And after Mass this Saturday, I will officially be a lector at my church. I am counting the official marker as it will be the first time I have done it there.

I am also officially ready for spring.

And with spring, of course, comes Easter. But before Easter is Lent.

Over my 25 years of life, I’ve given up a variety of things. As a child I once went the entire season without chocolate. And the way I celebrated on Easter was a collection of pogs each with a different football helmet on them. This was my choice, though to think about it kind of perplexes me, since I’ve never really been into football… but I digress. In Arkansas, one of my roommates and I spent the entirely of Lent on a Daniel fast (I do not recommend trying to do one of these alone — I think the solidarity/accountability of having a fasting buddy is the key to success here). And last year I gave up meat.

After careful consideration, I weighed my thoughts on what I would do. I dismissed the idea of another Daniel fast for the above stated reason and ultimately nixed going pescatarian until Easter since I haven’t been eating much meat lately (or ever in my life), and I couldn’t see that bringing me closer to God this year. So, what did I decide to give up? First, all alcohol. Second, on Sundays I will give up all forms of media — i.e., laptop, TV, iPod, and texting and checking e-mail or Facebook on my BlackBerry (but since it is my only phone, I will allow myself to make and receive calls). Finally, I am striving to do at least one thing per day to further my faith (besides personal prayer) — for this I’m counting adult faith formation, bible study, theology on tap, etc., and of course Mass.

Since I always have plenty of lunch time left after eating, this week (starting on Ash Wednesday) I’ve been using the first half of my lunch hour to attend daily Mass. This is something I hope to keep up for the majority of the Lenten season.

Otherwise, I have been staying busy with bible study and CCD and just living life. Maybe it’s because the days are so short right now … but it just seems like I blink and the day is over.

And with that, I should probably do some dishes, read for my bible study, and get to bed. Just a short update for now.

(If you’re looking for some great, free traditional Christmas music, I stumbled upon this lovely Pandora station today.)

But, on my way headed home from work, the cover of Oct. 20th’s AM New York caught my eye — a picture of the NYC skyline, focused on the empire state building and surrounded by the big white words “GOT GOD?” I quickly grabbed myself a copy to further investigate. Thinking, albeit somewhat optimistically, maybe they were focusing on religion in New York. Then I read the subhead: “Atheism ads coming to subways rile some New Yorkers.”

I applaud AM New York for including reactions of both sides. In fact, their story shared the feelings of a handful of New Yorkers upset by the upcoming ad campaign that claims “A million New Yorkers are good without God.” Unlike this CNN article that focuses more on the atheist point of view.

As someone who works for a Christian (read: Catholic) organization that advertised on the NYC subways not too long ago, I debated how I felt about the atheist ad campaign. I recognize and respect the freedom of speech aspect; there is no reason they should not be allowed to advertise, but I mentally stacked up the purpose and motives between Holy Name Province’s ad campaign with this. HNP was advertising for vocations — reaching out to working men who might be feeling unfulfilled at their current job and challenging them to consider making a “life shift.”

The AM New York and CNN articles both are careful to say the atheist campaign is to raise awareness among fellow atheists that they aren’t alone — not as an attack on religion. But, this raises two questions in my mind: 1) Are there really NYC atheists who feel they are the only secular person here? Because honestly, I feel like it is probably just as easy to feel you are only the faithful person in the city; 2) Can you really assume that all 15 percent people who checked “none” for their selection of religion on the 2008 American Religious Identification Survey are truly “good without God”?

I guess I would like to know what the other options were. A growing number of people in my generation (and probably in the world in general) consider themselves spiritual but not religious. They might believe in a “superior being” or something greater than they are even if they don’t subscribe to or desire to participate in organized religion. It all just seems a bit … presumptuous?

And then there’s the question of how this campaign could impact those who are good with God. AM New York quoted a 37-year-old Bronx mother as saying, “I teach my children to believe in God and lead a life faithful to Him. If my children see these ads that say there is no God, they’ll think their mother is lying.” Or what about the person struggling with their faith?

But, the more I think about it … maybe this should just be a call to action for those who are good with God. Its an opportunity for the mother to explain to her children that some people don’t believe in God, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t exist. It’s all the more reason for the churches — meaning the faithful people that fill them every week, not just the leaders — to be that much more willing to speak out about their personal faith.

I guess the reasoning is two-fold: I’ve been busy and I haven’t had anything in particular that has inspired me to write about. The warm days of summer have quickly cooled to autumn, which this week seems to be on the outs as well. I took my first “PTO” (paid time off) day from work and went on a long weekend vacation to Wilmington, Del., to visit a friend of mine. It was one of the more relaxing, rejuvenating weekends I have had in a while.

I’ve been trying to get out, meet new people and do new and exciting things. In the span of a few days I went to a small benefit concert featuring The Fray (my first NYC concert) and a fashion show of a friend-of-a-friend, so to speak (at Webster Hall) and taught my first Sunday School class. (That weekend actually followed the relaxing, rejuvenating weekend).) I’ve joined a small bible study at my church, attended an all-day training to lector at my parish and resumed going to a variety of theology talks.

