Mull 1 Haley Mull English 102h Dr. Shannon Carter 29

Mull 1 Haley Mull English 102h Dr. Shannon Carter 29 September 2009 Catholic Revelations Literacies come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Who knew studying visible literacies could reveal so much about a community? The literacies I have discovered around Commerce, Texas, help me grow in my knowledge of the town. Through literacies, I can connect to my community by researching my own areas of interest, keying in on St. Joseph’s Catholic church. School is not the only origin of literacy, the church and family provide strong foundations. The need for a strong university-community relationship is prevalent at any college, but Commerce presents an exceptionally welcoming community for our university. The beneficial impacts of technology allow for success, especially in the communication field. The church can continue to become part of its parishioners’ lives outside the church to help them grow in their faith. Literacy is a part of our lives from birth until death. As Lauren B. Resnick’s article “Literacy In School and Out” points out that school is not the only place, nor the first occasion, for literacy to occur. The classroom is not first base in the field of literacy. In fact, on my baseball diamond, school would be third base. At birth, leaving home plate, your family provides the first place for your literacy. Second base is provided by a church atmosphere, and school would sequentially come in at third. With these three bases, literacy is bound to be learned. For this reason, children who do not go to school still have the opportunity to partake in literacy. If one has family issues, first base might be a struggle, which would put him/her behind when it comes to later bases; this is much like the fact that it is harder to hit a triple than a single. It

Mull 2 would require a lot more work on the individual’s part than on outside sources providing a sense of sponsorship. In this argument, people encounter many resources for learning before they get to school. The first tool is the family. Family is constantly available; for this reason, they work to teach you new things. Growing up, my family went to mass in a Catholic church every Sunday. The church provided my second literacy. Learning Jesus’ teachings and singing along with the songs in the song book taught me a lot. Merely looking at decorations in the church can offer teachings. At St. Joe’s, the tabernacle is sandwiched between two Greek letters, Α and Ω. The tabernacle is a precious, most sacred cabinet that houses the consecrated Eucharist, the Body of Christ. All churches have different tabernacle structures and surroundings, but I found the one at St. Joe’s particularly interesting. These two simple letters symbolize the concept of Jesus: he is the beginning and the end, the Alpha and the Omega. Someone unfamiliar with the Catholic church can walk into this church and visually realize a teaching of the church. This bold expression requires no words to understand the meaning. The location of this piece is also important; it is centered in the wall behind the altar, a sacred place of sacrifice. It is meant to be the center of attention and is always accompanied by a lit red candle to represent Jesus’ presence. The candle itself provides a symbolic literacy. This representation is only one decoration that gives rise to an abundance of literacy taught in the church. In every Catholic church I have ever been in, the stations of the cross have been hung around the walls of the church. These symbolize the steps Jesus went through leading up to the crucifixion. Each picture has a corresponding story. The walls are a chronologically-ordered story book of the end of Jesus’ life; this is a great example of visual literacy in the church. From a young age, following the stations in church teaches children the path that Jesus took and what He went through to save us and grant us eternal life. The stations are a very powerful expression of Catholic beliefs. These visible literacies in the church provide a gateway to the teaching by using your eyes. Songs and rhythms

Mull 3 also make it easy to learn the faith. Repetition of these actions once a week grinds the information into each individual. The Catholic church’s values can be seen through evident structures that teach the members literacy. “Where Brains Had a Chance,” by David Gold researches the history of the founder of our institution, William Mayo. By understanding the background of our school, we can become more acquainted with our surroundings. Mayo prided himself with the university-community relationship. In order for the university to be successful, he realized the importance of an accepting and friendly community, like that of Commerce. Without community involvement, the university would not grow as much. Without university growth, the community would cease to thrive. Mayo stressed this relationship so much so that it is still evident today. A prime example lies in St. Joe’s, which provides the community with a place to share their faith and come together in their relationships with Christ through the Eucharist and mass. St. Joe’s is a working part of the community, and it strives to reach out to those at the university. The CSO (Catholic Student Organization) makes the connection from community to university. CSO stretches a helping hand to any student in need. Helping students with their problems and gaining a stronger relationship with God are two of the main goals of this organization. The church posts signs in their front lawn for students to see. An important sign currently visible is a pro-life advertisement, the target demographic being the many college students in the town. In our society, sex has become less sacred. This sign portrays the disparity some women face after they

