Today I completed my application for graduation…this coming May. I am so excited and yet torn about this stage in my life coming to an end. Okay, so I know the song, “Closing Time”, says, “Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.” I get it, but it doesn’t make me any less anxious about what comes next.
I am so blessed to have been afforded the opportunity by Aquinas Institute of Theology to “tell my story” at least three different ways during these past few years: first, with this blog; second with an article that was written about me by the Office of Communications during my first year and now, I’ve been invited to write for Signatures that will be published this Spring by Aquinas’ Communications Office. I feel honored and humbled to once again be able to share my journey of faith with people.
That being said, this week was the first week of the last semester of school for me! I am taking Supervised Practice of Ministry II (SPM II), Sacramental and Theological Foundations of Ministry, Lay Formation IV and Integrative Seminar. For SPM II, I will continue my ministry at Lydia’s House, a place of healing and hope for women and children surviving domestic violence, one of the largest transitional housing agencies of this type in the country that provides services and supports to people who so often get abused through institutionalized oppression (another blog perhaps)…don’t get me started on how we actually have more animal shelters than shelters for human beings, though!
A great deal of my time at Aquinas has focused on Theological Reflection (TR) of some sort and that skill is being honed in SPM this year. We’ve been asked this semester to describe our TR Rhythm. I think that the most important question for me in theological reflection has become, “Where is God in…[this event/happening/circumstance]?”
So, look for me to share some of those reflections as my time as a MAPS student winds down…but you might find it helpful to ask yourself the question, “Where was God in your life today?”
Blessings and Peace to you in the name of Christ our Savior,
Michelle
