Articles by Beth LeDuc
I Trust You
Nov 10, 2009 / 00:00 amGod, I don’t know what to write. I only want to be your instrument. I only want to write your words. Are you not speaking any to me? Is silence your message? If you want to use me as your instrument, then hurry up and do it because we both know I need to go to sleep.All right then, I suppose I want to say a few things to you. I know you are aware that I am graduating in May. I also know that you have some exciting and fulfilling purpose for me. So, with knowledge of your good plan, my heart is working on convincing my mind to calm down and trust that you will lead me where you need me.However, before my mind is completely convinced to adapt a holy indifference to your will, I want you to know a few things. I know you already know my dreams. But, please, don’t forget that I like adventures. I love to be creative. I so terribly want to travel the world. I am passionate about conquering the loneliness my generation is secretly suffering from. I’d like to be surrounded by moderate and down to earth people. I thrive in challenging environments, and my biggest fear regarding my future is living a mediocre life. Just want to make sure you remember these things.Sorry, God, for that last paragraph. Like any of that was a surprise to your omniscient self. I’m still working on the trust thing. I know you know what will make me happy. I know you want me to be happy. I trust you. I mean, I’m trying to trust you. Ok, I do. I trust you.
Learning From Your Faults
Oct 6, 2009 / 00:00 amThis weekend I sinned, strayed, fell, whatever the name - I messed up. It was the kind of sin I feel more responsible for than any other. It was the kind I had been working on for months, making sacrifices for, and had been pleading for the grace to overcome. But, when the moment came to choose against the sin, all that preparation vanished from my mind and I chose what I knew was wrong. Later, I felt dumb, dumb, dumb.
Trusting in Tough Love
Sep 1, 2009 / 00:00 amI’d like to welcome new students to college. Many of you have experienced your first syllabus this month. Boxes are filling your dorm rooms, text books are being flown to you from all over the country, and you are experiencing your first college lecture. You have left some good friends, or perhaps they have left you, and you are being thrown into a new environment full of different faces and confusing places. As romantic as beginning college may have seemed, it is most likely not a peaceful experience.
Choosing to Love
Jul 7, 2009 / 00:00 amI taught Totus Tuus last summer. Totus Tuus is a program utilized by several dioceses around the United States in which a group of four college students travels from parish to parish to teach week-long sessions to both grade school and high school students. The four teachers form a team which becomes both the biggest blessing – and the biggest lesson of the summer.
The Message in the Closet
Jun 9, 2009 / 00:00 amLast weekend before I went on a retreat, I decided to clean out my room. It looked spectacular – it was vacuumed, the bed was made, and everything was neatly organized in preparation for the friends my family was going to host that Friday. It felt good to leave knowing I was going to come back to the peace of a clean room.
Nothing Else Matters
Apr 7, 2009 / 00:00 amHoly week is a time to remember the great suffering Christ endured for us. The scourging, the crowning, the mocking, the whipping, the nailing: Jesus endured all these things before bowing his head to die.
Letting go of ‘control’
Mar 10, 2009 / 00:00 amDuring this season of Lent we have all chosen something from which to fast. Whether we have given up naps, television, snacks, or in my case, Doritos, we do so in order to rid ourselves of some comfort or crutch in our lives. As a result of the deprivation, we are left with space for Christ’s love and a new perspective based in the reality of the necessity of His love in our lives.
'25 Random Things About Being Catholic in College'
Feb 10, 2009 / 00:00 amMany have participated in the Facebook frenzy: "25 Random Things About Me." I have yet to succumb to this fad and spill my secrets to all, but St. Paul encouraged me to do otherwise: "With such affection for you, we were determined to share with you, not only the Gospel of God, but our very selves as well (1 Thessalonians 2:8) ." Let’s share 25 Random Things about ourselves with the world.
Sending Messages
Jan 13, 2009 / 00:00 amIn light of preparing for the National March for Life in Washington D.C. which will take place this month, I would like to share a story to remind us what our purpose is when approaching such a difficult and desperate decision like abortion.
Finals
Dec 9, 2008 / 00:00 amIt’s that dreaded time of year when our slacking ways early in the semester result in the stressful cramming of forgotten information. Late nights of begrudged studying clearly demonstrate our lack of preparation for particular classes on our schedule.
Change
Nov 11, 2008 / 00:00 amThe election is over, our country has spoken and over half of Americans cast their vote for the winning candidate: Barack Obama. Speculators say this was a protest vote, others an uninformed one and many claim it’s the media’s biggest victory. There may be truth to all of these, but speculation is done in vain when the results are tallied and a winner is announced.