Posted on

Slow Down on Ash Wednesday and During Lent

“Ashes fade, but our faith remains,” senior student reminds her Fenwick classmates.

By Preaching Team Member Natalie Poleszak ’23 (Burr Ridge, IL)

Did you leave your car running this morning? Did you take a second to remember you locked it? During this season, we are often so occupied with giving up a favorite soda or candy that we forget to slow down. So excited for Easter, we lose focus on what’s important. 

Today, I ask each one of you to for a moment forget about the Spanish test you have or what you will be doing this weekend to slow down. 

Natalie Poleszak ’23

I know Fenwick students are sometimes unable to do this because I see it in the parking lot everyday. In a rush to get to their favorite parking spot or to even make it past the light, we often forget to look around. Similarly, how often do we think about an intention before we mindlessly pray with our peers before class. How often do we check up on our friends or tell our parents thank you? I am guilty of not doing these things myself.

Today I challenge you to practice patience. I challenge you to park within the lines. For even though your awareness fades, the impact remains.

You may be asking yourself, ‘Natalie why are you talking about the parking garage on Ash Wednesday?’ Driving is something we all experience in our lives. Likewise, everyone at Fenwick has to learn about faith in their theology classes. Why not incorporate it into the simple moments in your life?

Even with all of this preparation and growth in our personal lives, it’s not important unless we get out and actually do it. So today we are challenged to consider the other person in the car next to us. To not cut them off, or honk the horn, or to let them in front of us. Let the ash on your forehead serve as a reminder in your busy lives. For even as the cross on your forehead fades, our faith remains.

Posted on

Nothing Great Is Ever Achieved without Challenges

Senior student preacher reflects on faith at school Mass for St. Catherine of Siena.

By Joey Schultz ’21 (Clarendon Hills, IL)

Today, we come together to celebrate the Feast of St. Catherine of Siena. Catherine was born during the 1300s in Siena, Italy during the middle of the Black Plague. She was a Dominican laywoman who devoted her entire life to serving the sick and poor.

During the time of St. Catherine, the pope was living lavishly in Avignon, France, instead of in Rome where the Pope traditionally lived. Catherine realized the problem and called for reform in the Church. She also demanded that the pope move back to Rome, and she ended up playing a key role in moving the papacy back to Rome. Perhaps, Catherine’s biggest impact upon the Catholic world was her writings, which have led her to be declared a Doctor of the Church.

Student Preaching Team member Joey Schultz ’21 is a senior from Clarendon Hills, Illinois.

In looking at some of her writings, I came across a quotation that particularly stood out to me. The words of St. Catherine were, “Nothing great is ever achieved without much enduring.” There have been many times in my life where I have contemplated my faith. I have questioned God’s existence and role in my life, like I’m sure many of you have.

St. Catherine’s message shows us that there will always be hardships that we endure in order to achieve something great, like a relationship with God. As children of God, we have to persevere through these doubts and pursue a life in complete faith in God. The words of St. Catherine can be brought into our lives as students of Fenwick, too. We as students are called to serve God and be role models for others. It is no easy task to do this, but like St. Catherine said, nothing great is ever achieved without challenges. Everyday we have to endure the grind that is getting up in the morning, going to class, participating in extracurricular activities, coming back home, doing school work, spending time with family and friends, plus many other challenges. On top of all these things, we are expected to live as Christians, through both difficult and easy times.

St. Catherine of Siena (right) is portrayed on stained glass in the Fenwick Chapel.

Have there been any times in your life where you felt too young to make a difference? As a teenager, Catherine was visiting hospitals, helping out the sick and poor. She was such a young woman, yet she was able to make such a big impact on the world around her by devoting her life to serving God and her neighbors. Catherine is a role model, especially for us students, because she shows us that we are never too young to make a difference in the world. Going forward, we should all think of St. Catherine in times of doubt, and we should put our trust in God. 

St. Catherine of Siena serves as a great example of how we should strive to live our lives as Christians. She is an inspiration to all of us, especially women, because of the boundaries and societal norms that she had to break during her time. As a woman during the 14th century, it was much more difficult for her to get into any position of control or influence. Through good works and a passion for justice, she was able to rise up and make a change in the world. St. Catherine shows each and every one of us that we are capable of making a difference in the world through faith and trust in God.

ANOTHER STUDENT PREACHER BLOG INSPIRED BY SAINT CATHERINE

Posted on

Faith, Logic and St. Thomas Aquinas: the Great Dominican

“To say we have faith does not mean we automatically understand everything. It means we have the confidence to know God will help us understand.”

By Caroline Darrow ’21

Hello, my name is Caroline Darrow. Usually, I am the girl in the white gown sitting in the tiny chair next to Father, so you may not recognize me right now. But don’t worry I’ll be back there soon.

As I was trying to write this reflection for the Feast of Saint Thomas Aquinas, I wrote three different versions, but all of them felt like I was leading a kumbaya circle. So, I did the typical Fenwick procrastination, I did other homework instead.  Nevertheless, as I attempted to complete my pre calc homework while at the same time contemplating Aquinas, I realized it is very hard to think about faith and logic in the same instance. However, Aquinas’ own teachings can help with this conundrum.

