Calling, Holy Spirit, Joy, Life, Passion, Vocation

Workings of the Spirit Part 1: A Series of Uncanny Coincidences with Impeccable Timing

Have you ever had one of those conversations that center around “How You Got to Where You Are”?

How did you end up moving [here]?

Why did you decide upon [that university]?

That’s an interesting job… how did you come to that line of work?<[/list-child]
How did you meet [your husband]?

Theology of the Body

Christopher West

Our Sunday Visitor’s textbook series.

Me: “Long, convoluted story. Short version: Holy Spirit.”

Christopher: [Laughing] “Fair enough.”

Me: “I mean I could ask the same of you: How did you end up doing THIS gig?”

Christopher: [Nodding] “Holy Spirit.”

And we all laughed.
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[caption id="attachment_578" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Christopher West Christopher, Heidi, and Jason (Christopher’s assistant)[/caption][/column]
How did I end up going from teaching to writing? How did I end up with the most amazing, beyond-my-wildest-dreams, dream-job? The short answer is truly: through the workings of the Holy Spirit.

When I look back on my story–when I look back on my life–I see the workings of the Holy Spirit with great clarity. I see it happening in my life when things just work out. Sometimes it’s when certain doors close and others open. Maybe it’s just me, but this can be confusing, especially if you thought you were on the right path and then come to find out you made a terrible mistake.

Perhaps if I explain my own story, it’ll make more sense.

A Series of Uncanny Coincidences with Impeccable Timing

In my teens, I was constantly busy with one of two activities: youth group in my wonderful parish and the incredible theatre program in my public high school.
[column width="1_2" last="0"][caption id="attachment_574" align="alignleft" width="194"] 20120910101935251 Vernon Township High School Theatre[/caption][/column]

When the questions about college came up, I took those activities to their logical end: I was interested in majoring in technical theatre at a college that could nurture my spirituality. Conveniently, there was this cute guy in my youth group that was a theatre major at Muhlenberg College (a Lutheran liberal arts college in the Allentown, PA area). He loved it, and that was endorsement enough for me at the age of 17, in the summer before Senior Year.

That summer, my parents spent a few days at the Jersey Shore with my Dad’s parents. Pop asks, “Where’s Julie thinking about going to college?” At the very moment that my Mom replies, “Oh, some Catholic university in Allentown…” a couple walks along the beach hand-in-hand, wearing Allentown College of St. Francis de Sales t-shirts. She jumps up and proceeds to interview these strangers on the details of the college. Later that night Mom calls to verify what colleges I’m looking at, and when I proceed to correct her, she actually gets all indignant with me. Insists I look at Allentown, because as the strangers on the beach said: they have a very good theatre program and they’re Catholic. Even though our parish was also named St. Francis de Sales, I still wasn’t sold. I mean, COME ON! But as any adolescent would, I told her what she wanted to hear so I could get off the phone, mumbled my “whatever” and rolled my eyes.

The following month I was seated in the Guidance Office, using the computer program which asks you to enter all of your college criteria so as to narrow down your limitless choices of colleges and universities to 25 or less. Of course–alphabetically–Allentown College of St. Francis de Sales was first on the list. Weeks later, at the high school college fair, I visited Muhlenberg’s table only to be told that they’d suggest I contact Allentown College (who wasn’t even at the college fair!). So fine. I grudgingly made an appointment to visit for their Open House and even agreed to stay for an overnight visit with some students.

Sure enough, once we arrived on campus, I was sold. My heart delighted in the rolling hills of Center Valley. Their theatre program was exactly what I was looking for. And without a doubt, I found a spiritual home.

Realizing Passion and Finding (a little) Clarity

As it turned out, I really enjoyed theatre, but more as a hobby than a career. So I changed majors. But I really had no idea what I wanted to do. Or what I was supposed to do. It was at that time that I was taking my first theology course. And. I. LOVED. IT. Not just “really enjoyed,” but exploding with THIS STUFF IS AWESOME passion. My heart and my brain came together with excitement. PASSION.

But I still had no idea that this would actually go anywhere.

And then I was sitting in a study group, preparing for the mid-term or final in this theology class. We were taking turns explaining concepts when, after one of the guys correctly explained a concept, he simply said: “Still, I just don’t get it. It doesn’t make sense.” So I give it a shot. I was a little surprised by the clarity that came out of my mouth, but it worked: he got it and so did everyone else in the group.

