But now that Joy and Mary are here… I’m not feeling so sad anymore. I’m excited for Joy and Mary’s year to begin!  We’ve been talking through a lot of the stuff we’ve been doing this past year and it’s been really fun reminiscing and hearing what they think about the programs.  And it’s been great getting to know them and seeing what different gifts they’ll be bringing to the table next year.  Also, it’s very comforting to see all of our work being laid in very capable hands…

I will be moving to France in September (to be close to someone I love very much!) to work as an au pair. Last month I met the family and the current au pair.  After our meeting, Hannah, the current au pair, sent me an email saying she was less sad to have to leave knowing the children were in good hands.  I know how she feels! She loved those children and didn’t want to say goodbye, but she’s excited for me to get to know them and to love them!

And I’m so excited for Mary, Joy, Cameron, and Ben to fall in love with the people of Clonard. I’m excited for all the fun they will have with the school children and with the tea ladies! I’m excited for them to get to know the parish team and for them to begin thinking of them as family. I’m excited for them to think of Wexford as home; and return from a trip feeling relieved to be coming home.  I’m excited for their community life within the house.  They will share many inside jokes, work through conflicts, pray together, and become great friends.  And mostly, I’m excited for them to grow in faith and continue to develop a closer union with God through their prayer, work, and relationships.

This experience has been one of the most wonderful things God has led me to.  I will cherish these next two weeks and I’m already looking at ways to come back and visit. I’ve been hinting to someone that a plane ticket from France to Ireland might be a great birthday present this fall…

So thanks everyone for journeying with me on the blog this year! And Season V… I’m looking forward to journeying along with you come September!

God Bless!

Nicole

Today is Monday….Monday Stasia’s, Tuesday Farmer’s Kitchen, Wednesday Cistin Eile, Thursday Fr. James barbecue,  Friday Fr. Denis’s, Saturday eat on the moon, Sunday something else….all you hungry children come and eat it up! 

We’ve assembled at the gracious behest of many of our Wexford friends for some beautiful meals and time together this past week. But I assure you that we have taken part in more than just eating. Mind you, it’s not a hefty schedule, but we aren’t piddling our pinkies either.

One of the blessings of the week was the opportunity to dine and spend time together as a community and to have lunch at Cistin Eile, thanks to our good friend and opera guy, Albert Lacey. One of the surprises that followed the blessing was that, while we were dining, a certain scary-looking man with a black mullet, beard, and sunglasses was strolling down the street in a black cape carrying a guitar. He set up his stall, busking on a street corner. As we finished our dessert, we began to waltz down that same street toward a pub, to share a last community beverage. (You know, juice.) And as I looked to my left, I saw this man sitting in a storefront window, strumming away and my housemates heard me say, “oosh, that’s scary” and continue walking quickly away. The others, however, paused and Nicole said, “Hey, listen, he’s kinda good.” I looked once more, and heard the words of “Total Eclipse of the Heart.” And as I “turned around,” I heard that I faintly recognized the voice of the mystery performer, and I recognized the song, and wait…I think I recognized the person under the black mullet and bushy beard. And yes! It turns out that Mr. Robert Toole had arrived, to my shock and surprise. That’s probably that’s the last time I’m ever pleasantly surprised by a bearded, mullet-donning man in a cape (at least I hope.)

Later Wednesday night, we had one of our final choir rehearsals, complete with many of our favorite songs (we get to do those since we’re leaving soon). Thursday morning was a mass at the Franciscan friary downtown, in celebration of St. Anthony’s feast day. We were asked to provide some music, so we happily sang and played as we were sprinkled with holy water, dusted with incense, and gifted beautiful white lilies, in honour of the special day. We were joined by several classes of students from the primary and secondary schools in the area, so we were tightly packed into the pews. Fr. Ciprian commented on how wonderful it is to see a full church! The mass concluded with a priest offering a reflection on the 9th day of a novena for life. He spoke about allowing the sacred heart of Jesus to mold our hearts and how when we let him enter in, that we should never expect to be the same. That we should dwell on the virtues of patience, humility, and a deep love for the sacred heart of Jesus. Oh! And how could I forget? Just before we sent the little ones back to their classrooms, you may recall a certain blog post around Halloween which celebrated St. Francis’ feast day. Fr. Fritz, an elderly priest at the friary, led the congregation in a spooky song in which he told the tale of a boy venturing into a cemetery alongside some friends. Well, it made sense at the time, being near Halloween. However, when the microphone went to Fr. Fritz this time, he took a deep breath and began that same spooky song. Essentially, he “walks” us through the cemetery through memorable little phrases and then just ends with a “THE CORPSES WEREN’T DEAD” and screams into the microphone at which point all the children scream Note: I say “children” here, because anyone over the age of…say…12 should know what’s coming. So if anyone thinks they heard me scream, I was just…erm…clearing my throat. Loudly.

