Team 2 is filled with joy from the risen Lord!

Easter Greetings! I hope you all had a wonderful Easter and are as joy-filled as we are! Christ is risen, Alleluia!

We are now back in Ottawa and from the amount of time we've spent here during training, it's almost like coming home. Of course, for Adele, she is actually home. As much as I loved the east coast, I am happy to be back in Ottawa and see some familiar faces. All the girls on the team had the privelege of staying with our lovely supervisor, Meaghan.

We arrived in Ottawa on Thursday and were greeted by absolutely beautiful weather. We went to the Pereiras' house and joined them for the Seder meal. For those of you who don't know, the Seder meal is a traditional Holy Thursday meal that is similar to the Jewish passover. It was very interesting, especially eating the traditional foods. Thanks Pereira family for inviting us!

The Holy Week Masses have always been my favourite, but this year they were even more special for me. I think it's because I have grown so much in my faith that I was able to enter more fully into the meaning of the Masses. On Good Friday, our team did the Stations of the Cross along with songs centered around Christ's death. This really got us into the spirit of the day and prepared us for the service later on. Again, this day had a lot more meaning to me. I focused a lot on Jesus' suffering and found myself really wanting to share in it. But I realized that even our greatest sufferings are nothing compared to what Jesus did for us.

On Saturday, we attended the vigil at St. Monica's parish; it was a beautiful Mass. Despite its length, I was able to stay focused the whole time and afterward I was filled with a deep sense of joy.

On Sunday we joined the Pereira family for an easter egg hunt and ice cream sundaes! We then tried our hand at cooking Easter dinner, which turned out delicious! After dinner, we had team prayer; we were all filled with joy and praised our hearts out to God. We also enjoyed some time at the park, on the right is a picture of Adele playing on the swings!

So we had a really wonderful Easter and are now gearing ourselves for our retreats this week. We've had a good bit of time off, so it's time to get back in the groove!

God Bless!

Happy Easter!

Claire

Team 2