Monday, December 12, 2011
I'm looking for a full-time job for the spring (and possibly summer depending on which occupational therapy graduate program I go to). Jobs I would be interested in are:
- regularly scheduled babysitting/nanny (I have a year of experience with children with autism so I'm comfortable taking care of people with special needs. I've also volunteered over 100 hours at Children's hospital and I enjoy playing games and doing crafts with kids)
- cooking meals for people (I really enjoy cooking)
- helping out around the CSC
If you have a job connection for this community member, please contact Jamey at stegmaier@washucsc.org and he'll put you two in touch!
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
What is your favorite part of an Oreo?
Thursday, November 17, 2011
The End of the World
The following item was copied from a journal (http://ncronline.org/blogs/all-things-catholic/rabbi-and-archbishop-connect-and-thoughts-new-theologians) telling about an experience of speaking to Catholics:
"As part of the deal, I was asked to deliver the convocation address, which presented a rare opportunity to speak directly to a sample of the next generation of theologians. Here's a synopsis of what I said.
First, I delivered a simple two-word message, one that, in my experience, theologians don't hear nearly often enough: "Thank you."
Thank you, I said, for putting your intellect, your passions and your lives at the service of faith seeking understanding. It's an arduous enterprise, and you're probably more likely to hear from people mad at you than from those quietly grateful. The vitality of the church, however, depends in no small way on your work."
The above words call attention to the need for theology to interpret for us the end of the world theme in the Gospel of Matthew. Theology tells us what we can’t just “see” without help. Simple morality, the life of the heart, and the pursuit of justice all will continue in existence to the very end of time. And those things all matter now and will come again to matter a second time.
Without the theology, we would be easily subject to the flood of symbols and thoughts that circulate just below the surface.
Just below the surface, we are cynical. We feel that justice and simple morality and the feelings we have are unimportant. Theology helps us to put our faith into perspective and to try to understand that we really are important. Theology can tell us not to become cynical and that God will not buy into it when we become cynical and dysfunctional.
What theology wont do is to “freshening up” our images. Those images are too deeply embedded to change. Theology goes around them, not through them. Theology tells us that even to the end of time, what we are now is what God sees and responds to. Our images don’t tell us that belief. Our images tell us to give up hope! Matthew teaches us about our images and “threads” the images with the moral lessons we need to live without fear and with hope. Otherwise, Matthew’s knowledge of the end of the world is the same as the pagans have.
It seems like very bad news, and Matthew does nothing to cover it up or give it a sugar coating.
Our “Catholic” beliefs about the end of the world (and Matthew’s direct images) come from our pagan ancestors. They also come from certain Protestant and Evangelical non-Catholic-Christians, most of whom do not acknowledge how pagan they actually are. It is tempting to fall for the Protestant non-Catholic theological rhetoric and to believe that we are privileged in a special way. That somehow some of us will be privileged. The Catholic theologians say, “no sale.” They don’t buy into the message that we are privileged. They buy into the message of hope: that God loves us as we are. The Protestant-non-Catholic is selling a privilege. The privilege of watching the end of the world from a box seat where nothing bad happens to the spectators. Not so. God will destroy what he chooses. There are no exceptions.
Sell? We are not sold. We are pretty much the same as the pagans.
Jesus says as much when he says that no man knows, only the Father. He could just as easily have said, the pagans have as much right to their beliefs as you do because you are doing guess work about a subject of which you are ignorant.
Our theologians teach us to accept our images of the end of the world because they are built in. Even though they are nothing other than the common, pagan, estimation, they are what we have inside us. We may substitute a scientific belief; but we will soon find out that even the scientists love science fiction more than their own predictions about the running down of the energy reserves. The point is that we are all caught up in that fiction. We don’t know; but that doesn’t stop us from trying. The fiction points out to us that the world will end. It isn’t stable, and it will, at some point, exhaust itself or else just run out of time. It will fall upon itself; or it will come to a staggering defeat due to some or other force. A merely natural force could do us in. A powerful god might give a decree that also does the job.
We pray that God not extend the end time so long that everyone on earth loses all hope and all faith.
It is a prayer for mercy. Did Jesus command us to pray that way. Yes. He commanded us to pray that way. The prayer will play a role in what God chooses. That much insight comes from our faith. The pagan images don’t seem to leave a lot of room for the fruition of our prayer life. Jesus says that it will be that way and it will be very bad if our prayers are too weak or so nonexistent that God has to act on his own. Jesus has commanded us to hold up our end of the bargain. And that it will bear fruit if we do. Just like the famous fig tree that unlike the faithless one, brought forth fruit. The other one earned a curse for only doing leaves. We seem to be one or the other of those two trees. And we have a command as to which one works. Our prayers will work. That form of belief is not cynical,of course; but we are born to believe otherwise and have to go the whole nine yards to trust in Jesus. We will always have the gut feeling that our prayers are the empty sound of an empty water reservoir. The old kind that each town mounted on stilts. We will never actually see our prayers accumulating into the fruition of the end time events. Until it happens. Until then, have faith. And make your faith produce works worthy of God’s trust in you. Theologically speaking, of course. Who knows any better than that?
Monday, October 31, 2011
Job Seeker: Piano Lessons
"I have a Bachelors degree in Music from Truman State University and offer piano lessons to students of all ages either from my home or in yours."
If you have a job connection for this community member, please contact Jamey at stegmaier@washucsc.org and he'll put you two in touch!
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Joplin Service Trip Reflection by Mark Levand
A Reflection from CSC Intern-in-Service Mark Levand following the Joplin service trip
We just went to Joplin, MO and saw some pretty intense broken houses. A lot of the debris was cleaned up, but there was still much chaos present. Broken houses, crap all over, chairs in yards, bikes in bushes, trees with no leaves...or branches - that was all pretty face-value. Broken was broken; that's it - it gets fixed or it doesn't. But one of the most interesting things I found was the way impact of this devastation on people's relationships.