Later on, we lunched with Fr. James with the two new arrivals, Mary and Joy, members of next year’s Teach Bhride community. The last time we had a BBQ at Fr. James house, Nick was crouched sideways on Fr. James’ back patio, blowing into a slightly smoking disposable grill, which was no bigger than the size of a dinner plate. So we were happy to see that Fr. James had invested in a slightly bigger, more permanent BBQ. We’ll be back for lunch tomorrow, FJ.

Nuttin’ like a good old-fashioned BBQ

Friday was a pretty laid-back day, when we did some wandering around town for M & J’s benefit, and some lunching with Fr. John Paul Sheridan, and some ever-entertaining Folk Group rehearsal. Don’t tell Mary and Joy, but this has been the easy part. Starting next week, we’ll gladly give over our dish duties, the bulk of our work, and we would love piggyback rides into work. Oh, and I’m rather fond of mint aero bars and petrol station cappuccinos. (Just kiddin.)

God bless!

First, our Mass schedule was all mixed up from normal. The Vigil Choir and Youth Choir provided the music for 10:00am Sunday Mass (instead of 6:00pm Vigil Mass on Saturday), because South East Radio broadcast Mass from Clonard this weekend. The last time South East Radio was here, the Family Liturgy Group sang for the 10:00am as usual, but the parish decided to rotate the choirs for radio Masses. So, Saturday night choirs on Sunday morning! Everyone came across very well over the airwaves, we’ve been told. Great job, choir members! I should also point out that Teach Bhríde is halfway through our last month of Sunday night shows with the Christian Media Trust. Be sure to tune in to Nicole’s show this Sunday at 8:30pm GMT (that’s 3:30pm for you East Coast folks)!

As you might have guessed, we did not have any responsibilities for the Saturday Vigil Mass this weekend. So, Nicole and I went with a group from the parish to the National Vigil for Life on Merrion Square in Dublin. (Side note: I think this may have been the first time I was awake for the entire bus ride to and from Dublin, ever.) Neither of us had ever been to a pro-life rally before, so we didn’t quite know what to expect. What we found there was, as I called it, a very ruly crowd of over 40,000 around Merrion Square. (I dare any other crowd of 40,000+ to be so well behaved.) Everyone chanted only as long as the emcee directed us, and we all listened attentively to speakers from Youth Defence and Women Hurt, and to others including Celeste Beal King (grand-niece of Martin Luther King, Jr.). Hopefully these peaceful protests will encourage the Irish government not to legalize abortion in Ireland. See a little more about the rally here: http://www.prolife.ie/news/2013/06/10/massive-crowd-demands-scrapping-abortion-bill

At the National Vigil for Life on Merrion Square

With some other members of the Diocese of Ferns, on Merrion Square

Besides strange Mass schedules, we took an outing with our friend Ruaíri this weekend to a place that is just plain strange. We had never been out to Loftus Hall before, the most haunted house in Ireland, and they opened the place up for tours last October. So, away we went! In addition to marvelous mosaic and parkay flooring, and a grand staircase identical to the one on the Titanic, the 700-year-old site boasts a couple gruesome haunting stories. Supposedly, the devil came to stay for a few days. When he was discovered during a game of Whist (a card game), he turned into a ball of fire and shot through the roof! The roof in that spot has never been successfully repaired. The girl who discovered him became a maniac and was locked in her room for the rest of her life. That room is now supposed to be the most haunted room in the most haunted building in Ireland. I have to admit, it was pretty spooky. Here’s their site: http://www.loftushall.com/

Outside the most haunted room in Ireland. Ooooooooo!

