Jasmin Tone

The connections Jasmin made in college, rather than being formed in singular, dramatic moments, were rather built through study dates, committee meetings, service opportunities, and after-mass conversations. The University of Iowa Newman Center became, for Jasmin, a place she felt at home. She recollected many long days and late nights spent in the Newman Center studying in which breaks became times to talk about faith with her friends. “We would just get into these random conversations,” Jasmin said, “When I was in high school, I never really got into the ‘why’ of faith. I only started to get into that when I was in college. I started to ask ‘what does this mean for my life?’” It was in those “random” conversations that Jasmin was able to explore how the faith she was taught in her youth applied to her. She also learned from those conversations that “there was even more to expression of the faith and knowledge of the faith than I’d ever known…I had all sorts of friends that had different church experiences, and it gave me the opportunity to learn more about the faith, but it wasn’t just learning about the faith. I was learning about the person, and I also happened to learn about my faith at the same time.” It was this environment, of openness, dialogue, and conversation, that created a community of belonging. Jasmin recounted, “we felt a combined joy, because we were able to bond in our faith. We just wanted people to be a part of whatever we had.”

It was this feeling of belonging that led Jasmin and her friends to create their own retreat. “We all wanted a weekend away where God just happens to be a part of it,” Jasmin explained. They spent their time saying in morning and night prayer together, cooking meals, and sharing around the fire together. Jasmin recalled, “we just genuinely enjoyed being around each other. It was a comfortable space where we could be authentic and vulnerable together.” She appreciated that God and faith talk came up organically in her friend group. It didn’t have to be planned or structured; it was simply in their presence together, that they found God. When asked to reflect on why this time and community offered a sense of such profound belonging, Jasmin responded, “it was the recognition of each other’s needs. We all knew when someone needed to take a break, go for a walk, talk it out, or even just get food.” It was this accompaniment through the challenging, the mundane, and the joy that made Jasmin’s community so special.

As Jasmin looks back on this time in her life with nostalgia, she is also able to appreciate the current season of life that she is in, saying, “I probably won’t find that exact same type of belonging and community in my life in this season, and that is okay. I take what I’ve learned with me, but I am focused on living as best as I can in the season I am in now.”  Jasmin recognized that in her college days she was able to grow in her faith by learning from the diverse experiences of others. The gifts from her college experience has helped to form her for the present. Reflecting on the fruits of her current season of life, Jasmin described, “I’ve now recognized talents that I didn’t know I had. I’m constantly learning new talents by way of working in ministry. Now, for example, I don’t shy away from picking a topic for a youth night that I don’t know much about. I see it as an opportunity to learn about something new. I feel lucky to have found a career that allows me to be a ‘jack of all trades.’”

When Jasmin was asked what she wanted people to takeaway from her story, she responded, “don’t be afraid to learn from other people, and enjoy the season you’re in! There is going to be beauty in this season that you will miss when you’re in another.”
 
What do you do?
“I am the Director of Faith Formation as St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in DeWitt. In this role, I am responsible for religious education and youth ministry in the parish.”

What is your favorite part about your job?
“The personability of it. I especially love getting to know the kids, sharing my faith with them, and teaching them that there is not only one way to be Catholic. The kids teach me too. It is so cool to hear what they take away from service trips and share in their talks at retreats. They are so young, yet many of them have already gone through very difficult circumstances and experiences. The fact that they are willing and able to share about those hard times in order to encourage and strengthen the faith of their peers is so inspiring. My job is to give them the space where they are able to do that.”

What do you love about the Diocese of Davenport?
“If it weren’t for the experiences I’ve had in this diocese, I wouldn’t be who I am now. They shaped me without me even knowing it. I was able to be more outgoing and flourish in college, because of my experience as a young person in this diocese. I also love that I’ve been able to meet so many different people in the diocese. I look up to so many of them and they were inspiration for how I wanted to be as a youth minister, showing me how to make space for young people. I also love how every parish is so different and has its own personality!”

What are your hopes for the diocese in the future?
“This is specific, but I’d love to see more people at the Chrism mass. My mom and I go together almost every year, and it is a great way to meet the people in our diocese! I love that it gives me the opportunity to see priests I haven’t seen in months and sometimes years. I wish more people would go, not just for the liturgy, which is beautiful as well, but for the community – to meet, talk to, and get to know all the priests and people of different parishes.”