Last Friday, Teach Bhríde’s friend, Jim, took us out for a day trip to his brother-in-law’s farm, Cullenstown, and Kilmore Quay. What happens when you put four animal-deprived Americans on a farm for the morning? Chaos, squeals, screams of delight, etc., that’s what! My mom’s always said that children and animals seem to unnaturally flock to me. To be honest, I never really believed her until that day when thirty-one cows followed me around their pasture for twenty minutes. Perhaps I have a future as a dairy farmer after all?
That night, Brigid and I took a walk out to “The Rocks” to watch the Clonard under-10’s Gaelic Football match. Several of our students from Kennedy Park and Scoil Mhuire were on the team. Afterward, we went downtown to Simon’s and then brought Brigid out to the Wexford Tesco’s for the first time. (It only took her 9 months to get there!)
On Saturday, we went to the “Fun Fair” at the Wexford Racecourse, which was very reminiscent of summertime festivals back home. Though I had ten ride tickets, I really could only handle a few of them. (I’m not a huge fan of fast, upside-down, spin-around carnival rides, especially when they’re doing all three at once.) The best part of the night was getting to have a slushie and cotton candy, known here as “candy floss”!
I know what you’re thinking… “Joy, do you do any work these days?” Well, to be fair, Teach Bhríde has had a hectic spring full of Passion Plays, sacraments, and major church feasts, so we do like to take a bit of time out every now and then. However, as we all learn over our one or two years in this program, some of our most important work occurs in the “ministry of presence” that happens naturally with experiences and outings such as these. Let me explain how this was at work over these few days…
On the farm, we had the chance to sit down and enjoy tea and a chat with Jim’s brother-in-law, sister, niece, and nephew. More importantly, though, I think we helped provide Jim with a much-needed day out himself. It’s always a treat to get to know our Irish friends outside of the church building. Though it doesn’t always feel like it, we all have a lot of “life” going on that’s not in Clonard!
Believe it or not, there was ministry all around us at the match, too. Perhaps it was in seeing children from the two primary schools working together on a team. Maybe it was in waving “Hi!” to an older brother of one of the players, whose Irish name I publically butchered in my first week last year. (That moment between us always gives us a reason to laugh.) Or, quite possibly, it was in experiencing the parents’ affirming, non-negative cheering from the sidelines.
But what kind of ministry is there in going down to the pub or into Tesco’s? Well, Wexford’s a pretty small town, and we found ourselves being present in our chats with several parishioners we happened to run into, which included getting to wish “Happy 1st Anniversary!” to a choir member and her husband.
And, the one you’ve all been waiting for, the Fun Fair. How could we possibly minister there? Surprisingly, this was probably the most significant instance of ministry of presence over the whole weekend. When I settled into the car of the first ride, all I heard was, “Joy! Hi, Joy!”. Turning around, I saw two of my fifth class kids from Kennedy Park. After that, more shouts of greeting came from around me. So many of my fifth and sixth class kids were there on the ride, too. I think everyone we ran into was very surprised to find us there!
Like with the Gaelic match, letting the kids see us outside of school and church helps make us more “real” to them. How are they ever going to think living out their faith is “cool” if all they think we do is sit in Clonard? By being witnesses to our faith both in work and in public, we are providing an example that shows how being Catholic doesn’t have to just mean going to mass.
Ministry of presence takes all sorts of shapes and forms. Whether we’re on the farm, in the pub, at the pitch, or singing for mass, we are still there acting as witnesses to Christ and also as servants to Him. While we would love to see even more people at mass with us, we know anything we’re doing in public is just as important. (And I suppose we are incredibly blessed to have such a gorgeous landscape to do it in!)
