"At Peace with My Weakness"
by Louisa Ikena, MCV
Youth Minister
Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha Parish (S. Tucson, Arizona)

Louisa is joined by one of the youth she has served for the past 2 years.

What’s it like being a year-long volunteer here in Tucson, AZ?  Have you ever plunged into an experience having no clue what to expect, but feeling compelled to plunge in anyway?  Have you ever taken on a challenge that pushes you to your limits, and then pushes you further?  Have you ever felt completely drained and exhausted and yet somehow received the strength (via the Holy Spirit) to continue?

I’ve only been here at Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha Parish for about 6 months.  I’m still very much the new kid on the block.  In many ways, I feel like if I stayed here for 6 years, I’d still be the new kid.  Yet, I love it here.

My first weeks here, you might say I was overwhelmed.  Confronted with the Yaqui culture and Tohono O’odham culture (two Native American tribes) and the Hispanic culture blended uniquely into each, my head was swimming.  On top of that, I had never been west of the Mississippi River before arriving here in late July, 1999.  The brown of the desert, the dryness of the air, the cactus everywhere – these were all very new things to me.

Yet I found wonderful friends here in the parish who were willing to answer my ten thousand questions an accepted me exactly as I am.  I met the teens that I work with in youth group and was immediately hooked.  I have so much to learn from them!

My position here involves encouraging, listening, creating an atmosphere at youth group in which we can learn from each other.

A major paradigm shift in my thinking occurred when I learned to be at peace with my weakness.  Instead of pretending I knew exactly what I was doing, I got honest with myself and admitted that I was clueless.  I learned that if I stay in touch with the fact that I am new here and don’t have adequate knowledge in making decisions, then I’m able to make better decisions.  This might sound strange, and it certainly seems opposite to what our society tells us.  But, St. Paul was right on when he said, "When I am weak, HE is strong."

Please continue to pray with us all at Blessed Kateri Parish for an increase in faith, hope, and love in this Jubilee Year.

Here’s a verse of encouragement for us all: "Therefore, I am content with weakness, insults, hardships, persecutions, hardships, and constraints for the sake of Christ;  for when I am weak, them, then I am strong." (2 Corinthians 12:10)

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