Being a Catholic at a Secular College - Part Two

Jeanne d'Arc au Siège d'Orléans by Jules Eugène Lenepveu

Being Catholic in a secular college is difficult because people have different ideas and understandings (often misunderstandings) about what the Church believes and teaches. Part of my goal is to show others what the Church actually believes, and to give them an accurate understanding of Catholics and Catholicism. Underneath that, I am a person with dreams, just like anybody else.
Sometimes it can be lonely living out and teaching others what I believe, even though I experience joy when sharing the Theology of the Body with others. It is, actually, never easy. It is a constant struggle, but as I talk to more people, I can see them understanding, and for some, I can see a flicker of hope in their eyes. To share the faith, I don't always have to teach about it. Mostly, I just have to live it. Saint Francis of Assisi said, "Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words." Living by example has been a great way for me to connect with other people.

Often, when times are difficult for me, I look to my role model: Saint Joan of Arc, or Jeanne d'Arc in French. At the age of seventeen, she led the French army in a siege at the city of Orléans, and defeated the English there. She was faced with much opposition, particularly because she chose to wear a man's clothing. For Joan, this was a way that her soldiers could see her as a fellow comrade, rather than seeing her differently as a woman. At the age of nineteen, she was captured by the English. They put her on trial for heresy because she would not wear a woman's clothing, in addition to other charges. Joan was burned at the stake. Years later, the charges against her in her trial were annulled. 

I think of Joan of Arc's example frequently. She led an entire army to win multiple battles against the English. If she could do that in the 1400s, what example can I set now? No matter her opposition, she stuck to her goal: to unite France.

I wouldn't change my decision to go to secular college. Attending Washburn University has offered me so many opportunities and I have had the chance to meet so many amazing people. Nor would I change my decision to live out my faith in college. I haven't just grown spiritually; it has formed me as a person and as a thinker because I strive to not only understand what I believe, what what others believe as well. Aristotle once said, "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." I don't criticize other people for what they believe or where they are in their life in faith. I seek to share what I believe in the hope that they may not only learn something, but gain a friend, too.