First and foremost I would like to revoke my wonderful wife's "Introvert" status. Since I was 'outed' at the Lay Formation session this past weekend, I thought I would write a quick intro and welcome to anyone reading for the first time.
I started this blog last fall with the idea of ...... well, ok, just because. I have been writing a technical blog in my field for a little over 4 years now and enjoy writing. I have also written a white paper on data center site selection -- if you ever have trouble getting to sleep at night. My hope was to make this blog a place to somewhat quickly review my thoughts on each class session and share with the world my journey through Lay Formation. Finding time to write is usually the toughest part - and now that others from class are reading, I will try to catch up.
Pope Benedict has spoken on technology and social media and embracing the positive impact that new communication tools can have. I think this just further motivates me to continue this blog and share with a global community my conviction, spirituality and faith journey. Pope Benedict also has a Facebook page and channel on YouTube (very nice to have videos aggregated here). There is also a wealth of information on the official web site for the Vatican -- http://www.vatican.va/phome_en.htm
But how can they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone to preach? And how can people preach unless they are sent? (Romans 10: 13-15)
A few final notes for understanding a blog and the way I have this formatted. Think of it as one big journal -- chronological from oldest on the bottom, to most recent entries on the top. I typically write late at night, so please forgive that I may not have completely full brain capacity at the time. If you see something underlined or in a different color, it is a link out to another site; I frequently link to other sources I have found on the net. You are welcome to comment on any blog post -- although it will take a few hours to be put on the site, as I must review them in order to keep the spammers at bay.
Enjoy!
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Session 1 - Myers Briggs Typology and Gifts Related to Ministry
The first session of the year covered the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) assessment. I am an ISFJ. Before getting into what each letter means, I would recommend the assessment to anyone else looking to understand themselves a little better, and see how their type affects prayer and temperament as well.
Borrowing from the Wikipedia article, the MBTI is a psychometric questionaire designed to measure psychological preferences in how people perceive the world and make decisions. The theory of psychological type was originally developed by Carl Jung - a name I know only because my wife was a psych student in college. :)
Beginning with the first letter - I am an "I" for Introvert. Didn't need an assessment for that one. The second letter (Sensing or iNtuition) -- I was Sensing (16 to 9). The third letter was either Thinking or Feeling and I, just barely am listed as Feeling. I think the balance I have in this section is a strength; in that I can use both in the appropriate time or situation and perhaps I don't have a dominant trait here. For the last letter (Judging or Perceiving) I scored as Judging by a difference of 18.
To quote a handout from class, from Father Raymond A. Parr -- "The true believer knows that search for self and search for God are the same search. When we find God, we find ourselves in him; when we find ourselves we find ourselves in God". This is kind of a running theme for the first year of lay formation -- as we come to truly understand ourselves, our faith formation, spirituality and how to merge that search for self with the hunger and desire to grow closer to God.
As I can always appreciate the humorous side of things, I liked the suggested prayer for my type -- "Lord, please help me to be more laid back and help me to do that EXACTLY correctly." You can find this and all of the other prayers -- here. Secondly, I constantly have Stuart Smalley in my mind whenever doing these self-assessment type of things -- and I've done a few (did I mention my 'then' future bride was a psych student? :) ) Stuart Smalley was a Saturday Night Live skit by Al Franken with the famous quote, "Denial is not 'just' a river in Egypt."
The book assignment for this session was Prayer and Temperament: Different Prayer Forms for Different Personality Types. While a bit of a heavy read, I would recommend it for those digging into matching your personality type with prayer. Co-author Monsignor Chester P. Michael has a web site - The Open Door.
As I am sure was the intention -- the determination of your prayer and temperament type is very intriguing -- to help see the methods and historical background of those with a similar type. Each had their aspects that I could relate to, and I am an Ignatian prayer type (mostly). One thing in a handout of ours was that in Ignatian prayer we need to meditate on the resurrection of Christ and not only the death of Christ. To me, this leads back to the word on my rock at the retreat - Joy. Ignatian, Augustinian, Franciscan, or Thomistic -- looking into each can only enrich your prayer life.
Borrowing from the Wikipedia article, the MBTI is a psychometric questionaire designed to measure psychological preferences in how people perceive the world and make decisions. The theory of psychological type was originally developed by Carl Jung - a name I know only because my wife was a psych student in college. :)
Beginning with the first letter - I am an "I" for Introvert. Didn't need an assessment for that one. The second letter (Sensing or iNtuition) -- I was Sensing (16 to 9). The third letter was either Thinking or Feeling and I, just barely am listed as Feeling. I think the balance I have in this section is a strength; in that I can use both in the appropriate time or situation and perhaps I don't have a dominant trait here. For the last letter (Judging or Perceiving) I scored as Judging by a difference of 18.
To quote a handout from class, from Father Raymond A. Parr -- "The true believer knows that search for self and search for God are the same search. When we find God, we find ourselves in him; when we find ourselves we find ourselves in God". This is kind of a running theme for the first year of lay formation -- as we come to truly understand ourselves, our faith formation, spirituality and how to merge that search for self with the hunger and desire to grow closer to God.
As I can always appreciate the humorous side of things, I liked the suggested prayer for my type -- "Lord, please help me to be more laid back and help me to do that EXACTLY correctly." You can find this and all of the other prayers -- here. Secondly, I constantly have Stuart Smalley in my mind whenever doing these self-assessment type of things -- and I've done a few (did I mention my 'then' future bride was a psych student? :) ) Stuart Smalley was a Saturday Night Live skit by Al Franken with the famous quote, "Denial is not 'just' a river in Egypt."
