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Gordon: | When and why did you and husband Al join Assumption Catholic Church? | |
Denise; |
In search of a church for her wedding in 2013, our oldest daughter came upon and fell in love with Assumption Church. Her pre-marriage preparation sessions with the pastor, Fr. Joe Chamblain were especially inspiring for her. On her wedding day, the beauty of the church, the mass, officiated by Fr. Joe, and the music made for the most moving and inspiring wedding ceremony we’ve ever experienced. Al and I lived in Naperville at that time and from then on, we began driving into the city every Sunday to attend the 9:00 AM mass at Assumption. Within a few weeks we decided to officially move from our parish of 20 years to Assumption, and we quickly became active parishioners. Joining the Assumption Parish community was a major factor in our decision to move back to the city on a full-time basis in 2015. | |
Gordon: | If someone was moving to Chicago and asked you to recommend a parish. what are the reasons that you would give for recommending Assumption? | |
Denise: |
Assumption is a relatively small church in comparison to some of its neighboring churches, so it is easy to get to know and become a part of the church community there. I admire that the church is very hospitable to guests, both those visiting from out of town and those visiting from other churches. Additionally, Assumption offers a variety of lay ministries and volunteer opportunities, and it wholeheartedly encourages parishioners to grow the outreach and welcoming spirit of the church by becoming active participants in those ministries. |
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Gordon: | In addition to serving as a Eucharist Minister, you also serve in the Assumption RCIA ministry. What are your responsibilities and how as the experience in RCIA affected your life? | |
Denise: |
A team of four lay volunteers and Fr. Joe facilitates the RCIA ministry at Assumption. The weekly program is divided into two segments. In the first segment, one team member leads a discussion on the gospel of the day. The second segment includes a presentation on some aspect of Catholicism. For the past few years, I have been assigned to lead presentations on the Beatitudes and the Catholic Social Teachings. For the most part, he topics covered each week correlate with the church calendar or liturgical year. My teammates and I also serve as sponsors for the candidates and catechumens, if needed, and as mentors to address their questions and concerns outside of the weekly group discussion. Being a cradle Catholic, I thought I knew Catholicism. Yet, through the RCIA ministry I have broadened my understanding of the tenets of Catholicism, experienced a renewed appreciation for the depth and breadth of the Old and New Testament scriptures, deepened my prayer life, cultivated a more intimately loving and trusting relationship with Jesus and the Holy Spirit, and of late, become ablaze with the spirit of evangelization. |
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Gordon: |
You also care deeply about the homeless and poor by volunteering at Chicago Help Initiative Please share with our readers how knowing and helping those in need has had an impact on your life. | |
Denise: |
Several years ago at my parish in
Naperville, I somewhat fell into a ministry for the homeless, Daybreak
Transitional Housing. For two years, I mentored the parish-sponsored
client on a weekly basis, supporting her through the goal-oriented
program aimed to recover financial and familial stability. Though
accompanying the client on her journey had some challenges, to be a part
of the client’s transition from homelessness to financial independence
was a tremendous gift of grace and learning opportunity for me. What I
learned most was that the line between “making it” and being on the
street is a very fine line, one that can be crossed with one unlucky
break or ill-fated circumstance Equally important, I became acutely aware of the interior issues the homeless deal with, especially their feelings of unworthiness and low self-esteem. So when I met Jacqueline Hayes, the founder of CHI and a fellow parishioner at Assumption Church, I offered to teach chair yoga to the meal guests. Yoga has been a transformative discipline for me personally and from my various yoga teacher trainings, I understand that yoga works on the outside as well as on the inside. I felt it could be a good resource of transformation for the CHI guests. When I began teaching the chair yoga class at CHI in April of 2016, the students were unable to control their breath and follow even the simplest cues. They were mistrusting of me and of one another. On a physical level, some could not even lift their arms up to their shoulders. Since then, the students that attend the yoga class regularly can easily coordinate their movements with their breath and follow my cues flawlessly. Like synchronized swimmers, they move gracefully and harmoniously. Furthermore, their physical flexibility and mental focus have improved dramatically, and they can maintain centeredness when doing the