Category: Jonathan Harrison

4/8/2021

Living Divine Mercy

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This coming Sunday, to close out the Easter Octave, we will celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday. Devotion to Divine Mercy started with St. Faustina in the early 1900s and Divine Mercy Sunday became officially recognized by Pope John Paul II in 2000 along with the canonization of St. Faustina. Growing up, I would hear a homily about the image of Divine Mercy every Divine Mercy Sunday, but it wasn’t until I was introduced to the Divine Mercy Chaplet that I began to understand more about the overall message of Divine Mercy.

The Chaplet of Divine Mercy is a devotion that was started by St. Faustina from her visions of Jesus. It is a series of prayers that can be said on rosary beads, albeit usually much quicker than a rosary, that is especially connected to Divine Mercy Sunday. What particularly strikes me about the Divine Mercy Chaplet is how many of the prayers end with “us and the whole world.” Both the Eternal Father prayer, the prayer said on the “Our Father” beads, and the prayer said on each of the “Hail Mary” beads ends with this emphasis on “us and the whole world.” I began to understand what Divine Mercy meant when I thought about mercy not just in terms of myself, but about the whole world, both my closest friends and people I had never met.

The message of Divine Mercy is that through the mercy Jesus shows us, we are called to be merciful and in harmony with all of our brothers and sisters throughout the world. Our inward journey of mercy ultimately leads us outward to living a merciful life. For me, I am reminded of the Beatitudes and the call for everyone to be merciful, peacemakers, and more (Matthew 5:3-12). However, I have found myself struggling with how I, a college student, can live out this mercy to the “whole world.” How can I show mercy to the “whole world” during the COVID-19 pandemic when we cannot travel? These are some of the questions I find myself grappling with when thinking about how to live out a life of Divine Mercy.

When I think about Divine Mercy, I think about God’s abundant love for us and how we are called to share that love with all our brothers and sisters. In that, I mainly think about community service opportunities I have had while in college to go on both service and justice immersion trips around the country, as well as locally in Washington, DC. But I also thought about doing little acts of service throughout the day. I think just as we can do little acts of service throughout the day, we can do little acts of mercy to spread a consistent ethos of mercy. As Mother Teresa is attributed with saying, “we cannot all do great things. But we can do small things with great love.”

In my daily life, I have learned that there are many ways that we can treat people with mercy and love, bringing the ethos of Divine Mercy to our daily lives. A lot of this includes little things, such as: not getting upset when the cafeteria food takes twice as long as normal to be made, receiving and giving criticism in group projects and assignments with love rather than having an attitude of superiority, and being adaptable and understanding when situations change, especially with COVID-19. Over the years I have seen some commercials advertising “pass it on” campaigns in terms of good deeds, but I think that idea also applies to living in a merciful and loving way. Our mercy spreads to the “whole world” through us being merciful to someone who is in turn merciful to many more people. As we approach and celebrate this Divine Mercy Sunday, let us think about ways that we can live a life of Divine Mercy every day.

“Extend your mercy towards others, so that there can be no one in need whom you meet without helping. For what hope is there for us if God should withdraw His Mercy from us?” – Saint Vincent de Paul (attributed)

To learn more about the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, please click here.

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Jonathan Harrison is a program associate for the Catholic Apostolate Center and a student at The Catholic University of America studying biochemistry and theology with a certificate in pastoral ministry. He is also a Resident Assistant at CUA and serves as the summer trip coordinator for the campus’ Habitat for Humanity chapter.

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10/15/2020

Perseverance as a College Student During COVID-19

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Through the halfway point in the fall semester, most any college student could testify to the highs and lows of trying to learn in these trying times. From Internet issues, Zoom exams, and burnout, each class that goes smoothly is a little victory, but some days it is just so hard to focus on classes. My inner biochemistry major wishes that learning by osmosis was possible – a passive learning because our attention is drawn to so much distraction. On the other hand, even though it requires a little more active thought, I know there’ve been some highs so far this semester. Even with social distancing, I have made new friendships and renewed others. Since I serve as a Resident Assistant at my university, where we have just freshmen and RAs on campus, I have gotten to see freshmen build friendships, find their niche, and take on leadership positions in the campus community. Through my personal experience and seeing the freshmen on my campus, a word to describe the semester so far would be “perseverance.”

