We all met bright and early before Mass to discuss chapter four of the book “Theology and Sanity” by Frank Sheed. We did our best to improve our understanding of God as an Infinite Being, who transcends space and time, existing in utter changelessness infinitely knowing and loving and possessing all perfections in utter purity as one with Him. After Holy Mass we had a chance to catch up with friends and make new ones over a tasty lunch prepared by Catherine. Father gave us a very interesting talk on the application of the beatitude, “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven”, to our lives. We learnt about the importance of treating material things as a means without becoming attached to them, remembering that our purpose in life is to go to God. This was followed by a very informative PowerPoint on beauty and its presence in Church art with Miss Walsh’s teaching skills in action! The ability to appreciate beauty should prepare us to contemplate God and the hallmark of good religious art is its ability to help us draw nearer to God.
Heading into Dublin National Art Gallery we were able to look at many examples of art displayed in the fine exhibitions. This was followed by hand cuff busting, padlock opening, code breaking and coordinate solving in a race against the clock and opposing teams in the adventure rooms. This required a lot of puzzle solving and team working with some people forgetting to be quiet so not to share the clues through the walls! Dinner prepared by Padraig and Colm and dessert by Brighid was greatly appreciated by all, followed by strong accusations and defences in the game of “The Village”. Lorraine closed the evening with talented and impressive harp pieces.
On Sunday we attended 11.00 sung Mass with a sermon on the power of the rosary and the importance of fighting distractions. After a well organised lunch supplied by Marcia we had a topsy turvy departure for an even more topsy turvy game of rounders which further reinforced the need to dedicate an afternoon to this game to enable it to reach its smashing competitive full potential (and the need to have our rounder coach present)! We closed the weekend with rosary on the coast in reparation for the offenses committed against Our Lord with the recent events in Ireland before everyone made their way (eventually!) home.
Many thanks to Father for all his endless dedication as chaplain, to Therese for her hidden hours spent organising and to all who contributed to conferences and meals to realise the importance of increasing our spiritual life in a joyful atmosphere!
E-chronicle by Bernadette McKeown.