Back in the Bend

I'm back on campus, blogging about my work as the Hannah Storm intern and finishing the fall semester.

The second half of the semester had a dramatic start - yesterday morning at 9 am, blaring sirens warned students to go to the lowest indoors spot we could find because of a local tornado warning. I grabbed my laptop, a smart move as it made my two-hour sojourn in the Badin ground-floor hallway a chance to be productive. As the tornado warning extended, we all hoped that class would be canceled, but no such luck. The sirens cleared out at 10:45, just in time for my 11 am History class.

After yesterday's weather fiasco, campus today is beautiful. I waded through an ankle-deep pile of burnished leaves on my way to the Alumni Association.

This week is another very busy one at Notre Dame. Tuesday evening, about 100 students, faculty and staff joined Father Jenkins at the Basilica to pray a scriptural Rosary for an end to abortion. I attended and found it deeply moving to see Father Jenkins kneeling before the Blessed Sacrament and leading the congregation in prayer, fulfilling his role as a spiritual leader for this university.

This afternoon, Terry Eagleton will be presenting the lecture "What is Poetry?" in 117 DeBartolo at 4:30. To quote a fellow PLS major, "Eagleton is one of the most important literary critics in the world (wikipedia says most important in Britain). He is also a Marxist British Christian. He published an absolutely scathing book review of Richard Dawkins The God Delusion in the London Times, writing 'Imagine someone holding forth on biology whose only knowledge of the subject is the Book of British Birds, and you have a rough idea of what it feels like to read Richard Dawkins on theology.'" I am excited to attend his lecture.

Thursday afternoon, I will choose between two competing events: Theology on Tap for Seniors at Legends and the first Rodzinka dinner of the semester. Rodzinka is an informal weekly event that my friends and I hold, in which we invite professors to join us for dinner, tell us about their academic work and advise us about marriage and family life. I blogged about a Rodzinka event last year and tomorrow will be the first of this semester. The legendary Fr. Neil Roy will be talking about the importance of saints as models and intercessors in the Catholic home. Rodzinka vs. Theology on Tap - how will I ever decide?

Today I discovered this neat blog about fun activities to do in South Bend. It's worth a look if you live in the area or will be visiting soon.

Thank you for reading and Go Irish!