Steubenville Wrap-up and Holydays begins!

Sunday was the final day of the Youth Conference/Retreat at Franciscan University of Steubenville. This was the the third of 4 retreat weekends that happen over the summer AT Steubenville, while there are 14 other conferences for youth that the University runs across the United States. Some of those have 4-5,000 participants - so I imagine that there are 30-40,000 young people who experience this kind of retreat each summer!
It was a hot and humid morning Sunday - climbing up the hill to the main campus of Steubenville - and I had beads of sweat running down my glasses at the top of the hill before 8:15 am!
After a time of Praise and Worship, & prayer and commitment - we celebrated Eucharist. At the end of Mass young people discerning a vocation - females first - and then males - were invited to the front to be prayed over as they are open to the idea that God could be calling them to religious life, or the priesthood. The numbers were impressive - and our young people commented on that on the bus ride home.
After Mass we grabbed our bag lunch - then loaded up the Buses with our luggage and headed home. Our bus prayed the rosary to start, then had a time of open mic - to allow the teens to share their experiences - and then we watched the movie Courageous.
Our border crossing was quick, and after a dinner stop along the QEW - we pulled into the parking lot immediately behind the other bus - even though we had not driven together or stopped at the same places! We couldn't have arranged it any better! Not a coincidence - but a God-incidence!

Monday I worked around the rectory - doing some gardening - and hosted a couple of good friends for dinner. Fr. Damian was back from visiting his family just in time to share in the ribs I had cooked! Tuesday we started our Holydays Camp - and I was cooking Cookies all day - with 4 different groups of campers! A delightful experience! Meanwhile Fr. Damian was playing Basketball and Floor Hockey with the campers! We were both working up a sweat!!!

Peace