Congress is Cool
Posted by Lisa Hendey in Faith on Saturday, February 28, 2009 9:00 AM
Picture a three story convention center packed to the gills with 40,000 Catholics, enthusiastic about educating the future of our Catholic Church. Add vendors selling everything from Catholic bestsellers to priestly vestments. Throw in an agenda so packed with speakers and music that you’re not sure who to see first. This gives you a tiny peek into the world of the Diocese of Los Angeles’ Religious Education Congress.
It’s hard to imagine seeing such a variety of priests, brothers, nuns and laity in one place. Everywhere you turn, you see someone in a habit or a collar. When I lined up for confession yesterday afternoon, the wait rivaled the queue for the most popular rides across the street at Disneyland. In the presence of the Blessed Sacrament in the Adoration chapel, hundreds were kneeling in the presence of Jesus, but you could hear a pin drop.
Being here has filled me with a sense of happiness, peace and great optimism about the future of our Church. Each of those present here has traveled to this place ultimately out of a desire to grow closer to Our Lord and to share him with special people in their lives. True there are wildly popular speakers and great music, but Jesus and the Eucharist are at the center of this celebration.
Tomorrow, I will pack up and return to the “real world” of laundry, carpools and homework. I will struggle to make time for prayer and try to recall Mark Hart’s exhortation to truly feed myself with the scripture. Having had time to truly focus on rekindling my faith has done me a world of good. I hope that long after this trip is a memory, the seeds planted here in Anaheim will continue to blossom and grow in my life and will be shared with my family and friends.
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