Certainty and Doubt

When I told my parents that I wanted to be a theology major, they both asked what I would possibly do with this (very expensive) degree. I had no idea. But I just had to do it.

By my senior year of undergrad I knew I ultimately wanted to teach theology, but figured I’d have to get a degree in education first. Note that I never actually looked into the options… I just convinced myself that it wouldn’t work… it couldn’t work.

College-84

I’m going to pause here in my story and draw attention to a few themes. If you experience any of the following, consider that it just might be the work of the Holy Spirit:
[list] [list-child icon="fa-arrow-right"]A series of uncanny coincidences with impeccable timing

Realizing you have a passion about something

Feeling certain that you need to follow your passion, even if you’re unsure of how to proceed.

Stay tuned for my next post, “Workings of the Spirit Part 2: Mistakes, Passion, and Problems.”

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Read More Julie Dienno-Demarest Jul 22,2013

Scripture, Transformation

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Pitching a Tent

My dear friend Amalour passed away last week. And in my grief, I am still having a difficult time paying attention to almost everything. So it didn’t come as any surprise when I had a hard time following the homily today at mass. The Gospel on the Second Sunday of Lent is the Transfiguration (Luke 9:28:-36)

Jesus took Peter, John, and James and went up the mountain to pray. While he was praying his face changed in appearance and his clothing became dazzling white. And behold, two men were conversing with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his exodus that he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem. Peter and his companions had been overcome by sleep, but becoming fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. As they were about to part from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here; let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” But he did not know what he was saying. While he was still speaking, a cloud came and cast a shadow over them, and they became frightened when they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my chosen Son; listen to him.” After the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. They fell silent and did not at that time tell anyone what they had seen.

Years ago (before kids), I facilitated a faith sharing group at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in Maryland, and one of the women explained how the story of the Transfiguration was one of her favorites because it offered a glimpse of Jesus Christ glorified. I heard her words and felt moved by her passion, but that’s not how the story struck me.

Personally, I find myself identifying with Peter, James, and John. Like them, I would have been happy to follow Jesus up a mountain. Like them, I would have probably been overcome by sleep. Even before kids. And like them, I would probably been so awestruck, I would have been happy to to pitch a tent.

Actually, I would have been happy to have my husband pitch the tent while I set up camp.

At the Vigil service for Amalour’s funeral, her husband Brian offered one of the most moving eulogies I have ever heard. Brian talked about Amalour’s unending quest for improvement. In their marriage–in their lives–they’d do the work and come to a plateau. It was a nice plateau, on which Brian was ready to pitch a tent and enjoy the view. And Amalour would say no; we’re not there yet. We can do better than this. There’s more to see; there’s more to do. Again, and again, and again in their lives, Amalour was always striving for something more… for something better… in all the ways that mattered.

I am a do-er. I’d like to think of myself as someone who walked alongside Amalour on the path of growth. In many ways, I know I have. But I also know one of my weaknesses is doing too much. I have been guilty of distracting myself from the real, true, important things in life with busyness… filling my days with so much stuff that I don’t have time to think. When I’m in this mindset, pitching a tent and enjoying the view sounds like a GREAT idea! In fact, I’ll even busy myself with setting up camp.

Thing is, life is more of a journey than a sit-down and watch (or in my case, get everything ready to sit down and watch). And sometimes that journey is hard. Very hard.

I can imagine that witnessing the Transfiguration was to be a gift to inspire Peter, James, and John for the journey that lay before them. It was not meant to be the end of the journey… or even a break from the journey.

So the challenge, I suppose, is to take those moments of grace, peace, hope, and light and allow them to inspire us along the path. To avoid the temptation to pitch a tent as though that moment was the end-all-be-all. To avoid the temptation to busy ourselves with setting up camp instead of doing the real work of journeying through life.

Tent in Canyonlands by [Rob Lee]https://www.flickr.com/photos/roblee) licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0

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Read More Julie Dienno-Demarest Feb 24,2013

Human Dignity, Joy

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Daring to Try

I am amazed at the things I will do for my kids.

And I’m not talking about the maternal-instinct so-they-will-survive stuff (like sleep deprivation and all those things I blocked out of selective memory).

I’m talking about Daring to Try.

For my son’s 5th birthday, we had a dance party for 17 kids ages 3-8. Two months prior to Max’s birthday, we attended a cousin’s wedding, which is where we introduced my kids to the dance floor.