We took the risk.

So, it’s a good thing that the last weird thing about the weekend was the absolutely gorgeous weather! Seriously, it was sunny for over a week, and the weekend had to have been around 70 degrees Fahrenheit. For those of us acclimated to the cooler temperatures of Irish weather, it was actually hot outside. We took a sunny stroll on Hook’s Head, and finished the evening with a session at our house while Emily’s cousins were in town.

At Hook’s Head Lighthouse

Nope, not the one in front or on the left; the big one on the right.

And so, we prepared ourselves for our ascent. Emily grabbed her coffee:

And I grabbed my trusty walking stick and set my jaw for the climb ahead.

And then we were off! The climb itself took about two hours, and was made difficult by all the rocks on the path.

Luckily, the path was easy to follow, if a bit roundabout

By the time you got to the last ascent, the path itself was made up of all rocks and the possibility of losing your footing and falling down shot through the roof. Luckily, none of us fell off the mountain and made it to the top where we had a wonderful lunch, albeit bothered by a rather large number of weird beetle-like bugs.

The House on top of the mountain, on perhaps the clearest and nicest day Ireland has ever had.

After lunch, a long-breather, and some chats with friends made from the States and Co. Clare, we bounded (read:walked slowly and carefully) back down the mountain. While going down was certainly faster and easier on the muscles, it was made difficult by the need for proper footing, especially when the path was all loose walk.

On one of the firm parts of the mountain; notice the lack of rocks.

We eventually made our way down the mountain, finished our prayer, and decided to spend some time sitting, grabbing water and smoothies, and relaxing in the visitor center. Our day finished with our return to our hostel, where we grabbed our things and left the town of Westport to travel to Dublin to meet up with some friends there for there for the night, eventually returning home the following day.

All in all it was a great pilgrimage, filled with prayer and sore-muscles, and it definitely created some lasting memories for all of us.

Perhaps one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever visited.

Anyway, the next morning we went out to Knock! We didn’t have as much sun as the day before, but it was mild and dry.  We prayed together outside the chapel of the apparition and then had a little bit of time for our own wandering.  We got back together for Mass in the old church at noon and then ate lunch together on a bench outside the basilica.  It was a very pleasant day and there was plenty to do: including stations of the cross, the rosary, confessions, Eucharistic adoration, and lots of time and space for reflection and personal prayer.  I have recently received a very happy answer to my prayers, so most of my day was spent saying “Thank you, God!” like a broken record.

At the end of our day we came back together and sat together around the statue of St. Brigid, our patroness.  We had a reflection led by Molly and sang together “Be Still for the Presence of the Lord.” All of our experiences in our community this year have really bonded us together and it’s really special how comfortable we’ve become with each other: sharing very personal experiences and being able to be still and pray together.  Our day at Our Lady of Knock’s Shrine was a beautiful day of personal prayer and community prayer (which was my favorite part) but it was only the beginning of our journey! You’ll hear where we went after this with Nick!

God Bless!

Monday evening, Nick and I headed to The Ferrycarrig Hotel (the 2nd day in a row…don’t mind it) for a beautiful bite to eat along with Fr. Martin and Fr. James and the parent leader coordinators of the YSBMW Confirmation programme. It was beautifully delicious and also just beautiful to look at. A+ for presentation, let me tell ya. I couldn’t believe that it was approaching 10pm and the sun was still blazing away low in the sky. When the sun does decide to make an appearance, he stays around long into the night. Kinda the same for the Son, eh? Except he’s always around.

Three of the musical helpers at SM’s 1st Communion masses, Ferrycarrig Hotel

When it’s sunny in Wexford, there’s nowhere you’d rather be!

