I first and foremost want to honour YOU, anyone reading this who is in school. Whether it is high school or post-secondary, adult classes or continuing education, I honour you for taking on the pursuit to do and to be better. It is a privilege to have access to education, to have the freedom to choose what you want to study, and even to bare all the challenges that come with it.
At the end of August we had our Campus Fresh Party here in the Greater Toronto Area, the first official CFC-Y Campus Based event to kick off our new year (school year that is). I couldn’t help but take note of a few things. One, the start of a school year meant summer was coming to an end. It was a bittersweet feeling for someone who loves the heat and outdoor activities *cough, I really just mean swimming, cough*, but also loves Fall fashion and the comfy feeling of walking around outside in what feels like air-condition. Which led me to my second realization, the season of Fall is the season of change. Yes we will see the temperature drops, the changing of the colours on leaves, and the switch of promotions from citrus fruit and watermelons to apples, pumpkins and various forms of squash. Yet the Fall season also tends to bring an internal change to people. You yourself will start to see a transformation of who you are.
Once the rush of returning to school settles, after figuring out your schedules, signing up for extracurricular, reuniting with friends and fellow peers. Whether you consciously reflect or not, you notice subtle changes in yourself. New ambitions and dreams might be in the works, realizing you have to work that much harder as you’re one step closer to setting up your future, or even simply wanting to find a new hobby or finish old projects you’ve started. For some, the start of a new school year is the opportunity to reinvent or reintroduce one’s self to the world. And yet with all the possibilities, hopes and promise of change one thing remains the same, God.
I speak mainly of those who have encountered Christ throughout the calendar year thus far. Whether you’ve attended Christ-centred events such as conferences, adoration nights, concerts, camps, mission trips or even holy mass. Christ’s being does not change with the seasons or morph with the years. God is and forever shall be. What does change over time is our relationship with Christ. It is quite easy to slip away or lose touch with a friend you’ve spent all summer with when you go back to school. Especially if you go to different schools or have different classes, the absence of seeing each-other frequently or spending as much time together becomes more indifferent and lost throughout the school year.
Types oF Friendships
- Best Friends: some friendships are able to withstand the school year and grow stronger as they experience and learn together. (They do everything together, can communicate with just one look, go through all the ups and downs together, usually knows your family, passionate defense of one another)
- Good Friends: some friendships maintain a certain level with weekly check-ins and occasional big updates. (Keeps inform with all the drama, gives good advice when asked, would just jump-in to your defense)
- Friends: some become casual with only a hangout here and there. (Would stop to say “hi” in public, would attend birthday parties and fun events, would say a kind word or two in your defense)
- Acquaintances: some friendships slip or slowly fade away. (Would acknowledge from a distance, not obligated to defend, depends on the mood or day to avoid or not)
This is an over generalization of friendships, but I know most of you know what I mean and quite possibly have experienced one or more of them. And if you haven’t experienced any with your friends, perhaps you have experienced it with God.
is Jesus your friend?
Now that the school year has started, are you still friends with Jesus? Or does it become uncool and inconvenient? Things like saying grace before meals, practicing your personal prayer time, or even asking the Lord for help in situations can become more of a challenge at times. Most of the time we do not mean or intend for our friendship with Christ to slip down to the acquaintance zone. Yet it happens, even to the best of us. It takes time and effort to foster any good friendship, whether it is with humans or God.
In my personal experience I have hit each of those levels of friendship with God throughout university. There were times we were good friends, I would attend mass weekly, say my prayers and offer up any trials, struggles and victories I had to God. In those times I would have no problem saying I believe in God to anyone who asked or even challenged religion or the existence of God. Yet there came times afterwards when I would allow our friendship to reach all the way down to acquaintance mode, in fact lower than that if possible. I would try to take matters into my own hands, I would not lift anything up to God, I would even be so upset with God that I questioned His true existence briefly. But that never lasted long because no matter how mad, upset, or how much I wanted to turn my back to Christ I knew He was real and He still kept pursuing our friendship.
Tips on fostering friendship with Christ
Tangible things to do while in school, especially to those in post-secondary, is to seek where Christ is on campus. Many schools have a Catholic chapel or chaplaincy who might be able to lead you to one. If not, still seek any Catholic groups, clubs or events within your campus or with the local archdiocese wherever you are.
I was blessed to have a vibrant chaplaincy at my university that made their presence known during the first week of school where all the clubs are out in the open taking in new members. With the Catholic Chaplaincy at York (CCY) I was able to do things like bible studies, go on retreats, attend daily mass (class schedule permitting), find Catholic resources like books, prayer cards and know about events in the local, national and even global Catholic community.
Where does your relationship with Christ stand throughout the school year, how would you refer to it according to the types of seasonal friendship?
In any relationship, you either start off as friends or you become friends. I hope and pray that your relationship with Jesus does indeed become a friendship on some level, if you are not yet friends. (Jesus is already your friend, you just have to accept the friend request).
In Christ,
Meagan Webb