I’ve just returned from my holiday to the States, fresh off a Thursday full of a smidge of catch-up work and a healthy dose of sleeping. My time in America was a holiday insomuch as I made it to the United Center for a Chicago Bulls game, went down to Notre Dame for a weekend of friends, love, and a Folk Choir Sunday morning, and saw tons of family and friends. However, my 300ish miles of driving to and from job interviews was a bit less vacationesque.
I have been searching high and low on national Catholic ministry sites and diocesan job posting boards for the last few months as well as finalizing application materials for Graduate Assistantships in Ministry at Loyola Chicago to go along with my deferred acceptance for a Masters in Pastoral Studies that I secured last year. The fruit of this legwork was a bonanza of conversation on Wednesday and Thursday.
Wednesday morning, I woke up and drove down to Loyola Chicago to meet with three of their campus ministers to talk about potentially becoming their graduate assistants. Then on Thursday, I drove up to Wisconsin to interview at a retreat center to be on their leadership team, followed by a final-round interview at a parish to be their full-time youth minister. Throw in, also, a 0-mile drive to a phone conversation with a Catholic high school in California. The people I spoke with and the questions they asked were hugely affirming of the career I’m trying to continue. They were seriously interested in learning about me and the type of minister and presence I would be.
More relevant to this blog, my experience in Ireland was HUGELY relevant. And it wasn’t just the fact (or novelty) that my stories happened in Ireland – it was the variety of experience I had to draw upon. I could talk extensively and anecdotally about our music ministry’s joys and challenges, the way that mass isn’t quite what I’ve been used to or what I wish it would be, or the power of our confirmation program that comes so largely from the enthusiasm and strong effort of our volunteer parent leaders. Without forcing it in or starting every story with “well in Ireland…”, my experience was comfortably relevant within the conversation and helped to put some flesh on the framework of the beliefs and personality I offer in myself.
I always affirm Teach Bhride, and many of the other possibilities that Notre Dame students have for post-grad service, to be a year on rather than a “year off.” It’s a year of service because we are committing to limited income, a certain way of life, and community responsibilities. However, the experience we get is more than that. Even if it’s not perfect or formally professional, it is substantial and formative. Even when there’s frustrations and tensions, and also when there’s joys and bright spots, we’re always learning something.
And this past week, the sharing went beyond conversation with housemates, friends, and family. I got to share the mission and the stories of our community with prospective employers, and I think, for better or worse, it gave them major insight into how I’ve/we’ve formed our little slice of Ireland and, more significantly, how it’s formed me. A year in Teach Bhride is a lot of things – service, volunteering, cultural exchange, ministry, slowing down, sharing, community – but it is not a year off. It is a year toward something, toward whatever is yet to come – our year here is a year on.