This would probably be a good time to mention that I really can’t dance. I try. I have fun. But to be honest, I’m not very good at it. I’m a big ball of uncoordinated, awkward self-consciousness.

But what I’ve come to understand about my kids is: They. Don’t. Care. They just want me. Having fun. With them.

I see the way my kids look at me with awe and love. It’s like they take my own awe and love of them, multiply it and thrust it back upon me.

My kids see me with God’s eyes. With God’s love. And with all my humanness, imperfections, and limitations, they still see awesomeness.

I have two choices here:

I can correct them: tell them why I’m not-quite-good-enough and effectively model self-doubt
Or I can make an effort. I can try. I can model humility and try, and try, and try again…

It’s not all that easy to try… In her book, Daring Greatly, Brené Brown explains how putting yourself out there requires quite a bit of vulnerability and courage. It doesn’t come naturally. It’s a choice. A choice I want my kids to make. So I force myself to model it.

So for Max’s 5th birthday, I gathered 2 hours of kid-friendly dance music, including lots of line dancing stuff apropos for weddings, and burned the playlist to a 2-cd set as the party favor. Then we cleared the furniture out of the living room, set up some dance lights, and effectively turned the living room into a dance floor.

That was the easy stuff. At a certain point, it became necessary to actually lead the line dances. In case I wasn’t clear on this, let me lay it out: I would rather have crawled under a rock and died than get up in front of people and lead the Electric Slide.

Except that’s not true. Not when I look into the eyes of my kids and see their joyful desire.

So I threw caution to the wind and I Dared to Try. And the kids Loved. It. Everyone had a blast. Including me.

There’s a post I found through Pinterest called “Waking Up Full of Awesome.” The author, Melissa, posts an appropriately absolutely awesome picture of her 5 year old and reflects on the phenomenon of how we once – when we were 5 – “woke up full of awesome.” And at some point most of us lose that.

I don’t want that for my boys. And I don’t want that for me. And neither does God.

I want them to see their awesomeness as clearly as I do. And I want to see my own awesomeness as clearly as they do.

Because that–with all that awesomeness–is how God sees me. So that’s where I’d like to be. For now, my next step is focusing on Daring to Try.

Dance! by Scott Robinson licensed under CC BY 2.0

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Read More Julie Dienno-Demarest Dec 30,2012

Conference Presentations

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Vatican II: Understanding the Call and Living the Vision

While most of my posts center around reflections on life and faith, when I present at conferences, I like to offer participants the opportunity to access the information from the session online.

The following PowerPoint was part of the presentation offered on August 25, 2012 at the Southern Catechist Conference at St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church in Nassau Bay, TX.

50th Anniversary of Vatican II: Understanding the Call and Living the Vision [pptx]

In the session, I referenced and recommended the following resources:

Conciliria invites readers to relive the moving and hope-filled days of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Council, we offer day-to-day coverage, utilizing archival reporting from that time, contemporary documents and special guest correspondents who will step into a time machine to report on the dramatic events as though they were there 50 years ago. Conciliria provides a great background article “What the Council Did.”

America Magazine will undoubtedly provide engaging articles on the 50th Anniversary. In this article on The Beatification of Pope Pius IX, America offers a brief, readable piece with insight into the historical, cultural context of the papacy of Pius IX. This, of course, helps us better understand the historical context of Vatican II.

Vatican II—Voice of the Church is a website dedicated to promoting and explaining the teaching of the Second Vatican Council (1962-65). Multiple scholars and theologians – many of whom were at the council – contribute to the articles on this site.

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Read More Julie Dienno-Demarest Aug 24,2012

Action, Love

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Many Parts

My sister and I often catch-up while I’m cleaning the kitchen and she’s driving somewhere. Most of the time, it’s your simple sisterly exchange-of-love-and-information phone call.

Laurie has been volunteering with SafePlace, a shelter for battered and abused women (and their children) in Austin. One of her stories struck me more deeply than others. Probably for the sheer banality of it all.

Laurie worked in the food pantry on Friday, helping the residents “shop” for the week. She surmised that cereal the pantry had to offer must have been donated by HEB as near-expiration-overstock that no one wanted – one of those full of fiber (and it tastes like it) cereals. There was a little boy who accompanied his mother in line. When they asked for cereal, and he saw the one and only option, he started to cry to his mother, “I don’t want that kind. I want our regular kind. Why do we have to be here? I just want to go back with Dad.”

