iAct = iAm OnALargeSandwichBoard

Well, folks, welcome to Marquette University's Mission Week! Mission Week, in my opinion, is about half celebration and half publicity stunt, but it is typically pleasant nonetheless. It was kicked off this afternoon by an All-University Mass celebrated by everyone's favorite, Fr. Doug Leonhardt, complete with a parade of the brown-haired Jesuits. I was running late this afternoon though, so I showed up to Mass in the middle of the opening procession. I managed to squeeze myself in to the aisle-end of my friends' pew, about halfway up inside the church. Mass was nice, particularly the Gospel choir that joined the Liturgical choir for a rousing emsemble. However, things definitely got awesome during the closing recessional. As hallelujahs were being thrown up during "This Little Light of Mine" (and yes, I did consider how crappy of a song that was, thank you Joseph and my summer of Mass planning), the priests were on their way out and Fr. Mathie was sort of shaking hands with students as he passed them. Now, as Fr. Mathie was passing me, I assumed he would desire the same. But as we stuck out our hands, his wasn't open in the typical handshaking fashion. Unable to make a decision in the clutch, I did what any closed-handed handshaker would do: I went in for the pound. Yes, my friends, during the recessional, I pounded 65-year-old Fr. Mathie on the way out of church. It was almost triumphant, and I got several comments about it post-Mass.

Now, another thing has happened to me this Mission Week that you would expect a few comments about, but alas, none have come. I have become a poster child for Marquette's Mission. All over campus there are 6-foot-tall "sandwich boards" (kind of like big easels) with different students and staff's pictures and quotes about how they live this year's theme: "iAct:The consequences of faith". I reluctantly agreed to doing this, and so here, my friends, in all its glory, is my huge poster:

Profound, I know. You can make fun of me later. Anyway, this is great and all, and there's gotta be about 20 or 30 of these boards all over the place. Would you like to know where mine is posted? The rotunda of the student union. Just kidding. That would actually probably be worse than where my placement actually is. My board is on a sidewalk directly between the smallest freshman dorm and the construction of a new administrative building. Yes, I have been placed within the wall of the dorm, two sides of construction, and the other side of the board (with a different person) is facing the street. This means that throughout Mission Week, approximately 12 people will see this board. Now, look, I know this sounds bad. But all I'm saying, is if you're going to blow up my face and stick in on a huge board, at least give me a little traffic, you know? Make it worth it. I suppose I will survive, even if I am not the most infamous Mission Week poster that is up. In fact, most people's Mission Week will come and go without ever thinking about the consequences of my faith. But you know what? That's ok with me. Because deep down I know, that somewhere, sometime this week, on some beam, some construction worker will look through the commercial plastic surrounding his building and think, "Damn. At least I can write a sentence using more than one word."