All together now

On Tuesday evening we had Sparky's Open House for school. It was a basic school event with updates on fundraising projects, HSA activities for the year and a plea for volunteers. What made it really stand out in my mind, however, was the fact that we opened and closed with a prayer.

I guess I should expect that, being a Catholic School and all, but something about it caught me offguard and yet left me feeling really at peace and at home at the same time.

After mulling it over for a bit, I decided that it has a lot to do with praying aloud as a group. There is something wonderful about lifting our voices in unison, asking for the same things and thanking God for the blessings we've received. But there was even more to the beauty of the prayers than just doing them as a group, because I do that every week at mass and that can seem rote or even mundane at times. So I mulled some more.

And what I came up with is that praying with my peers and contemporaries really stirs my heart. At church there are a lot of people I don't know, different families and different ages. And although I'm sure at some churches there is a real sense of community, we have moved around so much, I don't usually feel that.

But on Tuesday night, praying with other the other parents, many of whom I consider friends, was a real treat. It was a commonality that reminded me of my days at San Pedro Scripture Camp, where we as counselors prayed and played together for several weeks each summer.


I always loved having the chance to get to know people my age and gain insight into their faith lives...how they prayed, what was important to them in their prayer life. It in some way, helped me to develop my own spirituality. And so re-living that at the Open House this week, really left me feeling thankful and blessed. And that's a good way to end the night!