“Logic can clarify faith, while faith can prevent mistakes of logic.”

Caroline Darrow (of Clarendon Hills/Notre Dame School)

One of Aquinas’ most influential teachings was his study of the relationship between faith and reason. Throughout time, there has been a struggle as how to combine knowledge gained from revelation with knowledge gained from the observation of the natural world around us. Aquinas viewed both of these as compatible with each other as they both had been created by God. Logic can clarify faith, while faith can prevent mistakes of logic. In other words, using our logic we are able to reason through and clarify teachings of faith in order to fully comprehend what God is trying to tell us.  Faith keeps our morals in check, while at the same time teaching us things we cannot observe through our senses, as we observe a society in which humans are susceptible to other worldly perspectives.

In addition to being a Preaching Team member, Ms. Darrow (far right) serves as an acolyte at Fenwick masses.

What does it truly mean to seek God in faith and reason? Each day, we pray before classes in which we never speak about God. You most likely won’t contemplate Catholic teachings while solving logarithms, but you will have times when you question aspects of your faith because to say we have faith does not mean we automatically understand everything, it means we have the confidence to know God will help us understand. To aid in understanding, we must combine both our faith and logic to come to the best conclusion. God has instilled faith and logic in our lives, and it is our job to find a way to follow Aquinas, embracing both ways to gain knowledge in order to follow the path God has sent us on.

Continue reading “Faith, Logic and St. Thomas Aquinas: the Great Dominican”
Posted on

God Loves All of Us

On the Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, a Fenwick junior from Berwyn reflected about the Blessed Mother’s special connection with the oppressed, the impoverished and the powerless.

By Chelsea Quiroga ’21

Today, we gather to celebrate and honor the virgin of Guadalupe; the mother of Jesus, known to most of us as Mary. Just shy of 500 years ago the virgin of Guadalupe appeared to Juan Diego, who was an Aztec peasant who had recently converted to Catholicism, on the hill of tepeyac just outside of present day Mexico City.

She appeared with a green cloak covered in gold stars as well as having the same olive complexion of that of the native Juan Diego. She told him to build a church in honor of her, and he humbly accepted. Juan Diego went back down the mountain into town to see the bishop and informed him of his recent encounter.

Juan Diego told the bishop of Mary’s request, and the bishop was doubtful and asked for Juan Diego to bring him proof of her existence before he approved any construction. Mary appeared to Juan Diego for a second time, and she responded to his request for proof by telling him to gather the wild plants around the hill, which was very dry and desert like. She told him to put them into his tilma, which was like toga, and not to open it until he saw the bishop.

Juan Diego listened and carried the dried plants down the hill, and when he came to the bishop he let down his tilma. In the place of the dried, wild plants out fell dozens of red roses, and the image of Mary was imprinted onto his tilma. Soon after, a church in her honor was constructed. Ten years prior to her visitation to Juan Diego, Mexico had been conquered by the Spanish and Catholic conversion was pushed onto the natives.

La virgen of Guadalupe’s appearance to a native peasant caused many similar to Juan Diego to feel a sense of belonging in Catholic faith and caused Catholicism to spread like wildfire. Mary’s visitation to a poor native peasant demonstrates God’s love for all backgrounds and the special connection had with those oppressed, impoverished and powerless. Her visitation was a triumph and allowed for Mexicans and Latin Americans alike to have a personal tie to their faith and gain a strong feeling of home with God.

Continue reading “God Loves All of Us”
Posted on

Student Preaching

At the 90th Celebration Mass for Fenwick on September 9, a Friar junior encourages his classmates to rise above social pressures and make morally good choices.

By Will Chioda ’21

In today’s Gospel , Jesus breaks the law by healing a crippled man on the sabbath day. The scribes and pharisees become angry with Jesus, and discuss what they might do to him.

Notice how Jesus responds to them: He says “I ask you, is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil; to save life rather than to destroy it?” His courage to do the right thing, despite what the law says sticks out to me. This brings about some key questions and points for self evaluation. In our own Fenwick community, do we find ourselves making decisions that are more socially popular, succumbing to various social pressures; or do we choose to make courageous and morally good choices?

At the end of each day, can we say that we did, or at least tried to live and love each other as Jesus did? Can we say that we treated others as Jesus treated the crippled man? Perhaps the answers to these questions are not what we would like them to be right now. But, with the guiding hand and example of Jesus Christ, it is always possible to grow as humans, change our hearts and minds, and engage in more loving relationships with those around us in and outside of the Fenwick community. 

Currently in Mr. Slajchert’s Moral Theology class, we are learning about Socrates teaching that living a morally good life, although it might seem like a burden at times, is truly the way to lead a happy and fulfilled life. In other words, living by the rules that God has given us allows us to live happily. Applying this more closely to our own Fenwick community, let us:

> show Jesus’ courage

> be more inclusive to others

> care for the poor

> support our peers here at Fenwick

When we consistently and consciously choose to live this way, as Jesus did, it will in time create a happier and more loving community both within and outside of the walls of Fenwick High School.

VIDEO:

See and hear Will deliver his reflection.

About the Author

William “Will” Chioda, a junior from Hinsdale, IL, is a member of the Fenwick Preaching Team.