Keen in Study

Oh, goodness, final exams are in six weeks. As always, the semester has flown by with remarkable speed. I feel pretty good about this semester, academically. I'm up-to-date on all of my reading, and I understand the topics that we've covered. I'm a bit nervous about my Transnational Law seminar paper, though, because our first draft is due in two weeks and I still have a lot more research to do, let alone writing 6,000 words. All in due time, I suppose.

The summer job hunt has been fairly productive the past few days. I attended the Equal Justice Works career fair on Saturday, and conducted a great screening interview with Bay Area Legal Aid. This afternoon, I had a second interview with the National Housing Law Project, which went well. I need to keep applying, though... It is so easy to ignore applications in light of all of the other work that I have to do, but the economy has made the 2L job hunt very competitive for all of us, so I must stay on top of things. Anyone want some accountability in their job search? We could call each other to check in on our progress each week. Just a thought.

Earlier in the month, I raised the question of how to establish a more consistent prayer life. Chris suggested that I pray a novena. I've never prayed one before, but my basic understanding is that you devote yourself to daily prayers for nine consecutive days, modeled after the disciples' prayer between the Ascension and Pentecost. Well, Chris has piqued my interest, so I'm going to try one starting tomorrow. There are tons of novenas out there, but I immediately felt called to focus on St. Thomas More, the patron saint of lawyers, because his biography always encourages me, especially during challenging points in my legal education. Indeed, the name of my blog is taken from a prayer written by More, which you can read in the right-hand column of my blog. A quick Google search yielded this novena, which resonated with me as I read it over. So, please keep me in your prayers over the next nine days, and I'll let you know how the novena goes!

Wow

Today at Mass, there was a little girl, maybe 3 years old. She was oblivious to the custom of silence observed by everyone else during the Liturgy of the Word, chattering rather audibly to the chagrin of her mother during the readings. Although I found her to be a bit distracting while I was lectoring, I must admit that I enjoyed watching her attempt to sing the Gloria. She studied her hymnbook with aplomb and--although it was evident that she could not read--sang nonsense words with a gusto that praised God in her own little way.

The best part, however, came during the Liturgy of the Eucharist. Fr. Alexei said the words of institution: "Take this, all of you, and eat it: this is my body which will be given up for you." He then elevated the host for us all to see, at which point the little girl remarked in a stage whisper, "Wow!" As I inclined my head to bow, I caught the eyes of some of my peers, and we all shared a smile at the sincere wonderment that had been expressed upon observing transubstantiation. "Amen," I thought to myself, my mind jumping to Luke 18:

People were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them, and when the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. Jesus, however, called the children to himself and said, "Let the children come to me and do not prevent them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Amen, I say to you, whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it."

Ah, that we all might cultivate such childlike wonder.