Since you last read this blog, we have signed up over 125 teenagers to be confirmed this upcoming spring. Monday night, Clonard Parish hosted the parents of sixth-class students from both Kennedy Park and Scoil Mhuire for the Confirmation information meeting.

We also invited the whole group to come to our three evenings of adult faith formation in October, titled Conversations of Being Christian Today. Jess and I will offer short presentations on universal call to holiness, liturgy, and the challenges of faith, hoping to foster some conversation with adults from the community seeking to explore their faith. The word is out via parish newsletter, announcements at mass, and invitations to last year’s adult leaders from the confirmation program. Hopefully we’ll get a nice group!

I should say, though, that the greatest part of Monday night (sarcastically) was collecting the money from the parents for the program fees. Taking €10 from parents is easy; writing Irish children’s names down on a list as their parents say them to me casually is hard. Starting off with a child named “Cathal” was a great introduction to what would prove to be a difficult ten minutes of frantically listing names as a large crowd of parents attempted to pay and get on with their night. My apologies to those parents of children whose names I got horribly wrong on my list.

Molly and I went over to Kennedy Park for short break this morning and had tea with some of the teachers. It was nice to introduce ourselves to a few of them and chat with the group a bit. We’re hoping to get into the classrooms to work with the kiddos soon. Meanwhile, Jess and Kurt had opening of the year mass with Scoil Mhuire yesterday. The theme to their school year is “They’ll Know We Are Christians by our Love,” celebrated during the offertory with posters of a helping hand, a listening ear, and a caring heart.

We’re heading off to Glendalough in Co. Wicklow tonight to join Jess and her World Youth Day friends from the local diocese for a reunion/retreat. We’ll come back tomorrow in time to sing with our vigil mass choir. Then on Sunday, Kurt and I are running in a cross country meet in the afternoon. And yes, we are all settled in.