Internship and Incarnation

We are all incarnating something. Through our words and actions, we choose either to incarnate (“give a concrete or actual form to”) the teachings of Jesus or those of the world. Our deeds tell others what philosophy we subscribe to, regardless of what we may say on the outside. “Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks”; and I would add, the whole person acts. This is a daily struggle: I seek to bring into being what is good, but often find myself incarnating the evil I do not want. Working with the Gregory the Great Institute as a summer intern, I have had many blessed opportunities to grow in virtue and incarnate Christ, being his hands and feet in the mission of cultural renewal. Three aspects of Christ’s person come into mind when I think of the Internship: servant, teacher and friend.

Servant

The young Christ was obedient to the leadership of the Father, as meted out by his earthly parents. So too, this summer, I was given the sweet yoke of obedience to the internship’s program. One particular example of this in the internship is the Personal Growth Plans. Early on in the orientation process, each intern was assigned to create a set of goals, measurable and achievable in nature, to complete over the course of the summer. The four areas of growth were the Spiritual, Human, Intellectual and Pastoral. The intention behind the Growth Plans was to help us (the interns) become holistically virtuous, both during work hours and at home. This synthesis multiplied the fruits of the internship tenfold as we ran events and volunteered in a variety of settings and servile roles, helping us to grow in self-discipline, “in wisdom and in stature and in favour with God and man.”

Friend

In beginning his ministry, Christ gathered a community of twelve men around himself. Christ loved these apostles, calling them his friends, constantly exhorting and encouraging them, just as one true friend does to another. This year, the institute had five interns, each of us with our own personalities, strengths, and tendencies, united together by a common zeal for cultural renewal, and it was a joy to spend many hours this summer with them. Many a grand conversation and debate were had, sitting around the table for lunch at the office. Another illustration of this fellowship was the skits at the Gregory the Great Music and Leadership Camp, which we collaborated together to plan, rehearse, and finally perform for the attendees each day. We all quite literally had a part to play, our strengths combining to make a tapestry of drama and message. This image of fabric and thread ran throughout the entire summer. I must say, to be knit together with these good people, supporting and being supported, was an honour.

Teacher

Finally, I want to touch on Jesus as a teacher. In a world that was lost in the duality of legalism and hedonism, he spoke “good news of great joy for all the people,” opening the scriptures and the universe itself in the light of the gospel for those willing to listen. From running an information table at the Knights of Columbus breakfast in Edmonton to giving a cardinal virtue talk at the aforementioned Music Camp, the intern team was empowered to preach the good news as it is needed today. This is a message of hope, calling, robustness, and a strengthening of our roots as Catholics, intellectually, communally and spiritually.

There is no greater mission than to spread the gospel, incarnating with our own flesh the call to which we have been called. Working as an intern at the Gregory the Great Institute, I spent this summer doing just that. Deo Gloria!