There was an old couple who were married for some 35 odd years who had all of their possessions blown away and had minimal insurance. We talked for a bit and they seemed pretty high-spirited. That was cool. The more we talked the more I put my self in that position; I am with my wife, living my life normally and suddenly everything is gone. Ok, that's fine, all our possessions - furniture, pictures, family heirlooms, appliances, bed sheets, my collection of bottle caps, notes from my wife from 40 years ago, my favorite T-shirt, my assortment of medications, that one thing we brought home from our honeymoon that we had that inside joke about that would always make us laugh in the midst of our stressed, child-rearing lives - all gone. Ok, that's big, but they're still just things - it would be tough, but still it would be "just things." I still have my wife, whom I love more than anything that the tornado splintered and threw all over town. and we have nothing but each other.
At this moment, I thought of Kenny Chesney's song "Honey, would you stand by me?" in which his partner was asked if they would stand by him if "your coat was thin and your shoes were old" and if "you didn't have nothin' but boots and jeans, honey, would you stand by me?" I thought of how much more sense this song made when we are faced with this reality in our lives. There certainly are marriages that crumble because one or both parties cannot deal with the situation at hand. There are also couples that get to experience love in a different way. A love that was there all along but now making them feel safe and blessed in a way that has never before been realized. A love that can allow them to say "yeah, we have nothing, but we have each other." A saying that is often heard and used. Perhaps to the point of the listeners missing the gravity of the concept. The feeling of losing possessions is nothing compared to the feeling of losing that love and support which has allowed us to grow safely and securely. Conversely, the absence of the material things that we have accrued over our years together, makes the presence of all of the intangible realities that we have accrued over these many years all the more real - all the more indestructible - and all the more life-giving.
So my experience of the "devastation" throughout Joplin has been more joyous than anything else. Much has been lost - clothes, shelter, cars, canned goods, that drawer of ugly sweaters that we are obligated to have that we only open by accident only to realize that we never use them and wonder why we even have them in the drawer in the first place - many gathered objects through our lives. But much more has been revealed. The dedication, fidelity, and support of people. The love between many of the couples I had met was practically tangible. Their love was inexplicably evident.
I suppose this meant a lot to me because I will never be rich. I will likely be in a position of minimal necessities several times in my life. And the concept of having someone stand by me in those times is wonderful. I cannot wait for my wife and I to encounter life at its best and worst with the love we have for each other. I cannot wait for the times when we 'aint got nothin' but boots and jeans' but still love and support one another. I cannot wait for the opportunity to have a love that is not only comforting but also empowering; enabling us to be the best people we can be, together.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Environmental Pledge Ideas
Friday, October 14, 2011
Job Seeker
Thursday, September 29, 2011
WUSTL 101: Do’s and Don’ts for Surviving Your First Year
Friday, September 16, 2011
Job Opportunity
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Job Opportunity
Monday, August 29, 2011
Job Seeker
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
The Renovated Kitchen
Do you remember how much life at the CSC revolved around the kitchen? Think of how Gary’s high-pitched laugh would fill the room in the late morning when he came down for coffee. Or think of late-night conversations with people you bumped into on your way home—and how you suddenly didn’t feel as tired as you thought you were and stayed up even later into the night. Do you remember the impromptu feasts made up of leftovers from catered campus events or giant boxes of whatever was on sale at Sam’s that week? Did you ever meet someone in that kitchen—a student or some passing-through guest of another resident—that you felt immediately connected to?
If you've ever spent much time at the CSC, you know that the answer to those questions is a resounding YES.
There are several other parties to thank for their time, talent, and discounts. :)
Yvonne Sloan of Y Designs: Thank you for coordinating so many components of the kitchen. If you're looking for home or commercial designer, call Yvonne at 432-1081.
Jose Fernandez: Thank you for installing so many components of the kitchen. If you need someone to do pretty much any kind of work at your house, call Jose at 636-485-9974.
Schaeffer Electric: Thank you for providing such incredible service for the multitude of installations we asked you to do.
Francis Leisure, TMI: Thank you for taking the time to remove and reinstall the fan-coil units in the kitchen so we could completely redo the floors.
Now for some photos:


Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Employment Opportunity
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Amos
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Your Vision of the CSC
2. Help new graduates transition to other communities
3. Create a residential community
4. Strong Leadership Team and Succession Planning
5. Catholic Intellectual Thought and Theology Courses
- One person said that her experience with the CSC during college "filled a need I didn't know I had."
- A staff member noted that many students today have faith because it's useful to them: they labeled it "moralistic therapeutic deism"
- Another staff member, citing several surveys, said that young adults today are most attracted to humility from those in power
- One community member said that one goal they'd like to see achieved is that student continue to make the CSC their own, and that the CSC stay open enough for students to do that.
- As noted in point 4 above, succession planning was a major objective from many in attendance. Several people noted the importance of the community members and students having more of a connection to the CSC as a place than specifically to Fr. Gary.
- Someone said this really well: The CSC has no agenda other than to love students. I think that says it all.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Job Seeker
Friday, May 20, 2011
Job Opportunity
Monday, April 18, 2011
Camp Counselors Needed (not for CSC)
Camp Courage serves grieving children ages 6 to 12.
Camp Erin - St. Louis serves grieving teens ages 13 to 18.
Please feel free to call or email us with any questions. You can find more information and the volunteer application for Camp Courage and Camp Erin- St. Louis on the homepage of the Annie’s Hope web site www.annieshope.org
Becky Byrne, Executive Director