Sunday, March 18, 2012

The most eloquent job offer

I have ever received. This is part of an email I received last month from the editor of The Record, a Catholic newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia.

One of our regular columnists... has recently asked to take a break from writing for us for a while, perhaps some months. [...] Would you be interested in coming on board for a while?
I have always tried to maintain the presence of an at-home mother columnist for a number of reasons, one of them being that it is one way of reaffirming the importance of mothers and motherhood in the face of a culture that regards this role as being a second or third-best option compared to other, perhaps more glamorous but ultimately less fulfilling roles, in the workforce.
The general brief is to to write pretty much on anything from the perspective of a mother who is a believing and practising Catholic. The Record is a big fan of Benedict XVI and his predecessors. We think the sometimes-difficult nature of the Church's teachings are there for good reasons and we're interested in writers who can be counter-cultural and help show that Catholic Christianity is not completely dumb. We're unashamedly pro-life, pro-marriage and pro-family among other things but whereas many people think the Church is irrelevant and out of date we very definitely take the opposite view.

Gosh, how can you say no to that? And why would you want to? I start this week. I know DOH doesn't have many Australian readers who are in a position to support the paper version of this publication (it's been printing since the mid 1800s! Kudos), but everyone can access the online version and give the editorial staff positive feedback for the work they do to advance the New Evangelization. 
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4 comments:

  1. So, are you gonna accept?
    Also, does this gig involve a trip to HQ?
    We'd love some house-guests.

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  2. They should be printing my first column this coming week (Mar. 19-23). Sadly, the budget (theirs or mine) does not at present seem to admit a visit to the editorial offices. But never say never.

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  3. Congratulations! I hope you'll link to the column.

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  4. Thanks, Jill. I hope they'll include my column in the online version (the lovely lady I'm replacing currently is). In that case, I should be able to link. If not, I'll re-post the text here, as I have done with the last two freelance pieces they printed.

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