Posted by Emily, UST Senior, Elementary Education and Catholic Studies

Friendly “good mornings” from my classmates on those early Tuesday and Thursday mornings set the stage for the next 100 minutes when you will find students ranging from freshman to adult in JRC exploring the “Paths and Practices of Catholic Spirituality”. More commonly known as Catholic Studies 201, it is a closer look at a few different applications of Catholic spirituality and how these ideas apply to our lives. Our class begins each day with a prayer asking Our Lady and the Saints to be with us as we delve into lecture and discussion on our readings – Church documents, works of the Saints, C.S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters, and other Catholic perspectives on aspects of spirituality.

One of the texts we’re reading this semester is St. Francis De Sales’ Introduction to the Devout Life. The short chapters encompass so many aspects of life. De Sales includes meditations for examining one’s conscience and he gives practical advice on receiving the Sacraments, practicing virtues, and resisting temptation. It’s a must read! De Sales’ ideas challenge us and help us see that the devout life is for all people regardless of their state in life. He is quite detailed in his short chapters and gives some good thoughts for rumination. For me, it’s not just class reading, but has influenced how I see my own spiritual life; Devout Life is one of those books that inspires me to do something. And one of our assignments gives me the perfect outlet for that…in place of the normal paper, we have the option to take De Sales’ practical advice for living the devout life and apply it by writing our own personal rule for life based on his teachings. This is the perfect course to do some thinking about how to live a life devoted to Christ in your current vocation as a student.