I wrote this piece four years ago. Remarkably and in humbling fashion, it happened again this week. So I just had to post this…

Solemn witnesses stand

In their strength

Certainty

and frailty

Ritual binds us together

Reminds us of what matters

Where we belong

“Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel!”

I repeat

50-60 times

My mantra or theirs?

I am in awe of these solemn witnesses

Who are part of a larger tableau

800 mostly teenagers

In dead silence

For 5 minutes or more

I am in awe of the Holy Spirit

Who has touched my heart

and who animates this extraordinary scene