For me, perseverance has been continuing along the path of learning despite the challenges and difficulties. I have worked to develop four actions into habits during this semester to help build perseverance:

Conscious Prayer: In a normal semester, I, like many other college students, would try to find a prayer routine. It would be easier to see a 30-minute gap between classes as a time to go sit in a chapel for quiet prayer. Now a lot of that could be lost. A 30-minute break from online classes is enough time to do a chore at home, turn in an assignment, or simply take a break. But still, these can be good times for intentional prayer. For me, having a prayer space that is different from my school space has helped me stay rooted in prayer.
Physical Activity: For some students, getting physical activity is easy—it’s part of their daily routine. For others, like myself, I have to remind myself almost daily of its importance. It’s like Newton’s First Law: an object at rest is more likely to stay at rest and an object in motion is more likely to stay in motion. When I sit all day, I’m tired earlier and less productive later. But some physical activity in that late afternoon really provides me a burst of energy for the rest of the day. Going for a walk, throwing a frisbee or football, or really anything to get the blood flowing has been immensely beneficial for helping me persevere.
Set Reasonable Goals for Yourself: We all can be victims of the to-do list. Writing down everything that we need to get done feels good initially, but then the pressure is to get it all done at once. I easily fall into this trap of just wishing I could get everything done at once. However, the times when I set a reasonable goal (either for a time block or for a day) help me feel less overwhelmed and more able to tackle one thing at a time. By helping me focus and not getting too overwhelmed, setting reasonable goals for myself has helped me persevere.
Ask for Help: In this semester with so many difficulties, professors understand that there are many challenges for students too. If you’re struggling with the material in a class, ask to have a meeting or office hour with the professor. From my experience, professors ultimately want you to learn and understand when you need further help with learning. My university also has other resources like academic advising and the counseling center which both can still be utilized virtually to help students persevere through the challenges.

Ultimately, I hope to continue building upon these four actions for the rest of the semester to help strengthen my perseverance and to experience more highs than lows from this abnormal time. To help motivate me to keep going day after day in classes, I wrote this quote above my desk:

“Nothing great is ever achieved without much enduring” – St. Catherina of Siena

For more resources to grow spiritually during the COVID-19 pandemic, please click here.

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3/30/2020

Still a Student: Being a College Student During Coronavirus | COVID-19 Resource

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This current COVID-19 crisis has shaken up the end of the semester even more than most students could have even imagined. Since my university went online through the rest of the semester, so much has changed: events and programs that were being planned since last school year have been canceled; fun outdoor adventures with the onset of spring are postponed; classes have transitioned to completely online settings. The way I would best sum up this time is unexpected significant change. But this change can lead to many ways of unexpected growth while adjusting to this new normal for the foreseeable future.

These couple of weeks adjusting to the world of online classes has allowed me to take some time and reflect on the past, present, and future. In college, time seems to fly and changes that occur over time sometimes just seem to pop up. Yet in these weeks of change, time hasn’t been flying by, and things aren’t happening as smoothly, but that’s okay – it’s perfectly fine if adjusting to this new normal takes longer than it may have at college. In my reflecting, a few thoughts stuck with me as particularly helpful in this unexpected journey:

Recognize it’s okay to feel upset, but find a balance: In the midst of this crazy uncertainty, I am sure many college students, like myself, initially thought about the immediately important things: getting their things from their dorm room, how they were getting home, and what online classes would be like. It was in this time that a friend challenged me to take a few minutes and be present to my actual feelings. Understanding this balance of my feelings was essential to maintaining my self-care while still recognizing the larger perspective.
Have Consistency to a Prayer Routine: At college, it is easier to have routines of when certain faith-based activities are or when there’s a break between classes to find a chapel to pray. Even with so much changing, I have found that finding a new planned prayer routine is an important first step. First, I recommend finding a place at home that can be conducive for prayer – make it your sacred space. Then, try to find a consistent time that works for you. For me, this is requiring some trial and error; I used to try everyday after lunch, but now it’s during a gap in my online classes.. Having this non-negotiable time for prayer can help build a sense of normalcy in your new schedules.
Utilize Online Resources: Classes have opened my eyes to the world of online meeting platforms with many great features and purposes. Use these resources outside of just class! I have seen these online meetings used in many great, spiritually empowering ways: Bible studies, rosaries, night prayer, and really any form of prayer group. I also know I miss going to Mass with my friends; these online platforms can also be used to stream online Mass together.
Journal: I have found that journaling can really serve a two-fold purpose. First, as a form of processing, journaling can be a great way of reflecting and can be an avenue for navigating through these uncertain and chaotic times. Secondly, it can be a way to come up with creative new ideas. This is a time when creativity can blossom into exciting ideas for the upcoming year and journaling can help creativity flourish.

From the time this COVID-19 pandemic first began to alter life in February, one particular prayer has been an unending source of peace for me. It is called the Serenity Prayer: “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”

Jonathan Harrison is a Program Associate for the Catholic Apostolate Center and a student at The Catholic University of America studying biochemistry and theology with a certificate in pastoral ministry.

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Living Divine Mercy

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Perseverance as a College Student During COVID-19

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