God's Sense of Irony

Tonight on Facebook, Danielle Bean shared a rejection letter she had received from Catholic Digest in 2002. The irony? Today she is the editor-in-chief of that publication.

I have a smaller scale story of irony. When I was in college, I wanted to go to graduate school for history. My first choice? Notre Dame in Indiana. I wanted to go there with all of my heart - it was an esteemed institution with a great history program, and it would have given me a chance to get away and experience life in a new place (I've lived my whole life within a 20 mile radius). Alas, despite my high GRE scores and grade point and a letter of recommendation from a history professor who was a Notre Dame alum, it was not to be. I still have my rejection letter.

Fast forward fifteen years and I was offered a contract for The Catholic Baby Name Book by Ave Maria Press, which was founded by the same priest who started the University of Notre Dame and is also based in South Bend, Indiana.

Ah yes, God does have an ironic sense of humor.