Analise (Lipari) Bower

I am '09 and '11 (M.Ed.) alum, and I can't emphasize enough how much the theology curriculum and requirements at Notre Dame influenced my life.

In the spring of 2006, I stepped foot into my first theology course at ND. The professor was a graduate student from the Philippines, Ray Aguas, and I had read that his Intro course focused on something called "liberation theology." At the time, I considered myself fairly moderate in terms of politics, faith, and most other things in life (except exercise. Forget that nonsense. College was for class, football, sleeping, and unlimited dining hall refills of tater tots), and I was nervous about Ray's class. Would he try to persuade or dissuade me re: something I held as (an albeit "moderate") core belief? What was the deal? Still, I bought my textbooks (including, most notably, Jesus Before Christianity and On Job) and showed up 10 minutes early (another area where I believed there was no room for moderation -- punctuality).

In short, that class -- and Ray's influence -- transformed me. I consider that class the first of a series of stones that changed the course of the river that was, and is, my life. Ray taught me to question what I knew; to see Christianity as infinitely more than "Do good. Be nice." Instead, Christianity became an electric force of social justice, the radical means by which the Kingdom in all of its glory and majesty could be brought forth. The Kingdom wasn't just reunion with God in Heaven. The Kingdom was NOW.

Wow.

Given this new lens on life, God, my faith, and myself, the next year I pursued a course on faith and justice taught by a professor who resided at the South Bend Catholic Worker house. That class was my first exposure to Dorothy Day; reading The Long Loneliness struck a deep core within me, and to this day I strive to live according to her example as a living saint (though, as she most famously said, she wouldn't be 'resigned' to that title).

Inspired by both courses, I was a Notre Dame Vision mentor-in-faith in the summer of 2007. If my first theology courses transformed me, being a Vision mentor transfigured me and everything around me through the Holy Spirit. I am still friends with my fellow mentors, and I still feel inspired by the call to see others in the Eucharist. The Body of Christ; amen.

I could go on and on about my faith-based experiences at Notre Dame -- interning with a low-income parish in the East End of London during my semester abroad; leading retreats through campus ministry; worshiping at dorm masses; joining a women's discernment group senior year; teaching after graduation through the Alliance for Catholic Education -- but this email would be about 80 paragraphs long. Suffice to say, without stepping into that first theology class, there's no way I would be living my life as I try to live it to this day. I have taught since 2011 at a Jesuit school for boys in Washington, DC that serves students from low-income backgrounds for 0 tuition. My faith is the lifeblood of my work; just trying to bring about the Kingdom, one day at a time.

And if it hadn't been a requirement? Who knows if I would have found Ray and liberation theology? Who knows if I would have learned about faith and justice as an adult? Who knows if I'd still be practicing?

Who knows if I would have simply kept living my life in moderation?

Don't be moderate, Notre Dame. Be different. Keep theology in the core requirements. The ripple effect is beyond anything I could have imagined. Let no one say we dreamt too small.