I actually made the 3-train trek back to Greenpoint for the first time since my July move. It was interesting to see it through such different eyes. For my first four months in New York, Greenpoint was the only home I knew. Now, comparing it to Astoria … I just like Astoria so much better. It was good to go back and not feel like I missed the neighborhood I was originally reluctant to leave. Yes, I have a significantly longer walk to the subway every morning, but that walk is significantly more enjoyable than the 1/2 block walk to my apartment in Greenpoint.

Today, when I called my GreaterWorks mentor during my lunch break (I hadn’t been able to get a hold of her since before my move to Astoria) it occurred to me that somewhere along the line in my recent years, I’ve actually become a fan of talking on the phone. I’m not sure exactly when this snuck up on me, but I know I wasn’t always this way. In the past few weeks, I feel like I’ve been having myriad catch-up phone calls. If I have extra time on my lunch break, I tend to try to call someone to pass the time. If I stay in on the weekend I usually have someone I can talk to. I enjoy my brief conversations when a friar calls me at work.

I guess this is so shocking because I used to dread phone conversations. (I guess I can thank YouthWorks! and 2 summers of pre-trip phone calls for getting over some of that … and for sending me all over the country so I have no choice but to make some phone calls to keep in touch.) Somehow I’ve managed to lose my old shy self in New York, because I am yet to meet someone who really believes me when I tell them by nature I am shy.

Anyway, now I just feel like I am rambling. But … I thought I would share a few thoughts since I’ve just been too busy/distracted lately.

This will be my pleasure reading over the coming months, as I am officially the sole 3rd grade CCD teacher at the church … so long as I don’t actually end up being needed for 7th grade. (While I did very much grow to appreciate junior highers while living in Rapid City, I am hoping I get to stick with the 3rd graders).

I am excited, and maybe a little nervous… mostly because I can’t believe after about a month of going to a church and knowing no one, I am about to be trusted with a dozen or so children. Not that I am incapable … it just seems like I am jumping in with both feet.

I am also excited for the prospects of trying to get some young adult group/activities going at the church with the help of the DRE … who it turns out knew the group I was involved with in Greenpoint. Sometimes the smallness/interconnectedness of New York City seems so unlikely … and yet I feel like there are just all these overlapping circles of people who know each other. Anyway. Mostly I just wanted to share the cover of the textbook … no great wisdom tonight.

One of my roommates in college had a recipe for pizza dough. Granted, dough is pretty simple, but she passed the recipe on to me and I shared it with my senior year roommate, my GreateWorks teammates, my YouthWorks! staff and now, in NYC, I think I might have perfected it. If you enjoy Hawaiian pizza, here’s what I do:

Dough:
• 1 3/4 cup very warm tap water
•1 pkg quick rise yeast
• 2 cups whole wheat flour• 2 cups white flour
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp salt

Pizza toppings:
• Crushed red pepper flakes
• Dried basil
• Garlic (2 cloves)
• 1 14 oz can of Italian seasoned diced tomatoes
• 1 small can of tomato paste
• Mozzarella cheese (I grate my own)
• Parmesan cheese
• Onion, thinly sliced
• Crushed pineapple
• Ham, thinly sliced
• Olive oil

It was with a guy I met briefly at a Christian happy hour (hosted by Redeemer Presbyterian — the church I found my roommate through) who described himself as “raised Catholic.” I’ve met a handful of these people over the past couple of years, and each give varying reasons for why they are no longer Catholic: for example, a friend of mine was Catholic until she felt God was calling her to be a pastor, so she became Lutheran.

As my conversation with this former Catholic progressed, I asked him if his parents were still active in the Church, to which he quickly replied yes, then hesitated and said, “Well, my dad more than my mom; I think she prefers more a Redeemer-type service.” So I asked what it was about Redeemer that would make it superior to a Catholic Mass, to which his reply was, “Well, its just more … scripture-centered.” My imediate response was, “As opposed to … Christ-centered?” (referring, of course to the Eucharist, though I think he missed this point). And he said he felt like the Catholic Church is “too focused on saints.”

I think the saints and their connection with the Catholic Church is all too often misunderstood. I’ve spent some time trying to explain to non-Catholic friends that Catholics aren’t worshipping or praying TO saints, but it is hard to clearly get the point across. So, sitting in a chapel surrounded by paintings of holy men in brown robes, I had this thought of how to best explain it. Or at least shed SOME light on it.

Personally, I don’t understand the criticism of saints. I think of it this way: 1) the Catholic Church is universal; 2) we are brothers and sisters in Christ; 3) all Christians ask living friends and family, especially people we consider to have strong faiths to join in prayer with us for our special intentions. Can you see where I’m headed with this? I just don’t see why, if we believe in eternal life, it is so miscontrued that we would ask our brothers and sisters in Christ, those who have lived holy lives and died and now live in heaven … to join in prayer with us.

And, as far as a Mass being to saint-centric, this just doesn’t seem to stand up as an argument. Do we mention saints? Yes. But how would that be different than having a Mass in remembrance of a family member? Except we look to the saints as people who strived to live their lives as God wanted them to … in hopes we could learn something from them. But I digress.

