Tag: Catechism

Struggling Catechist

Wednesday. Children’s Liturgy of the Word.

Our son (9) attends Catechism, and Miss Jenny (may or may not be her real name), leads this small (12) group of future spiritual leaders, fututre parents, and possibly, future Catechists.

And then there’s me, a struggling Catechist.

The past two years I’ve been invited to assist on Wednesday nights. This was a natural and desirable opportunity, since I drive our son to attend.

Otherwise, I’d just sit in the car, doing work on a laptop, which is what I did three years ago when this started.

But this year, something is different. Mostly my schedule. It’s the busiest I can ever remember being. Ever.

In fact, the first month, September, was the busiest travel month all year. I missed every single session. October was not much different.

I feel like dropping out. If I can’t give it my all, my full attention, I feel guilty.

What would you do?

Camel’s Back & The Straw

Ever heard the phrase, “It was the straw that broke the camel’s back”?

It’s a phrase I’ve heard a 1,000 times in America. Camel’s are incredibly strong and resilient. However, they do have a breaking point, a threshold that can be too much, and they collapse.

And when the breaking point is about to be reached, it can be something as small and light as a piece of straw.

Yesterday was like that. Was asked to substitute as lead teacher for last night’s Catechism class. For a variety of reasons (one’s I feel are valid), my son and I skipped Catechism last night.

Just couldn’t do it. Preparing for and leading the class was more than I could bear. Yes, guilt started to overwhelm me. Yes, felt I couldn’t say no, but did anyway.

Yes, from a distance, it only looked like a small and light piece of straw. Carpe diem.

PS. We did do the lesson at home, so our son wouldn’t fall behind.

jeff noel.org

jeff noel.org is different from jeff noel.com – But you already knew that right? If you didn’t, they are different.

jeff noel.org is about our spiritual being.

jeff noel.com is about the need for a small business entrepreneur to have an “office”, or “warehouse”, or “headquarters”, on the Internet.

If you are an aspiring business person, you’ll readily understand this. If you’re a casual reader, first of all, thank you for your interest. For a small time guy, trying to help others in a big time way, creativity and courage are two fundamental ingredients. Everyone understands that.

Holy Spirit

It felt good to be back in the classroom last night. You could sense, and feel, and see God’s Holy Spirit in the classroom.

This is our son’s third year in Catechism. This is my second year having the privilege to be a classroom helper. However, I missed all four September classes due to my business travel schedule.

A colleague commented at the end of the business day, “I don’t know how you do it”.

I asked her, “You know I write five blogs, everyday, then run five miles, and volunteer for things our son is involved in”?

And she already knows how hard I work as a professional speaker – she is, after all, a colleague, and a parent, and Catholic, etc.

What I have learned is that being incredibly busy is part of life. Or not. Figure out what you want to contribute and then go from there. Carpe diem.