I like to call this week “Class Mass-ive” week, purely due to the number of classroom meetings, church rehearsals, and class masses themselves that we had. We welcomed Nicole back on Tuesday and threw ourselves right into preparation for several class masses which occurred on Wednesday and Friday. The 5^th class students have been working so hard preparing for the many sacraments of the Spring that we stuck with a couple of the songs which they already knew and used the same songs for both masses. At our first mass on Wednesday, we celebrated God’s Kingdom and the light that He brings to us all by bringing a candle to our sacred space and listening to readings of that theme. Today we celebrated the feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary by visiting the Blessed Virgin Mary. Just kidding…but wouldn’t it be great if we could do that? At our class mass rehearsal, we didn’t practice with the actual items we were bringing up, as some were needed for class and such. They’d agreed, however, to bring along one of their Titanic projects to showcase their hard work and to remember their country’s history. We set up a little sacred space with a cloth and space for a candle, a statue of Jesus, a Bible, and a Titanic project that I presumed to be about the size of a small boat replica. Alas, when the project was brought forward, my eyes widened at the size of it. Floating down the centre aisle was a huge cardboard backing with blue-painted aluminum foil water and a mammoth ship crashing through the cardboard backing. It was impressive, mind you, but its sheer size was no match for the smaller-sized Jesus, candle, and Bible already occupying the table. They managed to share the space fairly well after some rearranging, but looking at the sacred space set-up from a distance, it probably appeared that Jesus was aboard the Titanic, reading the Bible by candlelight. Which, who knows, maybe He was? Anyhow, the kids all did a fabulous job, reading clearly, singing exultantly, and praying ardently. It’s such a blessing to be able to work with them toward the joyous celebration that is the Mass.

On Thursday, I had a day off, so I went down to visit another member of the Passion Play, Sean Banfield, who played Pontius Pilate as seen in the photos below. I cycled up to the house and knocked on the door as I peered in through the window. Symphonic music was swirling through the open window, and he was up on the landing spinning from sink to stove whilst humming along with the instruments. I laughed, because the image was so telling of the joyful person he is. I learned all kinds of new things about him, like the fact that he moved to Wexford for the Opera and Drama scene. He also owns seven cats, but feeds fifteen, built and kept up a B&B in Donegal, Western Ireland for 12 years, enjoys woodworking, cooking, classical music, and reading about Japan. (And other places, for that matter.) He also bought a beautiful grand piano many years back, but can only play by ear, so it doesn’t get as much use as he’d like. Well, we definitely made it useful during my visit, that’s for durn sure! Oh! And he’s 81. In fact, he just auditioned for a play in which the auditionees needed to range from 20-80 years of age. Right before receiving the part, he said, “you ought to know now, but I’m not actually under 80. I’m 81 last week. But age wouldn’t stop me. The stage calls to me.” He’s made many sacrifices in his lifetime for the sake of Theatre. For example, when living in Montana, he took the one daily bus into the town centre for a rehearsal…which occurred eight hours after the bus’s arrival. He wandered around in the cold until rehearsals and then waited several more hours for a bus home. He did that for three plays. And though he’s up with the sun, he’s also asleep with the sun, early in the evening. This didn’t stop him from attending Passion play rehearsals long into the night and throwing his every ounce of energy into a dramatic Pontius Pilate interpretation. It’s wonderful to see such enthusiasm for Theatre – and religious Theatre at that!

“People of this great nation….”

Sean Banfield as Pontius Pilate

Sean with his book of Irish history, which he purchased for $7 while he was in the United States

Before I left he grabbed my arm and, after insisting that I finish the chocolate torte on the table (which we managed to consume in its entirety), he said, “you all, Maggie (he has a little trouble with names), Nick, Nicole Kidman (how he remembers Nicole’s name), and Madame Director (maybe he only says that because he doesn’t always remember my name?), no Irish person could do what you’re all doing. Nothing like your ministry or like the play has ever happened in a little church like that. We need your witness to begin rebuilding the faith. I’m 81…but you’re not.” Of course, this is my memory of what he said…he said it in a much more “Sean-like” manner, but I think it was his way of thanking all of us for our presence and the way we touched his life. Either that or we were both too tripped up on chocolate cake and tea to be thinking straight. But I’m pretty sure that the Passion play experience stood out amidst the other edgy, modern plays in which he’s taken part. It was the only one he’d done with a religious focus. And while the theatrical world would crush it for not being bold or risqué or contemporary enough, I would think, “well gee, what’s bolder, more thought-provoking or more inspiring than the life and witness of Jesus Christ? Try to find a play that incorporates as much laughter, faith, sadness, anger, and deep-seeded joy as that! So I walked through his path of apple, plum, and pear trees and thanked God for another blossoming friendship, founded in faith and strengthened by multiple servings of chocolate cake. We are so incredibly blessed to have the opportunity to share in a faith community that has extended far beyond the walls of Clonard church.

