mostly concerning tea & DUBLIN

We are finishing up our last week in the Dublin diocese, which coincidentaly is also our last week of ministry before our December retreat and Christmas break. In the past few weeks here in Dublin, our team has been doing lots of confirmation retreats. Just today we had one as well. It has been great to get to reach the young people and to help them realize what being an adult in the church actually means. This past weekend we were at the enrollment mass for one class of candidates and then today we were able to have a retreat with them! Today on the feast of the Immacuate Conception we were even able to have Mass on our retreat, it was amazing to see the reverence they were able to conduct themselves with when just a short while before they were screaming and shouting along to the song with us. One thing is for sure, these young people are FULL of energy. They love running and they love shouting, most of them also love singing with us. If this is any reflection on what is to come for the church, I'd say that we should get ready for it, cause it's gonna be massive. The joy that they have is really contagious and it really pumps our team up even at the end of a long day.

Since we've been staying

so close to the city centre here in Dublin, on Saturday we had a day off and many of us were able to go in to the city centre to explore and, of course, go shopping. The city is all decorated for Christmas, and although it may be jumping the gun a bit as we are still in preparation mode during advent, it looked beautiful with all the lights strung over the streets. We even got to hear Christmas carollers outside the GPO, which is the General Post Office for you non-Irish readers. It was a bit different for me since I am used to experiencing all this Christmasy scenerey with a steady falling of white snow, but a light drizzle of rain was the only contribution from the atmosphere. Meg, Tanya, and myself got quite lost on our way home and ended up in the nicest and most posh part of Dublin by accident. It was a nice surprise to get to experience the great architecture of the buildings there, and eventually with a little help we made our way back to our host home safely where a cup of tea was waiting for us.

Much of the team, myself included, who are going back to North America for Christmas are also bringing along a great friend and contributor to our team; Lyons tea (gold blend). It is being debated whether or not this is for the benefit of my family, or merely because I am going to miss it ourselves. Honestly, it is a bit of both. The way I see it Christmas is a season for sharing the joys of life. A good cup of Lyons tea (goldblend) can bring true joy, so by bringing it home I will be able to spread that joy to my family and experience the joy by having a cup or twenty with them. So, if you'd like to experience a real cup of Irish tea, drop in on me during my Christmas break which begins in just one week!!

As I mentioned earlier in this post, today is the feast of the Immaculate Conception. When we were back at training in Canada, each of the women was given a marian title to take on for the year, and I was given Immaculate Conception. So I couldn't write this post without giving a shout out to Mother Mary. Today I was thinking a lot about Mary's obedience to God's will and how she conducted herself in such a docile and gentle way and how much we all need to imitate those virtues that Mary had. Good to know though, that Mamma Mary is always ready to pray for us as we strive to get closer to God's will. All in all it was a good feast day, and some of the girls even bought me some ice cream to celebrate! Then the six of us walked around the streets of Rathmines eating ice cream out of the carton with plastic spoons while pondering the Immaculate Concaption. With Mary and ice cream, you know its a party...

Well I think that is all I have to say for now, so I hope you all are contiuing to stay warm (I heard there's snow at home!!) and well and are getting ready for the birth of Christ in our hearts at Christmastime. Please pray for our team, especially this week as we will be traveling to our various homes around the world. Hope to see you all soon when I get home for my break! Love yous!

PS: These first photo is Sara & Matthew performing one of our funny skits for a group of young people, the second is some of the women of the team in St. Stephen's Green in Dublin, and the last is Laura & mysef enjoying a good cupa Lyons.