"I long to see you and share some spiritual blessings with you to strengthen you. In that way, we will encourage each other by sharing our common faith." (Rom 1:11-12)
It's so important to have friends who love God and can share in your joy of loving Him, too. I think that's what's missing for me at work. I know Jesus is there present in the hearts of my coworkers and students, but the smiles that come because we praise and thank Him for all the good that comes to us...somehow it's in my unwritten job description to help my Verb family discover and experience Him in that way.
But it all starts with me. You can't give what you don't have. That's why I feel so drained...it feels like I'm drawing out of an empty well.
That's what the summer's for. I'll still be connected to the campus and the people because I'll be teaching summer school, but the time I have away from Verbum Dei in the afternoons and weekends needs to be spent nourishing my spirit for me and for them.
I said I didn't want to be in charge of anything ever again. Little did I realize that I'm now in charge of more than I ever have been before. Ironic, isn't it?
Director of Spiritual Formation
Verbum Dei High School
Responsibilities include but may not be limited to:
- Adult Faith Formation Program - including Ignatian Formation (2x/month)
- Cristo Rey Network AFF Representative
- California Jesuit Province AFF Representative
- Christian Service Program Coordinator (3-4 Saturday projects/month)
- Monthly liturgies
- 4 Class retreats - Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, and 3-day Senior KAIROS
- Board retreat
- Faculty & Staff retreats (1 per semester)
- 3 Sports retreats - Fall, Winter, Spring
- Prayer services - Faculty & Staff Orientation Week, Stations of the Cross; others on an as-needed basis (i.e., Eddie's death, Papal election...hopefully cases like these won't come up again anytime soon)
- Bible Study
- Mentoring support
- Baccalaureate Mass and Graduation
- 2 Religious Studies classes (which will be reduced to 1 next year)
- Administration Team Member
- Leadership Team Member
It's overwhelming to look at this list but in some strange way it also brings some comfort because I know that if I give it all to God and allow the Holy Spirit to move and take over, some amazing things will be happening at our school. It's going to take some time to establish the programs and build our "spiritual culture", especially in our ecumenical community efforts, but it has been a great year considering that many of us were new on the job.
"For though we cannot see Him, we can at least discover Him through His works; for He created the world and through His works we understand Him to be eternal and all-powerful, and to be God." (Rom 1:20)
My job isn't to simply get things done, per say. I'm in the business of drawing souls into the heart of God...to help them come to know Him and love Him because He is real, because we need Him in everything we do at the school and in every aspect of our lives. So now that I know how to go about making it all happen, I can take this next year and really focus on our relationship with Him. Who is God to Verbum Dei?
He brings us our students, our teachers, and our staff. He inspires us to get up every morning and drive into the inner city where most people are afraid to live and work. He gives us the strength to get through the difficult days...to be patient with the boys and with each other because we know that we all have a purpose in being there. God provides job opportunities for each one our students through the generosity of the corporate sponsors who believe in our mission as a Cristo Rey school. He moves the hearts of donors who give freely so that we can grow and develop as a campus. He holds things together when we feel that they're falling apart. He holds us close in our pain when we suffer the loss of one of our own. He motivates us to serve the children we tutor and the homeless we feed...to clean the beaches not many people care about and build homes for the less fortunate across the border. He dwells in the middle of our grounds as He waits in the tabernacle of our chapel for us to remember that He's there physically - Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity - to be the source and summit of our Christian lives.
God is everything to Verbum Dei.
Without Him, we would not have survived this long. With Him, our school has known the meaning of Resurrection...of hope...of transformation and new life. Miracles happen everyday to keep it alive and we often take it for granted, myself included.
Thank you, Lord. That's all I needed to see.
At the End-of-the-Year Luncheon w/Susan, Irene, and Ana
Fr. Scott Santarosa, SJ (Chaplain, partner and "Kuya") and Fr. John Weling, SJ (Verb President)
Seniors at OLA Cathedral Verbum Dei Graduation '05 - Jason, Dwayne, Marcus, Joe, Donald, Justin, Andre and Vince
"Through Him, Jesus Christ, our Lord, and for the sake of His Name, we received the grace and mission in all the nations, for them to accept the faith. All of you, the elected of Christ, are part of them...called to be holy..." (Rom 1:5-6)
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