And as usual, voici les photos:

If we had a Downton Abbey series amongst our clan, it would be called “Ye Fair Maidens of Tinturn Abbey” and this would be our dwelling place.

Close-up on the maidens of Tinturn Abbey

Meet Nicole, the tallest of the three young Abbey maidens

Meet Emily, with ye fair red poncho

Meet Molly, with the longest hair of ye three Abbey maidens

I realized after I’d carved it into the sand that I probably shouldn’t write Wexford inside a heart on a beach that isn’t in Wexford.

Molly Malone and Sylvester Stallone in front of Kilkenny Castle — alone

Molly and Roisin in front of the castle

The Undertaker/The Cape Bar/McSomethings

God bless!

Emily and I visited with our friend Dominick on Friday afternoon. We exchanged stories and photos of family and home. The bible Emily mentioned a couple weeks ago is just as impressive in person! After visiting, we trekked down to the Wexford Omniplex to see a movie. (You can guess which one if you caught that pun.)

My friend Róisín from Irish Dance has been telling me that I must get to Kilkenny before heading off, so on Saturday, she took Emily and me for a day trip over there. The weather was lovely, the main street was charming, and I always love looking around castles! Kilkenny Castle was one of several built in the 1200’s which fell into disrepair, but has been restored to its Victorian era glory. I must say that the green was exceedingly well-designed for the view of a mountain at the end of it. We arrived back in time to celebrate the feast of the Holy Trinity at the Vigil Mass at Clonard.

Emily at Kilkenny Castle gardens. The mountain is to the right of this photo…

Kilkenny Castle. It is not actually bent in the middle, I don’t know why my panorama assist did that.

The pub where we had lunch. Note the ferns and flowers growing out of the wall!

And the next day was Scoil Mhuire’s First Holy Communion day! The two children whom Emily and I have taught on Sunday mornings since November received their First Holy Communion with one of the classes. It was such fun to see how happy they were for the day, and to see them celebrating with their families. The teachers at Scoil Mhuire were so great to make the kids from outside the school feel welcome and involved in the Mass. All the kids were good as gold. May the gift of the Eucharist nourish them every day of their lives!

That night, our friends Ann  and Donal joined us for a delicious meal, curry-tesy of Chef Emily. We know them from Confirmation retreats and programmes and the Passion Play, respectively, but they are both just as interested as we are in providing parish programs for young people. We had a good brainstorm session when we weren’t eating or talking about delectable food. What a whirlwind weekend! And this week, class Masses!

Our second last this Wednesday was my last meeting with the Ferns’ Liturgy Group, which focused mostly on looking forward to next year and to the final implementation of the website I’ve been working on for them. Now the final layout and formatting is completed, and most of their resources are being processed, formatted, and uploaded. While learning HTML and CSS (website stuff) has had a huge learning curve, and trying to keep it as inexpensive as possible and still professional has had its challenges, it has been a great skill to learn and it’s something I’ll be able to do well into the future. Here’s the website if you want to take a look: www.fernsliturgy.com.

In other news, on Wednesday night Emily went with our friend Donal to visit another parish’s youth group, talk to the parents and students involved with it, and see what they could learn for implementing something similar here. I will leave most of it until next week for Emily to talk about (since she was here), but consider it a teaser of what’s to come.

On Saturday, Molly and I sang and played for a wedding at the Church.  Of course the bride was beautiful and it was great fun seeing all of the formal attire, but the service itself was really nice, too! The presider was the bride’s uncle and the ceremony had a nice personal feel.  And I got to sing one of my favorites, Panis Angelicus! But my favorite had to be the Allegro Maestoso written by Handel and played by Molly.

Right after the wedding we went down to Greenacres to attend a voice studio recital organized by our friend, Marketa.  I really enjoyed hearing such a variety of voices and music, from folk songs to Broadway musical numbers to arias.  And any excuse to go to Greenacres is fine by me!

After the recital we celebrated Pentecost at the Vigil Mass. We had the youth choir singing and I’m proud to say that they’ve gone from 1) hesitantly singing solos only in the pews or hidden behind a pole to 2) begrudgingly cantoring congregational songs to 3) singing the psalm from the ambo without complaint! I’m so sad that we only have one youth choir Mass left, but alas… all good things must come to an end be taken over by Mary, Joy, Ben, and Cameron!

