Before I begin or get any further, I would ask for prayers for the repose of the soul of Fr. James Conry, who lost his battle with cancer yesterday. He was in his 80s, a beloved priest and friend to all. Words cannot express how much he will be missed. When he retired he came to St. Charles and was in residence here the past 11 years.
Sorry for the delay in updates! The Carnival (parish festival) just wrapped last night at St. Charles. Fun was had by all!!! For my part, well, I had 2 responsibilities: 1 pray for good weather & 2 work the ice cream booth with the youth group. The Carnival began last Wednesday with a parade and was open every night from 6:30-10:30pm.
I thank God for the amazing weather - not a single drop of rain during any of the hours the carnival was open!!! Even more so, I thank God for the awesome teens and young adults at St. Charles who put in long hours making the ice cream booth a success! I would especially like to mention the teens who were unable to go to WYD in Sydney and stayed behind to sling ice cream - they truly stepped up!!! I love our teens and echo what Sr. Denise says: "they're the best!"
Some of our youth group is currently in Australia for WYD '08. The group left last Friday and they are now in Australia having a wonderful time! This also meant that Sr. Denise and Fr. Steve were able to give me a two night crash course in managing and running the ice cream booth - Thank God I have some Dairy Queen experience in my past - LOL! But seriously - in terms of jumping in and helping run/manage the booth - again everything went so very well, our teens truly stepped up and it was great! My feet are a lil' sore but otherwise I'm doing well.
In stepping into the role of taking the lead with the youth group I must say I did feel like a proud parent or something like that! Also, I did sense an added sense of duty and responsibility - it was like: "I have to take care of my kids." I think in some way this is a revelation to the caring and nurturing aspect of being priesthood - the fatherhood part of it!
Even though I feel like I've been pulling 'all-nighters' the past 5 nights... sort of like finals week but more! I am still good to go and I love what I do - the adventure of priesthood is awesome! In some ways the experience of a very busy week plus the carnival last week taught me or helped me live out what it means to live for others in the parish context and what it means to give your life and to die to self. Priesthood - bud-ah bup-pah-pah I'm lovin' it!!!
1 comment:
Well, ya know...we don't all call you "Father" for nuthin'!
One thing I've learned...although my home parish is home, and my Pastor and the priests (we have 3) at my parish are my main "Fathers" and the ones I go to, it's nice to know that no matter where I am, I have a spiritual Father to go to. Your parish goes far beyond your parish, and your children are EVERYWHERE.
Jesus really knew what He was doing when He set this up.
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