Serving a Higher Power

Katie Coldwell heard God's call to serve the Church
 

Katie Coldwell is a recent graduate of Marquette University, but unlike most other new graduates, she’s not out looking for her first “real” job quite yet. Instead, she has found her calling in service work to her Church, and she credits God for it. Her outlook is simple, “I’d never be here if not for a higher power guiding me towards this kind of life. You just need to listen and then respond accordingly.”

“We’re all called to serve in different ways,” says Coldwell. “We don’t just need theology and social welfare and justice majors to make a difference. We need mathematicians, political scientists, physicists, and everyone to work together. You’ll be so happy if you know what God is calling you to do, if you know why you’re doing it, and if you understand that something larger is pushing you to do it.”

Katie says that her four years at Marquette University seem so short when she looks back on them. One of the ideas that Coldwell witnessed to while at Marquette was the idea of the Church as servant. “The idea of the ‘Church as servant’ is being modernized,” she says. “Today, the work of the Church lies, more than ever, in the laity. The world is changing, and there are so many devoted Catholics working on behalf of their faith convictions.” 

Although she would never come right out and say it, Coldwell is one of those strong Catholics working hard on behalf of her faith convictions. Over the past year, Coldwell served as an intern in the Office of Social Justice Ministry and Catholic Social Action at the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. During her internship, she has worked on the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, which is essentially the U.S. Bishops anti-poverty campaign. Her boss, Rob Shelledy, said, “Katie had a very positive impact on justice education, and she was instrumental in providing more information to those struggling with institutional and structural constraints.”  Those who know Katie aren’t shocked when Rob says, “She is very serious about living out her faith, and it’s inspirational.”

She recently received an award for Spiritual Development and Justice Education by Marquette University’s Office of Student Development. Coldwell and her parents attended the dinner at Marquette where Katie and her peers were recognized by the school. After dinner was over, the Office of Student Development presented leadership awards to one member of each respective class at Marquette University, starting with the freshman. “When they started describing the senior, I was like, oh my gosh, that’s me.” She says that she was shocked to get an award for what seemed like such a typical thing. Coldwell said, with regard to her service work, “I always just did it because there was a hole that needed to be filled, not because I wanted recognition. It was so nice to be recognized for just being myself. I never thought what I was doing was ever all that great.”

Coldwell isn’t done yet. Over the summer she is staying at Casa Maria, a Catholic Worker house in Milwaukee. Her plans for the next year are to study Spanish in Guatemala and, as she describes it, “complete a six month tour staying with different religious orders of sisters throughout the country.”

To see more photos of Katie, go to the photo gallery. Click here! 

Article by Thomas Klind
Photo courtesy of Kathy Shine (Katie Coldwell [left] and a friend mingle at an award ceremony)