Welcome Mass, Icebreakers, and Breaking the News

During Clubs and Societies Day, 18 newcomers signed up at the booth set up at the North Court. It was a heartening number, considering that it was raining on that day and that it is the second intake of the year. These newcomers joined us for the first time in our Welcome Mass for them, which was held at St Carthages and by our chaplain, Father Michael McKenna. After the mass, we proceeded to St Mary's West Hall, where we had a round of introductions, lovely food, food, and more food.

Team bonding games were in place the week after. The first was The Helium Stick, where the whole team had to support a pole using only their index fingers to bring it down to the ground. It sounds easy, but most of us soon found the pole floating upwards instead of down, so it required a lot of teamwork and communication to complete the task. The second game was The Egg Test, which saw the production and marketing of Snest, The Cradle, Bob and COSDU, innovations made up of straws and paper to protect an egg dropped from a height. Quite a lot of comic relief came from this segment, as people argued and defended their egg products.



Those of you who received the email would have known that a (very very very)X10 important announcement was to be made. Yes, it was made, and it is that Sister Theresa would be leaving on 1 Jan 2008 for her Sabbatical year. A sabbatical year is a prolonged hiatus, typically one year, in the career of an individual taken in order to fulfill some goal. For Sister Theresa, this journey involves a desert experience in the States, as well as bible courses and studies. It will also be a period of discernment for her, which means that she might switch to another ministry depending on where the Holy Spirit leads her. For now, she will be at the Chaplaincy till the end of November 2007, so do spare some time this semester to visit her there before she leaves.

One good opportunity to meet up with her would be on the 10th of August, where she will be conducting the weekly Friday session. This session is themed 'Ask and You Shall Receive' and will be held at St Mary's at 6.30pm. Monday lunchtime bible sharing sessions have also resumed at 1.15pm at the Chaplaincy, and these are good opportunities too.