The last thing in the world that I wanted to do was to volunteer for another Confirmation class.
Patty
I met this beautiful young lady about two years ago. She was the assistant to the Confirmation and Youth Ministry head. When we learned that the leader of the group was moving on to a new career, Patty took on the position as head of that department. Patty is gifted in so many areas of her life, but her calling now is to lead the youth closer to Christ. When she called me to ask if I was willing to take on another Confirmation class I told her that I would pray about it.
Answering the Call
Two weeks passed before I finally received an answer from the Lord. My “yes” brought much relief to both Patty and me. When you answer “yes” to doing God’s work, He gives you special graces to accomplish the task. Now I am joyfully teaching three classes. And since our diocese requires two years for both Holy Communion and Confirmation, I’m locked in for two more years.
We are now well into two months of the program and, finally, I am getting to know all 17 of the students by name. There are three sets of siblings who always sit together. I have students from four different high schools so at first it was a challenge for me to get them to participate in the group discussions.
Ice Breakers
We use ice breakers as a attempt to get the students familiar with each other. Unlike others, the retreat ice breakers required physical contact. Knowing well that some students do not like to have physical contact with people they are not familiar with was a big step for them to take. This ice breaker required them to sit on the ground and lock arms while attempting to get up. Finally, a breakthrough for one of my introverted students. He was having fun with a genuine smile on his face. And when he answered questions the entire class supported him by clapping in approval. Truly it was a beautiful sight.
The Testimonials
Eddie, who teaches Confirmation Two, gave a wonderful testimonial. He was a tagger who ran the streets of East Los Angeles with a local gang. He never joined the gang, but his parents were not pleased with the direction he was going. Thank the good Lord that his parents made the sacrifice to send Eddie to a Catholic high school.
Two other precious young ladies gave their testimonials. One, in particular, spoke of something deep and personal that she experienced as a child. The beauty of this story is that it has a happy ending; she is on the road to recovery and is learning to trust God in a deeper way.
Adoration
Catholics practice Eucharistic Adoration to draw closer to Jesus. Where Jesus is, Mary is also there. Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, but our Lord received his flesh from Mary. Because He was born of Mary His outward appearance resembled hers. Mary was immaculately conceived; she could not have any stain of original sin because she was divinely chosen to be the Mother of God. She has been compared to the Ark of the Covenant, carrying Jesus in her womb because God was within her.
Eucharistic Adoration draws you closer to Jesus. The Lord is doing something through this nonverbal communication: He is reaching out to us. The fruit of Eucharistic Adoration gives you peace; you become more like Jesus.
To me Adoration is one of the highest forms of worship. To spend time with God in this manner is experience a deeper level of holiness. Before COVID La Purisima Catholic Church, had exposition of the Holy Eucharist on a daily basis. I spent many hours in silence unable to move because I did not want to disturb the emotions I was experiencing.
Preparing For Adoration
The session before Adoration was to prepare them by guiding them with different scenarios of what to expect. For instance, they were told to be still before the Eucharist. I told them to speak to the Lord and ask Him any question they wanted.
The praise music brought us all to our knees as we worshipped before the Blessed Sacrament.
In the end some of the students definitely had a holy experience. Personally, I believe the fact that the students were there was so pleasing to the Lord.
The Rainbow
It rarely rains in Southern California, so we were all perplexed and didn’t really know what to do with ourselves. We had to leave the comfort of the gymnasium and venture to the ministry center.
As we were leaving to attend the next session, a beautiful, full rainbow appeared. Some of the students were upset because they did not have their phones to capture the rainbow, but they understood it was a good sign from God.
In this session the girls were separated from the boys. Young ladies need to know their value in the Kingdom of God, and young men need to respect themselves in order to respect girls. My motto is: “If you want to be treated like a queen, then you must treat your significant other like a king.” God made us different for a reason. When God removed the rib from Adam, He did not create from her many different sexes. No, He created a man and a woman. Although the world gets this twisted, we who serve God know the truth.
Mass
We ended with a beautiful Mass. Though the reading were a bit heavy (Luke 21:5-19), Father Eliardo gave a wonderful homily explaining that since we do not know when the Lord is going to take us home, we should always be prepared.
My Prayer
Dear Lord, I pray for all the students who attended this retreat. May they continue to ask questions about Your holy existence. Lord, guide them in the right direction and may they always seek truth. Amen.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ULLIE!
