During this week, I had the opportunity to attend sacrament classes at two of our parish schools: Our Lady of Good Counsel, Deepdene and Our Lady’s School, Surrey Hills.

The Sacrament of Confirmation was a major topic in Grade 6 at Our Lady of Good Counsel, Deepdene.  I shared with Grade 6 about the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit which each candidate will receive on the date of Confirmation.

After a few minutes of getting to know one another, there were some absolutely brilliant questions from the students such as – What can I do when I am angry? Can the Holy Spirit help?  Or Can the Holy Spirit help me when I am older? Also, there were some questions to me about my priesthood.

Eventually, we moved from the Sacrament of Confirmation to the Sacrament of Holy Orders.  The students checked me out with some questions regarding my vocational discernment.  It was quite fascinating to hear how the young group of students wonder about the priesthood and religious life.

I pray that the Holy Spirit will continue to stir in the hearts of the young people with wonderings and positive thoughts about religious life.

Secondly, before the week was over, I also got a chance to join Grade 4 at Our Lady’s School in Surrey Hills for a further discussion, this time on the Sacrament of Eucharist.  Grade 4 is a group that is preparing themselves to receive the Sacrament of the Eucharist for the first time.  It was beautiful to hear the way that Grade 4s understand the Eucharist with their pure and innocent knowledge.  Indeed, despite all the great and heavy theological perspectives of the Eucharist, the Sacrament of Eucharist is no more than what Grade 4 is thinking of: sharing a meal, food for our faith journey.  Eucharist is food for our souls and food for our bodies.  Grade 4 students absolutely can be great theologians who can simply and purely understand the whole meaning of the Eucharist.  Accidentally, we moved to a few questions about my priesthood too. It was such a fun time when many Grade 4s were also interested in the Eucharist and the priesthood.

I pray that the Lord, with his love for the world, will continue to give us his body in the Eucharist, particularly nourishing the innocent hearts of those who will receive him for the very first time.

Fr Trac