The emotional devastation of every woman in the room could be felt.

The littlest things that we take for granted can bring such simple joy for those who are so broken and vulnerable. Once she returned home, Laurie posted a simple request to her local friends on Facebook. In addition to cereal and pancake mix for kids, the Moms wanted popcorn and chips for movie night, and as an extra special treat, some Betty Crocker boxed cake or cookie mixes.

As my sister has made a commitment to volunteer with various organizations in the Austin area throughout the past few years, she has continually posted simple requests like these on her Facebook wall. She even tells her friends that she’ll go to them to pick up the donated items.

Laurie’s simple, specific posts certainly help direct the “givers” generosity to meet the “recipients” basic needs/wants. But she also does a tremendous service to raising awareness of social issues and offering both a model and vehicle of charity to her 300+ Facebook friends, some of whom might never consider the multitude of difficulties a victim of domestic violence faces.

I don’t want that kind. I want our regular kind. Why do we have to be here? I just want to go back with Dad.

When Laurie told Mom this story, not surprisingly, Mom offered to finance a “treats” run to stock the pantry. But in reflection, Laurie asked an important question:

It’s great that Mom is buying them groceries this month, but what about next month?

And that’s the point in the phone call where I went all theologian on her.

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses. For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. (1 Corinthians 12:4-12)

Everything that Laurie is doing right now for SafePlace is important – from personally volunteering to telling stories to posting donation requests on Facebook. But she’s not in the financial position to stock the pantry.

That’s ok.

There are many parts. We are all one body.

Without the time to shop or undergo training for volunteering, Mom donated money. That’s all she was in the position to do at the moment.

That’s ok.

There are many parts. We are all one body.

Laurie and I share the frugal, money-saving, coupon clipping gene. So I suggested she consider clipping those coupons for items she doesn’t personally use, follow the sales posted on our favorite savings blog Hip2Save, and snag deals on these items. I can help with this, I say. I can’t volunteer or donate money, but I’ll keep an eye out for deals and sales.

That’s ok.

There are many parts. We are all one body.

So we wrap up the phone call (as she arrived at her destination and my kids needed something like food or attention), and we each go about our day.

Six hours later, I walk in to Kroger and see that they are having a 3-day sale on limited varieties of GM cereals – cereals with a sugar content that I do not want to give my kids and would normally never buy. In the before-you-walk-in-the-store, where you grab your cart, there’s a display offering these cereals 2 for $3. And I have coupons. Of course. So each of the boys got to pick out a cereal for “families who are going through a difficult time.” Four boxes of cereal cost me $3.75 out of pocket. That I can do.

Of course I called Laurie to tell her how yes, indeed, the Spirit is at work. And in her usual joy, Laurie remarked: “This is amazing!”

Sometimes faith leads us to service.

For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me. (Matthew 25:35-36).

And sometimes it is the experience of service that leads us to a deeper faith and spirituality. It is that experience of service in which we are completely filled with love and joy. It is that experience of service where we are overwhelmed by this “good feeling” and the only words we can muster is a humble recognition that we have received so much more than we gave. THIS is the experience of divine agapic love (see here and here for further explanation on this).

This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. (John 15:12)

When we accept the invitation of Christ to love others as he loved us, we are filled with the divine presence.

Thing that we need to remember when it comes to service — when it comes to a faith that does justice — is that (a) don’t think it all depends on you to do everything. That’s what we call a Messiah complex. And honestly, we already have one of those. And (b) don’t think there’s only one way to help. Do what you can. Where you can. When you can.

There are many parts. We are all one body.

cereal aisle by Ben McLeod licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

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Read More Julie Dienno-Demarest Aug 14,2012

Author Archives: Julie Dienno-Demarest

Workings of the Spirit Part 1: A Series of Uncanny Coincidences with Impeccable Timing

A Series of Uncanny Coincidences with Impeccable Timing

Realizing Passion and Finding (a little) Clarity

Certainty and Doubt

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Pitching a Tent

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Daring to Try

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Vatican II: Understanding the Call and Living the Vision

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Many Parts

That’s ok.

There are many parts. We are all one body.

That’s ok.

There are many parts. We are all one body.

That’s ok.

There are many parts. We are all one body.

There are many parts. We are all one body.

If you enjoyed this post, Please Share

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