7 minute read
Polly Holmes
from February 2017
by Le Journal
TO FALL BACK ON
Theology Instructor and Service Learning Co-Coordinator Polly Holmes rediscovers her call to religion through adventure and service.
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BY MADDIE YOUNG BREAKING NEWS EDITOR
Her 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, 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.
MISSION TRIP MEMORIES
Holmes and her mission group introduce themselves to the El Paso Community. The community was very poor but rich in spirit, according to Holmes. She remembers feeling inspired by their hospitality and happiness. (Photo submitted by Polly Holmes) While in El Paso, Texas Holmes and her mission group worked in poor areas near the desert borders. There they helped the community co-ops dig water lines, paint houses and clean up their community. (Photo submitted by Polly Holmes) Holmes poses with fellow mission group members, Braden Decker (left) and Rob Breeden (right) during her mission trip to Lafayette, Louisiana. On this trip, Holmes and her group organized a thrift store and bought clothes from it to wear for the dance that they put on for the community. (Photo submitted by Polly Holmes)
Holmes assisted in painting houses, digging and installing water lines that would provide running water to the houses, cleaning and by simply talking to and forming relationships with the poor but incredibly happy people that lived on the land.
On the trip to El Paso with Holmes was Former Youth Group Member Monica Kuckelman, who found Holmes to be very good at connecting with students, building lasting relationships and modeling what a faithful Catholic adult looks like. Kuckelman specifically remembers one experience that she had on the trip in which a group of women offered to cook her and her group an authentic Mexican meal. She was astonished by the selflessness that these people, who did not have a lot of money, displayed in offering to feed her large group. She described not being able to fully repay these women for their kindness as life changing.
“El Paso was especially impactful because of the people we were able to serve. Our group helped update homes to meet basic living needs,”
Kuckelman said. “The community was so thankful for what we were doing, which had a huge impact on us. El Paso ignited a love and passion for service in Mrs. Holmes and myself.” The other meaningful and memorable mission trip that Holmes took was to the Winnebago reservation north of Omaha. Here she encountered unimaginable poverty, and the inability of the Native Americans to maintain their sacred pow-wow ground because of their strict focus on trying to provide food for their community to eat. Holmes also found unique richness in the Native Americans’ character and came back changed.
“The poverty was unbelievable, but I think it was so interesting how they pulled in their Indian culture into the Mass and prayer services,” Holmes said. “Their spirituality in their pow-wows and their pride was unbelievable. And there were some things that happened on that trip that cannot be explained, some spiritual things that were just unbelievable.”
Since the trips, Holmes has found a new home at Sion. She was introduced to Sion while on a retreat in Atchison, Kansas back in 2013 with Assistant High School Division Head for Curriculum and Instruction Ellen Carmody’s mother. When she visited Sion for the first time, she became fixated by the mission and accepted a campus ministry leader position at the grade school campus. She taught fourth through eighth grade religion classes and enjoyed being able to learn and teach more about Judaism and Islam. She worked at the grade school for two years, and was rehired as a Theology Instructor and Service Learning Co-Coordinator at the beginning of this school year.
“When I came to Sion it kind of opened a whole new world to me because of its mission of being more ecumenical, or open to all faiths,” Holmes said. “It just felt like home because you could be Catholic and open to other faiths.”
Over the past several years, Holmes has found peace in her heart with what she truly believes and what is truly important to her, according to her sister, Micah Lutz. Holmes is incredibly knowledgeable in Catholicism, and continues to grow and learn all the time. However, she is not one to push her beliefs on anyone else, and is very open minded and accepting of all faiths.
“She has such a gift to share her knowledge of the Catholic faith without being intimidating or judgemental,” Lutz said. “She makes me think, and wonder and challenges me to see my own faith in different ways.
Holmes’ journey of faith still continues as she teaches and discovers new things about herself and her religion, but also about the religion of others. She encourages her students to be questioning and to use their questions as a way to connect more with God, whomever or whatever they might believe in.
“I have always been very questioning and have always wanted to teach people to help others and to have their eyes opened to new experiences as well,” Holmes said. “I always want kids to know that it is okay to question faith because that is how you grow.”