Mull 4 have made a huge mistake. Getting pregnant and having nowhere to turn, the church wants to provide a safe environment for one to grow. The church teaches abortion is gravely wrong, just like killing a human out of the womb would be. The sign aims to help pregnant woman struggling with a decision to abort. It provides a telephone number, and lets the victims know that the church genuinely cares about their predicaments. I have met many people at the church that have been nothing but helpful to me in my new adventures here in Commerce. They seek to help students in whatever they can do. The students reach out to the church by participating in activities on and off campus. This relationship is just one of the many community-university involvements that Mayo envisioned. Without his motivation to create such relationships, who knows how Commerce would have reacted to a growing university. Kathleen Blake Yancey’s article, “Writing in the 21st Century,” unravels the progression of technology throughout recent history. Without technology, we would not be as effective as we are now. I would also like to argue her views because technology can hold people back as well. Many times ethical questions are presented with an increase in technology. Also, technology can become a huge distraction if one is trying to focus. If technology does not work correctly, many problems ensue, and it can become a huge setback. The pros of technology outweigh the cons immensely, and the need for technology is at its highest demand. The increased use of

Mull 5 computers and the Internet allows anyone to communicate with ease, and within minutes. There is no longer a need for type writers or letters sent over the mail when you can type up a letter and e-mail someone. Computer use has facilitated communication techniques. St. Joe’s can now type up flyers to hand out at the end of every Sunday mass to relay information to its members. These flyers are simple, but they include a lot of useful information. One can find mass and confession times, event updates, “Responding to God’s Word” passages, and much more. This handout allows the members of the church to take their faith into their homes. They can read suggested Bible verses and reflect upon them. It allows people to stay active in their faith and truly become a part of the church. Computers not only make typing flyers much easier, they also have modified communication. Facebook has provided a whole new realm of communication in the technologically-advanced world. It has opened doors to chatting and messaging with people any time of day, anywhere in the world. It provides friends, family, and virtually anyone with access to recent pictures and updates. There is no need to print out pictures and mail them to family when you can jump on facebook, upload your pictures, and then make them visible to everyone. At Commerce, I have yet to meet a student that does not have a facebook; they are so popular, and almost a necessity. Facebook can become very distracting though when you are trying to do your homework and keep getting messages from friends or you look at pictures of everyone else and try to get caught up on their lives. Many clubs at Commerce have facebook “groups.” This allows for easy access to all members. If there is an update on information, the group administrator can simply send a message to the entire group. With the click of a mouse, the whole group is informed. This is a huge change from before. In earlier times, people would have to plan way ahead to have time to get ahold of all members by calling each member individually. This was time-consuming and monotonous. Now, technology has improved the speed of communication. CSO utilizes this awesome tool for communication. They have a group page,

Mull 6 which also provides free advertisement. Anyone interested in the group can search for it on facebook and find our page. The page has lots of information including the mission of the organization, contact information, and upcoming events. It has a wall that people can start a discussion on, along with places to which the administrators of the group can upload pictures. This sets our group apart from others and shows what we stand for. Technology has been utmost helpful in allowing the faith to enter our lives outside of regular mass. Through the ability to learn literacy outside of school, a strong community-university relationship, and new technology, Commerce, and in particular St. Joe’s, provides a healthy habitat for Catholic students. The church never ceases to teach through audible and visible messages, the university supports groups such as the CSO, and technology spreads God’s word and allows speedy communication. A Catholic student at Commerce has all the necessary tools to make it easier to grow in his/her relationship with God.

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Works Cited Gold, David. “Where Brains Had a Chance.” College English. January 2005: 311-330. National Council of Teachers of English. 26 August 2009 . Resnick, Lauren B. “Literacy In School and Out.” Literacies in Context. Texas: Fountainhead Press, 2008. 116-130. Yancey, Kathleen Blake. “Writing in the 21st Century.” February 2009. National Council of Teachers of English.