I graduated from DePaul in 2017 with a degree in Public Relations and Advertising and a minor in Irish Studies, ready to fully explore the world of theatre administration. I found myself working a variety of different jobs after college, trying to experience what all of my favorite theatres had to offer, before ultimately landing a full-time job in the marketing department at Lookingglass Theatre Company. In an industry that requires quite a bit of working late nights, early mornings, and weekends, what really allowed me to ground myself (and my schedule!) was going to Mass every Sunday. During my time in college, Sunday Night Mass was one of the very first on-campus events I went to, and the CCM Liturgical Choir was the first real outside-of-class community I had. The CCM community was such a huge and impactful part of my college experience, and I knew that finding a way to fill up my spiritual reservoir post-college was going to make all the difference. I joined the 5PM choir at St. Vincent de Paul church, and every week I looked forward to sharing faith and community with my fellow choir members and St. Vincent’s entire congregation. I often refer to discovering CCM and the Liturgical Choir as a “God wink,” a moment where you can’t help but pause and think to yourself, “I know that was you, God!” Joining the 5PM choir at St. Vincent’s felt like another, much-needed wink. Being able to count on every Sunday being a day of prayer, song, and kinship allowed me to find so much more peace and calm in anything that came my way during work hours, whatever those hours might be!
Nowadays, as COVID continues to change lives around the world, it has changed my little world, too! I am no longer living in Chicago and live theatre is still on pause at the moment. I’ve moved towards freelance social media management and website design full time until I’m able to get back into a theatre. Still, though, I’ve found that even virtual Mass continues to provide me with a real sense of calm and community through these incredibly difficult and ever-changing times. As the world begins to open up again in the next few months, I’m excited to find a new faith community in my new home and find a choir that will fill up my spiritual reservoir the way that singing in the CCM choir and the 5 PM choir at St. Vincent’s always did.
