This Tuesday my son will be receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation. In preparation, this past weekend he attended a retreat given at his school. His first retreat. He loved it. Said it was great. Having been through a number of retreats myself, both on the receiving end and as a leader/helper, I know the life-altering effect they can have on one, especially a retreat well planned and lead. His retreat was. And I want to take a moment to thank the teachers and school alumni who made it happen. In particular, Ms. Cindy — you rock! She did an amazing job. As well, the group of teenagers who volunteered their time to plan and work this retreat — Vicky, Juanqui, Ali, Annette, Ashely, Melissa, Lauren, to name a few. These teenagers’ dedication and show of faith is a refreshing reminder that not all the youth of this country is lost. That a large number of them are out there doing their best to set an example for us all, spreading and living the Word — walking the talk, if you will.
Thank you guys for making this a special and memorable retreat for Danny and his classmates. Keep up the good work. The Lord needs you. The world needs you.
There is no greater contribution than to help the weak.
There is no greater satisfaction than to have done it well.
happy are those who will have sought and found how to serve.
– Albert Schweitzer
You’ve touched people and know it. You’ve touched people
and never may know it. Either way, no matter what your life
feels like to you right now, you have something to give.
It is in giving to one another that each one of our lives
becomes meaningful.
– Laura Schlessinger
You know, I remember when I was a candystriper (junior volunteer) back in ’69, ’70 and ’71 … the hippie/youth revolution thing was in full swing and all you heard was kids smoking marijuana, doing LSD and doing all sorts of things. But my friends and I all regularly went to church, got along with our family and a lot of us worked at the hospital (Hollywood Presbyterian in Hollywood, California) after school and on weekends. None of us did drugs, slept around, curse, rant or rave. (I was a hippie for about 45 minutes, didn’t like the clothes, the incense gave me a headache and made me sneeze even more than I usually do and I really didn’t like those “pop art” flowers, I’ve always been more of a Redoute roses type of girl, and the idea of not shaving my legs was just so NOT me.) No one ever wrote about us. I think, although I do believe the world is more chaotic now than it was then, that it’s the “bad” kids that always get the most press. It gets ratings. It sells newspapers and magazines. Which is really kind of sad. I’ve met Lauren and she is a lovely, lovely young person. I know Danny must be the same. And blessings to him and to all your family for being just that, a family.
On a brighter note, I’ve been watching Extreme Makeover, the Home Edition for a while now. It never fails to put a smile on my face and make me believe that, yes, there are a lot of good, normal, family, faith and prayer kind of people out there, God bless each and every one of them.
Thank you for your beautiful words Connie.
I think that the kids had an amazing experience! Their retreat came at the perfect time, the weekend before their confirmation. Alot of them still feeling that wonderful love of our Lord (burning hearts) and really wanting to serve and be a soldier of Christ.
I loved Bishop Noonan’s Homily, and the kids loved him. I don’t know where I have heard the story he said at the end of his Homily (The church that was burned down in Cincinnati), but I know I have heard it before. The story is great example of how we need to become Jesus’ hands and feet in this world (that’s craving “real” love).
I prayed for all the confirmandi, so they may continue to spread the word and love of Jesus. I also prayed for vocations, since Bishop Noonan brought it up. (I actually had one student come up to me today and say he has thought about becoming a priest. Someone you would least expect. I told him you never know, you just need to pray about it. I also said that it would be really COOL!!!)