Passion & Reason

Working hard at the University Café

Yes, I’m working hard at the University Café – here I am uploading photos to the University Café gallery. Come by and visit at St. Michael’s!

Today I also was at Janet and Brian’s new place (well, when they get married), talking about photography for their wedding. Little did I know about the third party that will be part of their family. Correction: It’s a beaver, not a hamster.
Aww… soo cute. Now, as it stands, the photographers will be dedicating several poses for this furry future member of the Lim family.

Here’s an interesting approach to the University Café (pardon the pun).
The volunteers at the University Café are a lively bunch. Having met Rick Benson and Amanda Ward earlier at TIG when I ran a workshop on uploading pics to the gallery (they’re the heads, actually), I’ve started to have dialogue with some of the volunteers. Jocelyne, from U of Guelph, and I had a conversation about the faith communities in our respective schools. I continue to wonder: when will the dialogue between our communities happen? I know dialogue has happened – and I would think that I’ve had some some dialogue with Catholics – but a part of me still longs for more.

I mentioned that what I’ve admired about the Catholic legacy is their dedication towards social issues – about a faith that is lived out. Much of my own spiritual renaissance and theology has been shaped by Catholic “greats”- Jean Vanier, Henri Nouwen, St. Augustine, St. Francis of Assisi, and Brennan Manning to mention but a few. Their own journeys have convinced me not to over-spiritualize matters – like getting obese on spiritual stuff without any exercise – but to have my mind and heart lead my hands.

Earlier, at the John 4:24 praise night Jen Hompoth and I discussed her reflections from attending the volunteers’ mass – we know that we’re both going to be processing and reflecting on the events, on the conversations, and hopefully on the friendships made and strengthened even when WYD is long past. Although sometimes I think I’m a bit of a veteran on this journey, conversations like these remind me that night is still young.

You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.
- Matthew 5:13,14 (NIV)

This entry was posted on Monday, July 22nd, 2002 at 9:21 pm. It is filed under Hindsight. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.