As the new school year begins, I have been led to consider three themes: voice, vision, and passion, and to consider the Holy Spirit’s work in all three.
But first, a brief introduction. I’m a third year writer for The Torch, now participating in the legacy of the students who put their hearts on the page in the form of these monthly reflections called Faith Features. I currently serve as the campus news editor and business editor, and I’ve written articles on topics as varied as saints and campus talks to an interview with the co-coordinator of a Catholic bishops’ conference this past spring. I’m ready to share some thoughts and leave some reflections as I turn the corner into the second half of my undergraduate college career.
This current school year truly began for me this past summer, in which I served as a mentor for a Boston College summer program called Ever to Excel, named after the university’s motto. More on this week-long experience can be found in another article in this edition of The Torch.
Beyond my role as a mentor, the week for me marked the turning point of my BC career. Part of this turning point was about voice. One of the week’s speakers, BC almuna Molly Cahill, MCAS ‘20, summed this theme up well in her talk about finding her voice in a new place, a new role, and in transition. She talked of voice as “what takes you outside of yourself, outside your head,” found in relationships, community, and listening.
At this point at BC, I have begun to find my voice in the community, but it hasn’t happened in the same way as it did in high school. This year’s Mass of the Holy Spirit (also a reference to another article in this edition), was particularly meaningful for me. As part of the Liturgy Arts Group, I had the opportunity to share my voice with this community in a unique way. In doing so, I learned a lot from the people around me from listening to their joy and excitement for the new school year as we prayed together. It wasn’t my voice singled out from the group that made the most impact; I found the greatest sensation to occur when my voice expressed the palpable enthusiasm of those around me, when together we participated in calling upon the Holy Spirit and participating in the life of the divine.
Vision and passion have come to me recently through a newfound hobby of watching films. Two films have stuck out to me recently as the work of the Holy Spirit in my life. The first is the 1981 classic Chariots of Fire, telling the true story of two British runners in their race for glory at the 1924 Olympic Games. One is a Christian missionary, running to give glory to God. The other is Jewish, running to prove himself to a nation that he feels doesn’t fully accept him for his faith. The missionary finds his purpose in serving God, and finds peace in the endeavor, even when he has to make large sacrifices. The Jewish man is beside himself with nerves and finds consolation not in his success, but in his relationships with those around him.
The second is the 1985 film St. Elmo’s Fire, a raging and disastrous tale of seven Georgetown graduates trying to find their place in the world. They struggle to shed their college lifestyle of drinking and sexual promiscuity as they are forced to face the realities of the adult world. At a climactic scene of the film, arguably the most troubled character, Billy, says of the yearnings of life, “It’s St. Elmo’s Fire—Electric flashes of light that appear in dark skies out of nowhere. Sailors would guide entire journeys on it but the joke was on them—there was no fire.”
Throughout the film, the characters try to find meaning in life. One character, Kevin, thinks he has found it when he is given the opportunity to seduce his crush, but he is rudely awakened when she refuses a lasting relationship. In my view, he lost the spark, that flash of light, the one for which he had waited so long. Billy had seen so many sparks of goodness in his life that to him they had lost their meaning. However, such is how God often comes to us—in glimpses. As Fr. Casey Beaumier, S.J., once told me, it is these glimpses of heaven that we must live for, and never lose sight of their origin and goal. They animate our voice, ignite our passions, and lift our sights to what is lasting, good, and worthy of restless pursuit.
Thomas is a student in BC’s Carroll School of Management, who fittingly serves as the current Business Manager of The Torch in addition to his position as Campus News Editor. Thomas can be found around campus singing at Masses with the Liturgy Arts Group, tabling for the BC Pro-Life Club, deep in conversation while enjoying BC Dining cuisine, or gazing in awe at Gasson Hall and its Collegiate Gothic style architectural neighbors.
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