Hace poco más de un año, comencé la transición a mi nuevo puesto en la Archidiócesis de Mobile.  Se fijó mi fecha de inicio y planifiqué mi viaje desde el área de Washington, DC, hasta Mobile.  Mientras preparaba mi viaje, estaba ocupado empacando y preparando y tenía poco tiempo para prestar atención a las noticias.

A little over a year ago, I began my transition to my new position in the Archdiocese of Mobile.  My start date was set and I planned my drive from the Washington, DC, area to Mobile.  As I was preparing for my trip, I was busy packing and preparing and had little time to pay attention to the news. I decided to start my trip after work on my last day in the office and drive outside of the DC/Virginia area to avoid morning traffic.  I picked out Rocky Mount, N.C., to spend the night.  It seemed like the perfect spot to break up my travel.  I was excited as a set out on my journey.

Nota del editor: Esta es la tercera y última entrega de una serie de tres columnas. Consulte las ediciones del 25 de marzo y del 20 de abril de The Catholic Week en línea en mobarch.org para leer las dos primeras columnas.

As the sun set on my 24-hour Vigil on Lough Derg (St. Patrick’s Purgatory) in Ireland, I was ready to sleep. I was up for about 36 hours which does not include my difficulty in sleeping the night before the pilgrimage began. After night prayer on the second day, we were allowed back into the dorms where I had left everything including my shoes on the first day. I collapsed on the bed and fell asleep very quickly.

Durante mi segundo año como profesora de educación religiosa, la clase de sexto grado se reunía los domingos por la noche.  Una vez, en la noche del domingo inmediatamente después del Miércoles de Ceniza, una alumna me preguntó: "¿Qué pasa si ya has comido lo que has dejado para la Cuaresma?"

In the afternoon of the first day of my pilgrimage on Saint Patrick’s Purgatory, rain started to fall.  I had completed my first three stations in the sun.  

During my second year of teaching religious education, my sixth-grade class met on Sunday nights.  One time on the Sunday night immediately following Ash Wednesday, a student asked me “What if you already ate what you gave up for Lent?”  It seems she had given up chocolate, but forgot.  I chuckled and then told her that she should not eat any more chocolate for the rest of Lent.  Sometimes we might make a mistake during Lent and this might lead to giving up on what we had started.  This mindset might also lead us to avoid challenging ourselves during Lent because it might be too difficult.  

The St. Michael Catholic High School Model United Nations (UN) Team competed at the 14th annual University of Alabama Model UN Conference, where the team won the most awards and the conference’s top honor.

ORANGE BEACH — Teenagers from throughout the Archdiocese of Mobile joined together at the Perdido Beach Resort in Orange Beach on Feb. 18-20 for this year's Archdiocesan Catholic Youth Conference, popularly known as ACYC.

AUBURN — St. Michael Parish in Auburn has announced that Deborah A. Brooks will be the first principal of St. Michael Catholic School, which opens in August.

A burgeoning youth ministry program at St. John the Evangelist Parish in Enterprise recently received a big boost from the “Generations of Faith – Endowing our Future with Hope” campaign and the people of the Archdiocese of Mobile.

McGill-Toolen Catholic High School student Grace Salmon earned honorable mention in the Better Business Bureau Serving Central and South Alabama’s inaugural Laws of Life Essay Contest.

This is how I fight my battles It may look like I’m surrounded But I’m surrounded by You” ­—”Surrounded”  Lyrics by  Elyssa Smith/Alyssa Smith

After a one-year absence due to COVID-19, the Archdiocesan Catholic Youth Conference in Orange Beach returns Feb. 18-20.

"Even the weakest and most vulnerable, the sick, the old, the unborn and the poor, are masterpieces of God’s creation, made in his own image, destined to live forever, and deserving of the utmost reverence and respect.” — Pope Francis, Day for Life Greeting

As we await the blessed hope, the appearance of the glory of our great God and savior Jesus Christ.” — Titus 2:13

My first youth retreat was actually when I was a part-time youth minister at my parish.  I was invited to attend as an adult chaperone for the high school retreat prior to the start of school.  The retreat was scheduled to start on Friday night but I had a conflict so I volunteered to drive our parish priest up on Saturday morning and drive him back Saturday evening.  When I arrived, all of the participants and adults had already been together on Friday night and I really did not know most of them.  It was challenging to find my place so I was relieved that I was leaving early because it felt awkward to me.  I had not committed myself to fully participate in the retreat and so it did not have much of an impact on me.  

Goal 3:  To foster the total personal and spiritual growth of each young person.”                                                  — Renewing the Vision

"Goal 2: To draw young people to responsible participation in the life, mission, and work of the Catholic faith community.” — Renewing the Vision

When I was young, I always thought of myself as a leader. I would make decisions, organize activities, assign people to do tasks and give advice. I did not have leadership training but it seemed to come naturally to me. Even though I was an introvert, I was able to go outside of my comfort zone when I was focused on a specific task or activity. When an adult would ask me to lead something, it felt good to be given responsibility and intensified my focus.