Last Friday evening, a group of youth preparing for Confirmation departed from Reykjavík to do a weekend retreat in our little town, Stykkishólmur. Father said that when the youth got into the cars, their faces were filled with dread. But after the weekend, they had changed completely and had become a group of friends, united in their Catholic faith.
They arrived on Friday evening and Father had asked us to prepare a short talk for them about the vocation to the religious life. Because the group were children of Polish descent but living in Iceland, we prepared the talk in both languages. The first part was in Polish and sister talked about the three callings that each of us has: to existence, to holiness – to become a saint, and to a state of life – a vocation to the married life or to the consecrated life. The second part of the talk was in Icelandic and sister spoke of the way in which God called her to the religious life and anyone can recognize that particular calling by discerning that the desire to embrace this life cannot come from oneself naturally, neither does it come from the world or the devil. Therefore, the desire to consecrate one´s life entirely to God is inspired by God and one should respond with generosity.
After the talk, we played many games with the youth and there was a great spirit of participation and joy. They weren´t embarrassed teenagers but young people filled with zest for life and eager to enjoy it together in a healthy, happy way.
At the end of the evening, the youth asked if they could see us the following day, so we prepared a few games for the morning as well.
Father was very grateful and said that their whole demeanor had changed and hoped that the fruits of this weekend would be lasting. We commend these youth to your prayers – may they be generous with God and become saints!