postures and in meditations. Remarkably, the yoga students now also smile, and exhibit inner and outer attitudes of confidence, as well as demonstrate the attributes of discipline and commitment. One student, for example, has recently secured job with a challenging commute that requires him to get up at 1:45 AM. Even though he’s exhausted from having to get up so early and from the physical demands of the job, he is determined and grateful for the opportunity. And what is really amazing is that he requested to work one weekend day in lieu of Wednesday so that he could make the yoga class each week! St. Francis describes best how these ministries with the homeless have impacted my life, “…for it is in giving that we receive.” I am truly blessed to be able to give of my time and my expertise to help these wonderful people. At the end of each class, with my hands in prayer position at my heart, I bow to my students and say, “…Thank you for joining me today. I am most humbled and privileged to be your teacher. As always, I bid you much peace and many blessings.” |
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Gordon: | Please share with our readers your near-death experience and how it has transformed your life. | |
Denise: |
In April 2007, I journeyed to
Honolulu to attend a nine-week Bikram Yoga teacher training. Bikram
Yoga, or “hot” yoga, is customarily practiced for 90 minutes in a room
heated to 105°.
At the training, though, trainees were required to practice four hours per day in 125° for the purpose of clearing away physical toxins and “samskaras” or old patterns and/or limiting beliefs. Struggling physically in the intense heat, I lost ten pounds after only ten days in the training. On the 40th day of the training, the sodium count in my body plummeted to organ failure level and I went unconscious and crossed over from the earthly plane to the heavenly plane. For several minutes that evening I had an encounter with and a foretaste of life after death.
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Gordon |
One of the issues that we discussed was our shared belief that we may eventually have women deacons. In your opinion, what impact would women deacons have on retention of and increase in new members? | |
Denise: |
Throughout the years of my involvement
in the Catholic Church, I have known some powerful, passionate, capable,
and committed religious and lay women who were relegated to mainly
formation ministries and frustrated because the Church prohibits the
ordination of women to the deaconate. For most of my life I, like them,
have been loyal to and fervent about Catholicism, and called to ministry
within the Church in some form. In fact, from the time I was a child I
have always said that if I could be anything I would be a priestess or a
deaconess in the Catholic Church. And from my years teaching religious
education, I came to realize that I had been blessed with a gift for
teaching the Word of God with influence. With this in mind, there was a period where I became bewildered by the fact that I wasn’t able to live out my dream of being ordained. I honestly felt then and still feel as though women are devalued in Catholicism. So between the years of 2006 and 2013, I began my exploration outside of the Church and into the realm of New Age thought and yoga philosophy. Even though I remained a Catholic in name during that time, I abandoned my practice of Catholicism and used my lectures on angels and my yoga classes as opportunities to preach spirituality. In fact, my yoga students often stated that attending my classes was like going to church for them; they would apply the message of my class themes to their daily lives. And sad to say, the majority of my students were women and former Catholics longing to find God in community and hungry for inspiration from women like themselves in spiritual leadership roles. Interestingly, just today my acupuncturist mentioned that she left the Catholic Church because she couldn’t be ordained. By the grace of God and the work of the Holy Spirit, I was called “back home” to ground my spirituality and rededicate myself to traditional Catholicism. Since then, I’ve worked diligently to use my gifts to shepherd those that have strayed from the Church and to bring new members into the fold with much success. On the other hand, my experience has also been that both women and men, former Catholics and non-Catholics, respect the very essence of Catholicism, the true Church, but are reluctant or flat out refuse to return or join the church because of its resistance to change and its long standing decrees on issues such as ordaining women. That said, I wholeheartedly believe if the Catholic Church would ordain female deacons, the retention numbers would stabilize and membership would increase significantly. |
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Gordon: |
In closing, what is your favorite prayer? |
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Denise: |
You probably will not be surprised, Gord, to know my favorite prayer is also my personal mission statement – the Prayer of St. Francis:
“Lord, make me an instrument of your peace; |