Katie's Confirmation -- EDITED!

Lest we neglect the Bearcakes, it was a big year for Katie too!  She was finally able to receive Confirmation in June. 

Our pastor celebrated the Mass and administered the Sacrament.  As it turns out, it was the last Mass we would be able to celebrate with him, since he and his fellow Disciples were transferred to another parish later in the month.  We'll miss their order -- they were very good fathers to our parish.

Katie asked her godmother to be her sponsor, so thankfully Aunt Rachel and cousin Lucy were able to drive out and stay for a short visit.

cousins! (and friend)

Katie's friend the Hairdresser Extraordinaire arranged Katie's hair to look like something from anime.  Of course.

It did look super cute on her.

Even though we are all suffering through this plague in some way, it was good to be able to celebrate a major Sacrament together.

And to check that box off!  That's the last sacrament we're responsible for for her. :)

EDITED TO ADD:

I can't believe I forgot to mention Katie's Confirmation saints!  She chose St. Catherine of Bologna, the patron of artists, and St. Marina of Omura, a Japanese martyr.  Both are perfect for her.  Instead of writing a report about her saints, she made a posterboard:

Scripture for 2020

It's comforting to know that we are not the only generation who have suffered and are confused; and that God is eternal and powerful.

Psalm 90

O Lord, You have been our refuge from one generation to the next.

Before the mountains were born or the earth or the world brought forth,

You are God, without beginning or end.

You turn men back to dust and say: "Go back, sons of men."

To Your eyes a thousand years are like yesterday, come and gone,

no more than a watch in the night.

You sweep men away like a dream, like grass which springs up in the morning.

In the morning it springs up and flowers: by evening it withers and fades.

So we are destroyed in Your anger, struck with terror in Your fury.

Our guilt lies open before You, our secrets in the light of Your face.

All our days pass away in Your anger.  Our life is over like a sigh.

Our span is seventy years, or eighty for those who are strong;

and most of these are emptiness and pain.  They pass swiftly and we are gone.

Who understands the power of Your anger and fears the strength of Your fury?

Make us know the shortness of our life that we may gain wisdom of heart.

Lord, relent!  Is Your anger forever?  Show pity to Your servants.

In the morning, fill us with Your love; we shall exult and rejoice all our days.

Give us joy to balance our affliction for the years when we knew misfortune.

Show forth Your work to Your servants; let Your glory shine on their children.

Let the favor of the Lord be upon us: give success to the work of our hands,

give success to the work of our hands.

"We should be grateful to the Lord our God for putting us to the test, as He did our forefathers.  Recall how He dealt with Abraham, and how He tried Isaac, and all that happened to Jacob in Syrian Mesopotamia while he was tending the flocks of Laban, his mother's brother. 

Not for vengeance did the Lord put them in the crucible to try their hearts, nor has He done so with us.  It is by way of admonition that He chastises those who are close to Him."

-Judith 8: 25-27

We may not understand it for some time, or even on this side of eternity, but it's good to have a Faith that tells us all this is serving a purpose, and that purpose is for our benefit.

The First Pickles Graduate!

So despite The Plague's best efforts, Miriam was able to have a high school graduation ceremony.

Three, in fact.

The first was at the end of May and was very informal; since everything was still up in the air and we weren't sure when or if there would be a graduation for our homeschoolers, some friends sweetly hosted a little event in their backyard.  It was the first time in months we had been with a group of people, and it was SO. GOOD.