RMP: The Kindergarten Catholic Primer

If you ever were to meet me in person, you'd probably find me a little bit awkward. Or at least I feel like I'm awkward, and I think sometimes people perceive me to be awkward. (And rightly so).

My social ineptness shows up most prominently on the telephone.

Also, if I don't say 'like' and 'you know' about fifty billion times in one sentence, I stutter.

But I'm good with the written word. On paper, I sound nothing like what I sound like in person. Why, I don't know. Maybe because no one is really looking. The party you're talking to is usually not there when you're writing (unless you're reading a poem or a short story, but I digress). It's also an added bonus that I don't stutter on paper.

The same way I feel awkward around talking to people is the same way I feel about talking in prayer. Really, really awkward. I'm notorious for just reciting already well-written prayers because I never know what to say or how to say it. If you've ever tried this approach, it can get boring very quickly and can lead to laxness in one's prayer life. (That's no good).

About two months after I was baptized last year, I had the fleeting thought of starting this blog. I quickly shrugged it off as I thought it was just nostalgia creeping in on me. (I used to keep a daily blog as a teenager. It was mostly filled with teen angst). Since blogging was a past time for me, I thought I was just missing it and the feeling would pass. Not so. About the six month mark, I had the thought again. This time, I considered the option of blogging more seriously, but then I thought, "well, I haven't even been Catholic for a year, so how can I even write about it?" That's when I thought, "well, maybe in a year." Well, here I am, almost a year later.

This past week, I've been participating in an extended Ignatian retreat. Part of what we're to do the first week is to pick out of some of God's graces in our lives. I feel like one of my graces is that I'm good with the written word. Moreover, I'm comfortable with it. The article I had to read for this retreat suggested keeping a journal and writing about my feelings in a letter to Jesus. I think it's at this point the light bulb went off for me. Of course! I could write Jesus prayers instead of mentally stuttering them or simply reciting pre-established ones. I could write this blog and show other people what Jesus has done and is doing in my life. Then, this morning, the Parish Life bulletin showed up. At the bottom of it, the creator was asking for contributing writers. And I immediately thought, "hey that's me!" I like to write, be it creatively or informatively.

All this to say, I'm not really here with a purpose. I like to write. I think my ability to write is a gift from God. I think I need to use it. And I think this is what He wants me to do. I don't think I would have wanted to do this for almost a year with an ever-growing desire to do it unless it was the right thing.

So, hello cyberspace catholics. My name is Jordan, but you can call me Veronica after my patron saint, and I'm the Kindergarten Catholic who has always got a rosary in her pocket.