FEATURES
TO FALL BACK ON Theology Instructor and Service Learning Co-Coordinator Polly Holmes rediscovers her call to religion through adventure and service. BY MADDIE YOUNG BREAKING NEWS EDITOR
H
er journey to find faith was far from ordinary. It was intricate and filled with deeply contemplated questions. Her journey was one of adventures that worked to expand her horizons, giving her new perspectives on how the world works. It was one of service and one of learning. Theology Instructor and Service Learning Co-Coordinator Polly Holmes’ journey to rediscover her faith was not immediate, but rather a very gradual process with an unforgettable impact. Holmes says that her journey was a lot like Theodore Ratisbonne’s: slow and continuous. “In college I studied every Asian religion there was so I did not have to study Christian scripture,” Holmes said. “I studied a lot of different things and I still like to study a lot of different kinds of religions. I am more like Theodore in that I am always searching.” Holmes grew up attending Atchison Catholic Elementary School, known today as Saint Benedict Catholic School. She then went on to Mount Saint Scholastica Academy, an all-girls Catholic high school in Atchison, Kansas. Throughout this time, she felt as though a piece of her religious puzzle was missing. This missing piece and the lack of complete clarity caused her to question her faith. “In middle school and high school I saw a lot of double standards, and as a young person I wanted it to be black and white,” Holmes said. “I didn’t understand that there would be grey areas. People are human, they make mistakes. I said if the Church is not perfect, I do not want it.” Holmes continued on to Benedictine College,
20
LE JOURNAL February 2017
studying business, and was not actively practicing her faith. While in college, she married her husband, Mark Holmes, who played professional basketball overseas. After college, Holmes spent the next chapter of her life living overseas with her husband who played first in Argentina, then in Iceland and finally in Norway. As far as her faith was concerned, Holmes was impacted through the new experiences she was greeted with, especially during her stay in Argentina. “It was while I was living in Argentina that I saw real poverty for the first time,” Holmes said. “I remember flying in and seeing sheep on the runway and the tops of shacks where the people were living. However, I also remember the people that I encountered, all of whom were so poor yet so hospitable and kind.” Her adventures and new experiences accumulated. And after returning to Atchison, Kansas from Oslo, Norway with two twin sons, Nicholas and Caleb, Holmes felt compelled to find a way to actively practice her faith again. After looking at other denominations and finding that none of them felt like “home,” Holmes took a class about rejoining the Catholic church. Finding this class interesting, she decided to take more classes about this topic through the religious institute at Benedictine. Holmes was later asked to teach an eighth grade confirmation class at Prince of Peace parish, introducing her to the art of teaching. The next major step on Holmes’ journey to redefine her faith was through the many mission trips that she participated in as a youth group leader within the United States. She took part on these trips
throughout the 13 years she spent as the Director of Religious Education at Prince of Peace. “I took a lot of kids on different mission trips,” Holmes said. “So that is kind of where I found my faith, through service and though people of different cultures.” The mission trips that she took to El Paso, Texas and to the Winnebago reservation were two of the most impactful trips that she was involved with, according to Holmes. In El Paso, she worked in ghettos in the desert where the inhabitants formed their own communities in close proximity with each other.