As my conversation began to wind down, the former Catholic asked me if I had been to any non-Catholic church services. Being immersed in YouthWorks! and GreaterWorks and an overall multi-denominational culture, I found myself at a variety of other Christian services. In the past couple of years I’ve been to a handful of contemprary services, including “hip hop church,” as well as Methodist, Lutheran, Baptist and non-denominational churches. So I told him, “Well, yes.” So he asked me what I thought of them as compared to the Catholic Church. I explained that while I think there are definitely aspects of some other Christian churches that Catholicism could learn from, there is at least one thing I won’t ever find in any other church that I’m just not willing to give up: that is, the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.

Which, really, he had nothing to say after that.

During my summers with YouthWorks, we had “devo” time carved out for us as part of the schedule … ideally anyway. Admittedly, as a site director, probably 50 percent of my devo time was spent mopping a kitchen, finding rainy day back-up ministry plans or catching an extra 10-20 minutes of much, much needed rest.

With GreaterWorks, time for devotions is strongly encouraged. I will say, having it more or less built into your daily life makes prayer a lot easier. But being back at home with no real schedule, motivating myself to read the Bible just didn’t happen near as often as it should have.

Now, just around the corner from the six month mark of my move to New York City, I’ve decided I’m settled enough to stop making excuses for myself.

It started on my way into work one moring, on the N train, after one of my former staff who was doing another summer with YouthWorks told me they badly needed prayer. Knowing my subway ride is usualy right around 25-30 minutes, I figured it was the perfect opportunity to pray a rosary. (I always carry two with me.)

One of the things I really appreciate about praying the rosary — especially in the distracting environment of the subway — is the focus it allows. Maybe a very focused, dedicated person could stay completely on topic praying on the subway … but I am a people watcher. I would get distracted probably in the first 5 minutes outside of a quiet, prayerful environment. But the rosary holds my attention (and, if my mind wanders a little, I have the beads to keep me on track).

So for the next few days, my morning commute was my rosary time. Then, one morning when I was feeling too tired or rushed to focus, I held off on my rosary for lunch time. For the first time, I took advantage of the “lower church” at St. Francis of Assisi, right next to my office. During the week they almost always have Eucharistic exposition, so I headed down to pray the rosary.

And, I finally took advatage of an opportunity I had been considering for most of the summer: joining the rosary walk at Central Park.

Since then, I’ve been trying to turn this into a new habit for me. I’ve gone to a sprinkling of daily Masses (with the number of churches and variety of daily Mass schedules in the city, it hardly seems excusable to never take advantage), sometimes praying my rosary before or after that.

My ultimate goal, at this point, is to get myself to bed early enough (clearly not happening tonight) so that I can get up early enough to start attending 7 a.m. daily Mass at my St. Francis when it starts up again in the fall. But for now I’ll take my baby steps with the rosary on the subway.

Tonight I decided to go, kind of on a whim, to this concert/talent show type thing that was happening in the basement of a church. I arrived a half hour late, just in time to hear a guy play a song.

But not just any song. A song I had stumbled upon through the MySpace of my favorite band, The Weepies. Having missed any sort of introduction of who this man was, I wondered if he was a fellow Weepies lover and therefore found the song as well. But it just sounded so much like the original. And sure enough, it was the original artist.

I’ve been trying to go to a low-key concert of an artist I thoroughly enjoy since I’ve come to the city, and this one I just stumbled upon.

After the talent show was over, I approached Greg, having to know if the last name he shares with Steve Tannen (50 percent of The Weepies) meant he was in fact related. So I boldly said: “I have a random question for you. You aren’t by any chance related to the Weepies?” To which he replied: “As a matter of fact they are my brother and sister-in-law.”

Where else, except New York City, can you go to a Catholic young adults event and have a casual conversation with a man related to your favorite band? I mean really.

By Wednesday I had received a follow-up call from the director of religious education/faith formation from the parish on my indicated interest in helping out. I originally missed his call but returned it during my lunch break, and we chatted about my experience and interest and his. He previously worked for the Diocese of Brooklyn and has only been the DRE at St. Francis since June 1. He also helps out with the children’s liturgy and would like to get a young adult group/ministry growing at the parish. We are planning to meet up in early August to talk and flush out  my involvement in the parish ministries a little more.

Today, I received a census card and temporary collection envelopes from the church. This is kind of exciting, as it is more or less the first time I am essentially 100 percent adult in the church. The not-so-exciting part: Despite the fact that I provided a document with my name neatly hand-written, the sender successfully misspelled my name as D-o-l-e. I proceeded to cross out and correct all of the misspellings, and plan to include a kind note calling attention to the mistake (it would be quite obnoxious if it didn’t get fixed right away).

Richard, the DRE, said I should be hearing from all of the other people in charge of the groups/ministries I expressed interest in. So far, he’s the only one I’ve heard from, but it is nice to be feeling somewhat involved already.

It makes me think that peopel who feel like they don’t get anything out of church or there is no point to it aren’t involved. Just a thought.