Follow God faithfully and serve people generously

Continuing education is important for everyone, no matter what their field or profession. The past two days the Clergy of the Diocese of Sioux Falls, South Dakota gathered for their annual conference with the Bishop. We also had a speaker who focused on spirituality and the everyday struggles we all go through to turn from evil and do what is right and good. Besides the intellectual and spiritual nourishment, just being together with a group of priests and deacons who are trying to follow God faithfully and serve people generously provides a good sense of support and camaraderie.

We’ve had morning and evening sessions, but free afternoons. Yesterday was  a glorious, sunny day in the low 80’s. To take a break from all the sitting, I decided to enjoy a walk along the river, and I ran into a couple of other priests with the same idea. Fr. Jim and Fr. Tom were wonderful company on a relaxing stroll, with no destination to get to.

The meetings were held just across the Missouri River in Chamberlains’ sister city, Oacoma. This afternoon three of the guys had never seen St. Joseph’s Indian School’s campus, so I led a tour through. We visited some classrooms and one of the Homes. People get a much better idea about our programs and approach when they can come out and see for themselves. Our staff and students also make good tour guides and helped answer all the questions our visitors asked.

This evening the Knights of Columbus grilled up some good South Dakota beef steaks for us to enjoy.

A series of conversations with young friends

Yesterday was FAST (Families and Schools Together) graduation for 10 families who spent four weekends involved in on campus activities with their children. One of our students’ grandfathers, asked to stand before the crowd gathered in chapel and say a few words. In the old days, boarding schools didn’t involve families much at all, but he is grateful for the way it is now, and how we try to work side by side with families. He also gave a good witness talk about people’s ability to turn their lives around for the good – reminding us that it’s never too late, or too early to start walking on the good path.

I enjoyed the conversations with my 7 and 8 year-old-friends!
I enjoyed the conversations with my 7 and 8 year-old-friends!

After mass today, Mike and Christine, the houseparents of Afra Home (1st – 3rd grade girls) invited me over for brunch. Normally there are a dozen students in the home, but many were checked out and they were down to just three girls for the day – Kyla, Lynaiah and Selesia. While I like to go to the Homes when I’ll catch a majority of the kids there, it was nice being able to sit around one table rather than two, and have a series of conversations with my 7 and 8-year-old friends. I took some time to listen to them read afterwards, before it was time to go outside and play, and enjoy the unseasonable hot weather we’ve been having. It just doesn’t seem like October.