Enter Sandman: Ignore the Trolls and Avoid Walking Dead

By Santiago Rodriguez, S.J.

Credit: www.azumio.com

Over my years of seminary and Jesuit formation, one thing has always been clear to me: the wand chooses the wizard. It is also clear to me that the decision to stay up late at night is also the decision not to pray in the morning. Whether I am making a sandwich at 11:17 pm, watching Epic Fail YouTube videos after midnight, or pondering my life goals at 2:46 am, sometimes I resent having to go to bed because there's so much I could be doing instead.

This blog entry is not about sleep preferences, for both early birds and night owls can be successful. It's not about the stuff you do on the internets, either. We all need the World Wide Web to settle all sort of ridiculous disagreements with friends and co-workers. I've written before about time management and procrastination, so I'm going to spare you all sorts of lists and tips. I write these lines to point out how sleep deprivation and its consequences get in our way of living life to the fullest.

Can University Students be Holy?

By Artur Suski, S.J.

Credit: http://www.focusequip.org

Yes! Of course they can!

It was not too long ago that I myself was a university student. Returning to the campus as a campus minister has given me a different perspective, especially on the challenges that university students face if they want to live out their Catholic faith. We university chaplains are quite concerned for the faith life of our students, yet there is only so much that we can do; it is really in the hands of the students to take up their own cross daily, and by daily cross I mean the day in and day out demands that a faith life has on us. What I would like to do here is to briefly outline a couple of challenges that students face today, and to provide some simple “tools” that students can apply on a daily basis to nurture their faith. Note that it is quite appropriate to substitute “student” with any other role, as non-students may find these suggestions helpful.

Focus and Schedules: The Spirituality of Time Management

By Santiago Rodriguez, S.J.

Credit: www.domicileexperts.com

I am a busy person (read: I run around like a headless chicken, trying to get some work done). I often complain that I do not have enough time to accomplish all that needs to get done. For the longest time I have mismanaged my time … somewhat. I don't have a problem; I have “time” issues. Even though I often find myself rushing to places, double-booking myself, missing deadlines, I've never attempted to tackle my “issue” and solve this mismanagement of time. See, I am too perfect (read: lazy, cynical and full of denial) to have a problem.