The clean-up from this week's blizzard continues in Gloucester. A seawall was damaged in the Lanesville section of town. The weather reached 35 degrees Fahrenheit (1 degree Celsius) so much of the ice on the roads has been cleared up. Tomorrow is to be warmer so all the pathways will be cleared.
We conclude an end-of-year retreat tomorrow. We had a day of conferences and a few points and we closed with a moving reconciliation service tonight. From my experience, people still desire this sacrament - perhaps just not at the parish level. Students on KAIROS retreats have found the sacrament to be healing and powerful; retreatants find it likewise. Environment and atmosphere can lead to an increase in the desire for the sacrament. Also, a proper type of relationship with the penitent and priest needs to exist for the sacrament to flourish. It seems that I am often involved in this ministry and I like it. I wish more people had the space in their lives to receive the graces that are offered.
I watched the 3-D version of the Dawn Treader (Chronicles of Narnia) today. I think Edmund and Lucy have evolved quite well over the years. I missed their older siblings, Peter and Susan. I find these stories very emotional. I am also amazed at the goodness that exudes from these characters and the Narnian creatures. It is not a pious goodness, but a real goodness that comes from discernment based on their relationship with Aslan. I want to reread the Chronicles again.
Tomorrow I say goodbye to a Christian Brother who has been visiting the past week. He is a good guy. He is studying gerontology in Canada and has come to the Boston area to meet with us three guys who made the long retreat with him in Australia in March. It was his first experience of the Spiritual Exercises and he was impressed. He made a comment today that struck me: this will be the last time on this earth that we will see one another. We do have to use our time well. We do need to take care of one another. This is all we have.
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