Well, the days have finally arrived. After months of preparation with parent volunteers in the You Shall Be My Witnesses program, and after several retreats at Ballyvaloo, we were privileged to participate in two Confirmation Masses in Clonard these past two days. It seems that we have been thinking about Confirmation nearly continuously since before January. What a joy to see these 6th class students receive the sacrament they had been so long in preparing! We have been blessed to be able to walk much of the preparation journey with the 76 children at Kennedy Park and the 59 at Scoil Mhuire, but through Confirmation retreats we have walked a small part of the faith journey with nearly 600 children in the Diocese of Ferns this spring. We will keep them all in our prayers as they receive the Holy Spirit, and we ask that you would, too.
I would be remiss if I didn’t share some of the anecdotes of these celebrations. Personally, I got a kick out of the mixed interpretation of “dressing up” for this event: girls wore fancy dresses and had their hair professionally done, while boys sported jeans and collared shirts (with a suit jacket here and there). We all learned a new piece of Catholic trivia from Bishop Denis’ homily, as well. Did you know that Buzz Aldrin received the Eucharist when he landed on the moon? True story. (Really. Check this urban mythbuster: http://www.snopes.com/glurge/communion.asp.) In any case, the celebrations went well and all the candidates were confirmed. (Or should I say “confer-rimmed?” Certainly not “conformed,” as several anonymous retreatants accidentally wrote.) After the liturgy for Kennedy Park, we joined all the Confirmation and First Communion teachers for a lovely lunch at Fr. Denis’.
In other news, we continued some other ministries, including choir rehearsals, class Mass preparations, and radio recordings. We recorded three shows this week: one reflecting on the Eucharist before the Congress in June, and two advertising the Notre Dame Folk Choir’s upcoming visit. They air May 6, May 13, and May 20 at 8:30pm GMT (3:30pm EST). You can listen to South East Radio live here: http://www.southeastradio.ie/listen_live/index.php.
