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PRAYER, WORSHIP, & SERVICE These three Catholic practices remind us of God’s abiding presence and can help us navigate life’s ups and downs.
By Mary Ann Steutermann
28 • September 2021 | StAnthonyMessenger.org
WHO AM I?
Of course, to “remember” we first must “know.” Who am I? At first glance, science and religion may seem to propose competing viewpoints. Instead, I think they are just different ways of saying the same thing. Science tells us that everything in the universe was born out of a tiny space-time singularity that began the processes known as expansion, nuclear fusion, and evolution that created life as we know it today. Religion tells us that all creation came from the one God who loved us into the fullness of life through processes we call incarnation, salvation, and resurrection. Through either lens, the answer to the question “Who am I?” is the same. We come from God. We “live and move and have our being” in God. We return to that same God when our time on earth is done. If this is true for me, then it’s also true for you. All life participates in this divine wholeness. All life is part of God’s life. On some level, we knew this when— and perhaps even before—we were born. We knew that we were not “separate selves.” We were part of this holy Oneness.
RIGHT: RYAN J. LANE/ISTOCK
THE POWER OF
ould it be strange to say that one of my favorite parts of the workday as a campus minister at a Catholic high school is the ending of morning announcements? After reports on club meeting dates, sports scores, and reminders about the uniform code, the last thing we hear over the PA at the end of announcements each day is the exact same refrain: “Remember who we are. We are the community of Assumption.” A former principal of our school started using this mantra because it was a powerful message to her growing up. Whenever she would leave the house—for slumber parties and ball games as a young girl, and for dances and dates as a teen—her mother would remind her to “remember who you are.” It was shorthand for, “Remember who you have been raised to be. Remember that your words and actions reflect not only on you but on the family who loves and believes in you. Remember that if anything frightens you or anything dangerous happens, we are just a phone call away.” Our principal wanted our students to have that same powerful reminder: “You are part of a community who loves and supports and believes in you. No matter what happens today, don’t ever forget that.” As my understanding of the world and my place within it has evolved over the course of my life, I have come to realize that the ultimate goal of religious faith is to help us “remember who we are.”
