As I write this, Carolyn is sitting across the desk from me holding a massive stack of paper–like a stack of paper that’s as tall as you’d see in a sitcom when the writers are trying to tap into the idea that a character has a ton of work to do, even though we all know there’s no way there’s that much paper work anywhere ever but we believe it anyway because dramatic conventions(speaking of work, Carolyn got a job–high 5’s all around). Anyway, back to the paper. These are not just blank sheets or, thankfully, a mountain of paper work. Each sheet is an evaluation filled out by the participants in our confirmation preparation retreats this year, and, looking at the stack, it’s just now dawning on us how many children we had the opportunity to interact with through that forum this year. I don’t think any of us expected to be as busy with those retreats this year, but as word has spread about them, more and more parishes are lining up to participate in them. This was the case last Friday, when we gave our first ever post-confirmation retreat to a group of students from Blackwater. It was a full day, with around 60 students getting the chance to talk about taking the next step after confirmation–living as adults in the Church. At the moment, that was the last retreat we have scheduled for this year. However, given the way these things have gone this year, it’s highly likely we’ll be invited to lead another one before the end of the year.
This week has been a little bit on the lighter side. On Monday and Tuesday Clarisa had visitors from America. They took off for London on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Jessica, Carolyn, and myself recorded our final radio program for Wexford’s Christian Media Trust, which will air this Monday at 8pm. This weekend will bring First Communions for the children of Scoil Mhuire–the last big sacrament of the year. The time is flying and I’m afraid it has no intention of slowing down. Until next time, peace and love.
