Future of the Church...

For those of you worried about the future of the Church, let me tell you about last night...

The priests in the Canon Law program were "hit-up" to help with the retreat for the freshman college students at the university. The freshman class consists of approximately 600 or so teen-agers. The retreat for freshman - which is completely voluntary - took place this weekend. They had approximately 250 freshman there! Nearly half the class... And this is completely voluntary! Not only did they not have to be there, they were giving up a whole weekend to do it. I don't know about you, but I was impressed by that alone. Part of their retreat, which took place at a small camp about an hour or so outside of the city, is the opportunity to go to confession (thus the need for us poor aspiring canon lawyers...). As we arrived, the kids were beginning Eucharistic adoration. We priests took up our places and one after another the kids lined up. Two hours solid we were there! I was tremendously impressed.

In the middle of the evening a big storm blew in dumping a lot of rain. As I was running to my car to leave, in the darkness, I couldn't help but stop and notice all the kids under the outdoor pavilion... all on their knees before the Eucharist singing the "Tantum Ergo..."

There is hope for the Church...!