The book assignment for this session was Prayer and Temperament: Different Prayer Forms for Different Personality Types. While a bit of a heavy read, I would recommend it for those digging into matching your personality type with prayer. Co-author Monsignor Chester P. Michael has a web site - The Open Door.
As I am sure was the intention -- the determination of your prayer and temperament type is very intriguing -- to help see the methods and historical background of those with a similar type. Each had their aspects that I could relate to, and I am an Ignatian prayer type (mostly). One thing in a handout of ours was that in Ignatian prayer we need to meditate on the resurrection of Christ and not only the death of Christ. To me, this leads back to the word on my rock at the retreat - Joy. Ignatian, Augustinian, Franciscan, or Thomistic -- looking into each can only enrich your prayer life.
Friday, November 27, 2009
Lay Formation Year 1 : Retreat
My Lay Formation journey began with a retreat in Dubuque - home to our Archdiocese. The Shalom Retreat Center in Dubuque was a wonderful, spirit-filled location to have this beginning session. My wife and I lived in Dubuque for over 5 years and did not know that this secluded area overlooking the Mississippi river existed.
The weekend seemed difficult to even start, as my wife and I had not left our 3 young children for a period of time like this for quite a while (if ever). It was probably harder for us than it was for them -- having their grand parents take care of them. It took a little while into the retreat to really let go of some of the worries over them and truly get into the intentions of the retreat.
As I wrote in my Lay Formation application, the journey really is the reward. I am a firm believer in this and this retreat was an awesome beginning to my journey. One of the retreat staff gave a wonderful speech and ended with a bible reading that said "I speak this in the world so that they may share my joy completely." Later that same day all retreat participants randomly selected a rock with a word on the bottom. My rock said: Joy.
The retreat also afforded many moments of prayerful reflection, as well as time to take long walks with my wife to discuss anything and everything. The retreat staff had divided us into small groups as well, to break-out and discuss topics a little more intimately. Everyone in my group is very nice and it was nice to learn about different faith formation journeys that led us to that weekend. As my group has (perhaps now) learned -- I like to write a LOT more than I like to talk. :)
Throughout the retreat we were asked to journal quite a bit. As a technology nut, my hand was cramping just at the thought of doing that much writing. I endured though and am glad to have the computer to continue my journalling. As a close to the reflection paper on the retreat weekend I wrote:
The weekend seemed difficult to even start, as my wife and I had not left our 3 young children for a period of time like this for quite a while (if ever). It was probably harder for us than it was for them -- having their grand parents take care of them. It took a little while into the retreat to really let go of some of the worries over them and truly get into the intentions of the retreat.
As I wrote in my Lay Formation application, the journey really is the reward. I am a firm believer in this and this retreat was an awesome beginning to my journey. One of the retreat staff gave a wonderful speech and ended with a bible reading that said "I speak this in the world so that they may share my joy completely." Later that same day all retreat participants randomly selected a rock with a word on the bottom. My rock said: Joy.
The retreat also afforded many moments of prayerful reflection, as well as time to take long walks with my wife to discuss anything and everything. The retreat staff had divided us into small groups as well, to break-out and discuss topics a little more intimately. Everyone in my group is very nice and it was nice to learn about different faith formation journeys that led us to that weekend. As my group has (perhaps now) learned -- I like to write a LOT more than I like to talk. :)
Throughout the retreat we were asked to journal quite a bit. As a technology nut, my hand was cramping just at the thought of doing that much writing. I endured though and am glad to have the computer to continue my journalling. As a close to the reflection paper on the retreat weekend I wrote:
My journey continues today – start a new page, a new chapter ; a new revelation about how I can build my relationship with God, selflessly preach and live His word, and bring joy and love to all.
How My Lay Formation Journey Began
I forgot to mention in my first post how (exactly) my lay formation began. I am blessed with many wonderful people in my life and several were of assistance in getting me into this program. My wonderful wife had an interest sparked in the program at first and thought I would benefit from it as well. After deliberation and consultation from others that had been through the program we decided to apply.
The church I belong to is St. Edward in Waterloo, Iowa. We have an incredible Pastor and supporting staff. My wife talked with the Pastoral Associate and she knew that we would love the program and have NO problems being accepted. We had her (and some friends) write our letters of recommendation and several weeks later learned that we were accepted.
Additionally, two other couples from our church had been accepted!! I still wasn't 'quite' sure what I had just signed up for, but was apprehensively glad to begin the journey. :)
The church I belong to is St. Edward in Waterloo, Iowa. We have an incredible Pastor and supporting staff. My wife talked with the Pastoral Associate and she knew that we would love the program and have NO problems being accepted. We had her (and some friends) write our letters of recommendation and several weeks later learned that we were accepted.
Additionally, two other couples from our church had been accepted!! I still wasn't 'quite' sure what I had just signed up for, but was apprehensively glad to begin the journey. :)
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Welcome to my Lay Formation Blog
Welcome to my Lay Formation blog! I started year one of my three year lay formation journey this last September 2009. I write another technical blog in my field of expertise and feel that it aids in my comprehension of the various topics greatly just by writing about them. So I figured what better to help me along Lay Formation than to blog/write about it!. Besides, so much has been taught already about journaling — this is just my way of sharing — ’some’ of what I journal on the various topics as we learn them. Additionally, the books that we have read so far in class have been wonderful – and I would love to share them so that others may enjoy them as well.
I’ll begin in the next few posts catching up on our initial retreat weekend and then get into the first few sessions and books that have been covered.
-John Rath
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