Confirmation!

With her wonderful sponsor, Fr. Ken Hamilton

Such a perfect day to celebrate K's confirmation.  The Archbishop presided and in his homily spoke of the history of the Church and why the kids should be proud to be part of a tradition that has brought so much to the world, using examples of science, beauty, truth...  He said "when people tell me that faith and science are in opposition, I tell them that the Church INVENTED science" and then used a lot of examples of innovative scientists who were also priests or monks.  He acknowledged problems too, but the overall message was one of celebratory welcome.

I wept through the blessing and the anointing, having such a sense joy that K is making this commitment.  I kept having flashes of parenting moments:  lying beside her in her little crib-turned-toddler bed, teaching her to pray; how cute she was when I dropped her off at her first RE class when she was four; the chaos of teaching her first and second grade First Communion prep classes; standing with her as she walked up to her First Reconciliation at that beautiful ceremony at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, watching her receive her First Communion, teaching her 7th and 8th grade RE classes, working to start a youth ministry... such a journey to get to the point where she was willing to stand there and make a lifelong commitment to her faith.

I also knew at least 34 of the 37 kids, either because I taught them for two years or because they played basketball/did track with K, so I felt a connection to their journeys, too.  I sat there watching K (and the rest), thinking of all of these things, with tears streaming down my cheeks.  It was great.

(Top two photo below courtesy of Jeff Bartee (professional photographer).

Ready to celebrate