Faith in Philadelphia: Swing Dancing, Family Time, Flowers, and Archbishop Chaput!

This past weekend was wonderful! I started out with a great swing dancing class on Friday night at St. John the Evangelist parish center with Jack's YACs, St. John the Evangelist Church Young Adult Community. The mission..."We are a Catholic community of young men and women (20s and 30s) who seek to grow closer to Christ and to be witnesses to the good news of the Gospel through prayer, friendship, faith formation, and service to the poor, guided by the teachings of the Catholic Church and nourished by her Sacraments". Sounds good to me! St. John's is located in Center City on 13th Street between Market and Chesnut Streets. It's a great location for young professionals in the city. There is lots going on through Jack's YACs, and this swing dancing night was a big hit! Just $5 for 4 hours of fun. The first hour was a group lesson on how to swing dance, followed by lots of dancing, snacks, and fellowship! I've swing danced a bit, but the lesson was a helpful refresher. It was also a good opportunity for me to get to know some of the people there. Everyone was so nice and welcoming! I felt very much a part of the group, not at all isolated. I've only been to 1 or 2 other events at St. John's, so I was meeting many people for the first time. Once the lesson was over the men were very good about asking the ladies to dance. It wasn't an awkward 6th grade experience...you know, guys on one side and girls on the other with no one on the dance floor except maybe 1 or 2 couples. Everyone was there to dance and have fun, so that's what we did! No pressure, just having fun practicing! I'm hoping to make it to more of their swing dancing events. I think it was the most fun I've ever had dancing. For more info on Jack's YACs and their events, go to www.jacksyacs.com.

Saturday was another great day. I went to daily mass at the Cathedral at 12:05 which is great because I can still sleep in a bit and get to mass! My good friend Jimmy came to mass with me and afterwards we headed to my parent's house in Media for the day. I was going home to help my mom with some cleaning and things around the house and I knew Jimmy had to study, so I invited him to get out of the city and study while I cleaned. It was a great chance to share time with family and friends. We had lunch and dinner with my family and did what we needed to get done in between. It was good to spend time with my family and share them with Jimmy. He's from out of town but goes to school in Philly so he doesn't get to go home and have a home cooked meal whenever he feels like. I would encourage anyone who lives with their family or near their family to share them with friends, especially friends who are from farther away. Your family will be happy to get to know your friends, and your friends will be happy to be in a nice family environment. Nan (my grandma) was particularly excited to host my friend and make a big fuss over him. She made a big family meal and we all spent time around the table and enjoy each other's company. It was a great evening.

Saturday night Nan came to stay at my house in Philly because we went to the Flower Show on Sunday! The sleepover was adorable. We drove to Broad Street and took the subway to the Convention Center to see the beautiful Flower Show! Something else I'd like to encourage... experience beauty! We live in a city full of so many wonderful things and opportunities. We need to take advantage of them! Is the Flower Show a Catholic event? No. But it does show us some of God's most beautiful creations from nature. With everything bad that happens in the world, our souls need to experience more beauty. That's what Nan and I did! We took our time going through the exhibit and took lots of photos. We even bought a few fun Hawaiian flowers to bring home. We got lots of compliments on them on the subway and made lots of people smile. Beauty creates smiles! Get out there and look for beautiful things to do...go to Fairmount park, go see the Philadelphia Orchestra, go the the Art Museum, do something! Make sure to share it with people you care about. If you're hanging out with friends don't just sit around and watch TV. Do something beautiful! You won't regret it!

Sunday night Nan and I met up with a group of my young adult friends for 6:30 mass at the Cathedral. Archbishop Chaput says the 6:30 mass most weeks and it was so great to see him! He is a great homilist, knows the importance of young adult ministry, and always stands in the back after mass to greet everyone. He wants to get to know his flock. It's so great to see him on a regular basis and get to know him. If you ever have the chance go to 6:30 mass and hopefully you can get to know him too!