economic enterprises must serve people and uphold these rights, not the other way around,” Woo said. “Second, as a community, by definition, we flourish and advance collectively, not individually.” This last point calls for “mutuality,” a balance between what a person or organization takes and what is given back.

Woo said the Global Compact and PRME initiatives will allow business educators to better broaden the students’ visions.

“Let us use this opportunity to inspire our students, to enable them to see how they and business can become solutions to issues as big as poverty and peace, and as routine as a safe work environment, the promotion of a worker, a pay-day with something left over for savings,” Woo said.

Other forum participants from the Mendoza College included Rev. Oliver F. Williams, C.S.C., associate professor of management and director of the Global Compact Foundation, and Viva O. Bartkus, associate professor of management. Woo chaired a session on curriculum change in addition to speaking during the concluding session.

More information about the PRME, including a listing of the principles, are available on the Web at http://www.unprme.org/.

(This story is from the University of Notre Dame News and Information webpage)