Tonight was a refreshing kind of night spent with great fellowship. It was "holy" hour here in town, and tonight we broke a record of attendance. There were I think 26 of us that came. A large part of that had to do with the publicity given to it at the end of my kairos retreat, but I feel like I helped by kind of pushing my small group to come along. It was so much fun being with these people. St. Paul's on Wed. nights has quickly become a nice place to just fall after a week of craziness. The people that have come every week have become a nice community that prays and worships in Eucharistic adoration together and then during drop-in it is so nice to just catch up with everyone. Talk about the happenings that went on in our lives. I have come to really enjoy Wed. nights! I love my group there dearly.
"Holy" hour is not the only place I have a strong community of people who live out their faith. At St. Charles, my home parish, I have just as many dear friends. Every Sunday night we meet up and have a Bible study. The funny thing about this Bible study is that there is just as much catching up with each other and joking around and getting off topic as there is in studying the Bible. I have learned so much more about the Scripture than I knew before I went to this Bible study. I have found myself reading ahead of what we are supposed to just because I have really finally been interested in the stories... Right now I am in the middle of the book of Joshua. Go me!
Without these two groups of friends I think my life would have been so much more depressing for me. I have realized that having faith and trying to follow it is SO SO SO much easier when I surround myself with the people who are trying to do the same. So to all of my friends I have met while working on retreats and teaching Confirmation classes and praying in front of the Blessed Sacrament, and going to Mass together with, I just want to say I am eternally grateful to God that I met each and every one of you! You will always have a place in my heart.
1 comment:
You are so fortunate to have this. I cannot stress enough that we ..the young people in the Catholic Churches did NOT have any such thing in my younger years! Nada..nothing. It would have been strange to learn of anything like these wonderful gifts! It is so sad to think I've missed so much and if it had not been for your very godmother, Suzanne Lepine and Shane's godmother, Julie..I don't know if I'd have ever done anything even later, but somehow they showed me that things were opening up like this. It is clear that the Lord sends us one another to support one another. How I hope and pray that you will continue asking your sibling to come with her friends..they are close enough in age...at least to one of these groups. Sometimes, as you see, we don't know what we need until we miss it and they are clearly missing it. Keep encouraging..please and ask others to, as well...that is part of your jobs too..just as Suzanne and Julie finally showed me the way.
God bless you all and thanks for desiring Jesus and His teachings so much in your lives!
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