Sparkling children

Today there has been soft sunshine in Limerick and the teachers at the elementary school beside the retreat center where I am staying brought out earth-balls, parachutes, and a number of interesting devices for non-competitive games for the children. It was obviously planned. The children did not wear uniforms and some of the play equipment were the massive, inflatable play corals.

The air was filled with the delighted voices of children, and they sparkled in the sun to enjoy the games in which everyone won and nobody lost.

And we finished the retreat today. I gave two presentations in the morning. The first was on the Salesian motto "Da mihi animas, cetera tolle". The second was on Marian Aspects of Salesians spirituality. The presentations were well received, and the retreat ended with a community Eucharist celebrating the Golden Jubilee of Fr John Fagan, who had served for 38 years as a missionary in the Amazon. John Horan, the provincial, gave the homily at that much participated mass.

After the mass we found out that the votes counted in the referendum yesterday showed that the Lisbon treaty had been defeated. No strong opinions were expressed either way… and anyway, it was time for appetizers and mixing and visiting with each other in a way that never happened during the retreat itself, when all were a little restrained. The dining room was set with colorful tablecloths and everything was inviting and sparkling (hmm: I've used this word already about this day).

At 17.00 there was the final meal, formal and festive. Hugh O'Donnell, who sang one of his own compositions at the mass, spoke on behalf of all to re-echo some of the themes of the retreat. And to John Horan's good wishes to me, I responded. I took advantage of the theme of Jubilee to congratulate the four participants celebrating jubilees, and reminding all of the Catholic practice that this is not an anniversary but a year of grace… and all of us are part of this jubilee grace since we have been touched by these four Salesians in their own jubilee year. I said this to encourage a sense of connectedness, for we have become too used to letting important traditions pass us by. We live in a state of forgetfulness.

But if we were going back to Don Bosco, and back to our sources, then we need to live in the perspective of grace alive and transforming.

Ah well, it was something I felt that I needed to share with them as my farewell to the retreat and to the group. And as I concluded, it seemed to me that the whole group was sparkling! Just as much as the children I saw this morning dancing in the sun and sparking in joy. Francis de Sales tells us that our openness to God allows us to bask in God's mighty sunlight, so why not? Of course we should all be sparking!