the72: Katie Klee - 1 + 1 = 2

My mom was my 6th-8th grade religion teacher. So, when crazy-wild-outrageous middle school weekend plans were made (AKA going to a PG movie, attending St. Joe High School’s football games, hanging out at a friend’s house), it was somewhat common that I would hear comments like, “I bet her mom won’t let her come” or “she probably has to go to church or something” or “she’s too hooooooly to go to that.” After enough of these comments I made the decision that I should either 1) tell my friends how ridiculous and unfair they sounded or 2) never be a religion teacher. EVER. EVERRRRRRRRRRRRRR. Why? Because it ruins the fabulous social lives of your children.

(Do you know where this is going? Shoot. I’ve never been good at the suspense game.)

I always had ambitious career goals: McDonald’s cashier, real estate agent, language translator, Hollywood’s next teen singer/actress (because the world doesn’t have 5 million of those already). I can actually remember seeing a Hilary Duff movie with my mom in 8th grade and being on the verge of telling her afterwards, “Take me to the nearest Hollywood audition studio in South Bend” (do those exist?). I had aspirations, my friends.

As the youngest of 4 kids, my future was never far off as I watched my siblings grow older and dive into various studies and pursuits. While I continued to ponder all of my extraordinary options, I found myself being drawn to classes and opportunities in which I could explore my Catholic faith. I enjoyed the reading, the conversations, the friendships, and the activities surrounding my faith.

Meanwhile my middle-school social self thought, “uh oh.”

When I was a senior at St. Joe High School I took a class called "Great Catholic Thinkers." The class allowed us to read excerpts from the writings of saints and other holy and prominent figures from the Catholic tradition. Our teacher, Mr. Oross, asked us to write a 1-page journal entry after we read each excerpt. When he returned our journals to us at the end of the semester I received a grade of a 4/4 (apparently that was a big deal at the time…now I’m like, “4 POINTS, DUDE?!?!”) and a note that read:

Wow! Your reflections are very nice and profound. You have a double gift: gifted understanding and a deep sense of prayer. Foster both! Have you ever thought of being a Theology teacher?

So you know that line you hear in ministry about planting the seeds and blah blah blah blah? Well, I guess it’s effective. I read that journal note for the first time 7 years ago, and now I am a theology teacher. Mr. Oross' recognition and affirmation of my gifts allowed me to take the time to realize that I did enjoy studying Theology, that I was good at it (if that’s a title you are allowed to award yourself), and that I wanted to continue to pursue it. His words invited me to explore this vocational option for the first time in a very practical and focused way.

I am extremely grateful to Mr. Oross for taking the time to plant that seed, a seed that grew and blossomed with more prayer, education, and life experience in the next 7 years. Since I loved my Theology courses in high school, I sought them out intentionally through the Religious Studies and Theology departments at St. Mary’s and Notre Dame. In my free time I joined a choir that fostered a my Catholic faith and my need for community. I also, timidly at first, asked and applied to lead faith-based summer programs and retreats.

In each of these areas I found that I loved studying Theology and I loved, just as equally, sharing that Theology with others, particularly high school-aged peeps. At a young age I learned this thing called “1 + 1 = 2,” so I applied that same logic to these vocational realizations: passion for Theology + passion for teaching Theology to high school students = become a high school theology teacher. So, what started as general curiosity and a little baby flame in my heart for a school subject, grew to the realization that teaching Theology is something I wanted to pursue as a career. And again, thank you to Mr. Oross for planting that seed. His words were certainly one of the biggest gifts I received from my Catholic education.

So now, as a Catholic educator, how am I called to do ministry? It’s in realizing that teaching is not so much about the lesson plans, the objectives, the schedule, the exams, the grading and all that exhilarating stuff, but rather, it’s about imitating what Mr. Oross did for me, inviting students to explore their God-given potential.

It’s about affirming their gifts and passions. It’s about giving them the opportunity to take a good, hard look at what brings them joy. These areas of their lives that peak their interest now are God’s ways of inviting them to know Him and be His vessels in our world. It’s about finding hope in the phrase “planting the seeds” and knowing that the seeds you are planting may, in fact, be one student’s way to salvation. And that’s a pretty big deal. Like, the biggest.

Oh, and ministry is also about telling your own children that they can still have a life, even if their mother is your Theology teacher.

Katie Klee graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 2012 with a BA in Theology. At Notre Dame, Katie was a member of the Notre Dame Folk Choir for four years and twice served as a Mentor-in-Faith for Notre Dame Vision. After graduation, Katie worked for a year as an intern in Campus Ministry at Notre Dame. Originally from the South Bend area, Katie now lives in Indianapolis, IN, where she teaches theology at Cathedral High School. Katie can be contacted at kklee@gocathedral.com.