Saturday night we spent most of the evening celebrating our friend, Wiebke, who is moving back home to Germany. Luckily, next year Emily and I will only be a short train-ride away, so it wasn’t goodbye…just see ya later!

Sunday morning we celebrated First Communion with Kennedy Park.  The children were so beautifully dressed and you could tell they were so excited for their special day. We sang in the choir, but they didn’t need us; those kids really know what they’re doing! The two services were back-to-back with one class each.  The Masses were so prayerful and the Spirit had definitely come down to be with all of us, which I guess you would expect, considering it was Pentecost.  I’m sure that these children will not forget that day and we hope and pray that they will continue to develop a deep love and appreciation for the wonderful gift of the Eucharist!

After the Communions, we went to Ballyvaloo Centre for a minister’s retreat for everyone involved in various ministries at Clonard Church, which was my highlight of the weekend.  It was an afternoon to reflect on our role as ministers and to hopefully be refreshed and renewed in our ministry.  What better way to spend the afternoon on the Feast of Pentecost!

Fr. Chris Hayden was the speaker and he had countless insights into ministry, our Church community, and prayer.  He told us that the 1st letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians is the most straight-forward of all the letters and that we could gain a lot as ministers by reading it.  He spoke about the 1 Corinthians 12:12-27 and St. Paul’s metaphor of the body:

¹² Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. ¹³ For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. ¹⁴ Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.

¹⁵ Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. ¹⁶ And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. ¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? ¹⁸ But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. ¹⁹ If they were all one part, where would the body be? ²⁰ As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

²¹ The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” ²² On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, ²³ and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, ²⁴ while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, ²⁵ so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. ²⁶ If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

²⁷ Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

This is something we talk about on our Confirmation retreats.  We all have different talents and gifts and we are called to use them to glorify God! Fr. Denis made a good point that there are even less obvious parts of the body that are essential. (Where would we be without the ministry of the posterior?)

The meat of Fr. Hayden’s talk was about prayer.  If we are communicating with God, how are we supposed to know if we’re doing His will?

An elephant was walking along in the jungle on a fine day and came across an ostrich nest.  He was good friends with the ostrich who owned the nest, but she was nowhere in sight.  With the mama ostrich gone, no one was there to keep those eggs warm and protect them from danger.  The elephant saw an opportunity to minister.  He did have some other things planned after his afternoon walk, but he would make time to protect those eggs until their mother returned.  He made his way over to the nest, and purely out of love,  he sat on the ostrich’s eggs.

The elephant in this story had the best intentions, but ended up doing more harm than good.  Perhaps this wouldn’t have happened if he would’ve been in contact with the ostrich.  Not that we don’t sometimes misread our instructions and make mistakes, but we NEED to be praying and communicating with the Head of the Body if we truly want to be Christ’s hands and feet.  “It’s the thought that counts” is used as an excuse by many, including me.  (I thought about working out today, does that count?) But in this case, I think it is partially true…

If your ‘thought’ is that you want to do God’s work, and you are making that clear by frequently communicating this to God… then I think we can expect Him to take care of the rest.

It is really comforting for me to remember that God is in control.  I am merely a pencil in the Almighty’s hand.  I will do my best to figure out what needs to be done and to work hard, but I will also depend on God to lead me in His will.  If we’re leaving God out of it, then why are we ministers in a Church?

After Fr. Hayden spoke and we had a tea break, the four of us got to give a little testimony on our experiences in ministry.  We spoke about how we got involved with ministry, what our experiences have been compared to our expectations, how we are sustained in our ministry, and where our ministry is leading us in the future.  We closed with a lovely prayer service led by Sr. Mary, reflecting on the gifts of the Holy Spirit.  And I think it was a general consensus that the only thing we would change would be to have a bit more time.  (And to have more of the music ministers there!)

Now that we’re all full of the Holy Spirit, we’re ready for our last Confirmation Retreat and some other fun stuff this week! Nick will tell you all about it later…

We went with some friends to the Loch & Quay Monday night for a session and a few pints. No one was able to hide from the pointed finger of the musicians as they scanned the crowd for their next culprit. My sister sang and played the guitar, my dad did an impression of Tevye from Fiddler on the Roof, my mom sang a Beatles song at warp speed, and Pauline and I sang “The Parting Glass”. Now, Pauline, mind you, sings a little…umm…deeper than I do, so I kind of grumbled out some notes in the dungeons of my range and then gave up when my throat started to hurt. So perhaps I should change that to Pauline sang and I grunted “The Parting Glass.” Then I worked while my family explored, played golf by the sea, and while I prayed for downhills all the way to collect them in their newly acquired vehicle with the nerve-wracking manual transmission. Luckily, God smiled upon me and gave me green lights, downhills, and a parallel parking place with a gap of several cars. I’m sure I took more than my fair share of space, but survival is the important thing here, right?

From there we jetted off to Waterford, Blarney Castle, the Ring of Kerry (my sister had been looking for the “ring” itself the entire day until realizing that the whole drive was “the ring of Kerry”.) Then it was Killarney, Cork, and Galway, with a brief stint at the Cliffs of Moher, where all the forces of nature were trying to get us off the cliffs….okay, so it was a little windy. But, our GPS had it in for us, sending us up into the teeny paths along the cliffs and saying things like, “turn on…road.” We quickly disregarded the GPS’s cruel traveler games and used a good old fashioned map. Accommodations were all lovely except for the last night in Dublin when we accidentally booked a room directly above one of Dublin’s premier hotspot nightclubs. Without ever setting foot in the joint, we could tell you the entire playlist of the night up until about 5am (the room was bumpin’ as much as the club) and could dictate back some fairly complete conversations as well from the decibel at which they were had.

Waterford crystal football trophy worth some terrifying amount. Why did they hand it to me again??

The famous cliffs

Hiya, from the Puscas fam

And then we hit traffic

Happy little town on the Ring of Kerry

Now describe to me what weather conditions would require a short-sleeved wool sweater

Apologies to our guests of Saturday evening’s session at the Teach if we were a little distant due to hours of sleep. Without meaning to, we’d stayed up just as late as the partiers below.

Passing around some chocolates at our home gathering/ session

We were up fairly early on Sunday as well, to bid the travelers farewell and to hear my dad preach at mass. He said if someone had told him that he’d be preaching in Wexford, Ireland a few years back he would’ve laughed and said, “good one, so-and-so!” Although many parishioners were fairly confused as to why some priest guy on the altar was married and had four kids. Needless to say, Fr. James cleared up some of the confusion with a proper description of what a deacon is exactly.

Deacon Michael delivering his homily

This week, I’ve been working with several classes at Kennedy Park in preparation for 2^nd class first communion masses this weekend. They sound wonderful! Also, on my days off, I’ve enjoyed popping over to peoples’ homes for a cuppa tea and a conversation. This week it was Dominic’s turn, one of the Roman Guards in the Passion Play. He’s a faithful daily mass-goer as well as a willing participant in the play. We talked a lot about the shape of the church in Ireland and what he sees in the future. He has a great devotion to scripture, especially to the Gospels and he pulled out his Bible, a giant encyclopedia of a thing, which he lugged to the table and put in front of me. I thought about asking when he’d ever considered investing in a slightly smaller Word of God but zipped my lip when I saw the crinkled leaves, ancient photographs, handwritten letters, drawings, glitter, and markings which were all crammed inside. I smiled as he pulled out each memory and guided me through his happiest and most joy-filled times. He’d gotten the Bible for 30 quid and I could see then that it wasn’t only about the content of the great book itself, but how it has chartered his days and been an integral part of the happiest moments of his life. The two were not separated; the stories of the Bible went right along with the stories of his life and it was natural that he married the two in one meaningful life understanding.

packed with memories

We closed off the week with a splendid little visit to Tinturn Abbey, down in this neck of the woods with one of our friends from folk group. Looking ahead to this weekend, we have ourselves a wedding, a vocal concert, a going-away party for a good friend, masses and a ministers’ retreat. Whew.

The traveller horses just across from our house

Oh! And Happy Birthday to Nick. Have some cake!

Happy 23rd, NICK!!

Actually, I rescind the offer for cake since we…umm…ate it all.