{"id":2660,"date":"2013-04-05T03:08:53","date_gmt":"2013-04-05T10:08:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/?p=2660"},"modified":"2016-10-09T11:19:29","modified_gmt":"2016-10-09T18:19:29","slug":"sights-and-sounds-from-ncea-2013-in-houston","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/sights-and-sounds-from-ncea-2013-in-houston","title":{"rendered":"Sights and Sounds from NCEA 2013 in Houston"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Student<\/p>\n

As my time at the NCEA Convention is coming to an end, I see that I didn’t really get to post as much as I wanted to. I still want to share some of the sights and sounds of the convention however, so I’ve put together a few things in this final post.<\/p>\n

First, I’ve attached a recording from the second Eucharistic liturgy of the conference. This is a performance of “Be Still, My Soul” by the Houston Catholic Schools Choir. It’s a tragedy that my recording is so poor, because the choir sung this beautifully as the prelude to mass, and it moved me greatly. Here are the words:<\/p>\n

Be still, my soul; the Lord is on your side;
\nBear patiently the cross of grief or pain;
\nLeave to your God to order and provide;
\nIn every change he faithful will remain.
\nBe still, my soul; your best, your heavenly Friend
\nThrough thorny ways leads to a joyful end.<\/p>\n

Be still, my soul; your God will undertake
\nTo guide the future as in ages past.
\nYour hope, your confidence let nothing shake;
\nAll now mysterious shall be bright at last.
\nBe still, my soul; the waves and wind still know
\nThe Christ who ruled them while he dwelt below.<\/p>\n

Be still, my soul; the hour is hastening on
\nWhen we shall be forever with the Lord,
\nWhen disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,
\nSorrow forgot, love\u2019s purest joys restored.
\nBe still, my soul; when change and tears are past,
\nAll safe and blessed we shall meet at last.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The liturgies are always a high point of NCEA conventions, and I was blessed to be able to attend mass celebrated by our very own Bishop Blase Cupich, who is the new chair of the NCEA board.<\/p>\n

This convention was also special to me for two other reasons. First, I was able to be present at the banquet in which our second grade teacher Linda Eber received the 2013 Distinguished Teacher Award<\/a>. It was a wonderful occasion and I felt privileged to witness Linda being honored for her years of dedication and service to Catholic school students.<\/p>\n

Second, it was my first time presenting at a national convention, and I had a great time meeting people in person that I had previously only known online. People like Barb Gilman, Nancy Caramanico, Greg Dhuyvetter, Carmen Ribera, Jim Meredith, Matthew Warner, and Ryan Blackburn.<\/p>\n

One of the highlights was sitting around a table with Barb, Nancy, and Greg, doing in person what we before could only do online: chat about Catholic education.<\/p>\n

And of course, it was an unbelievable joy to present to a great audience of Catholic educators. My principal, Kathy Hicks, was in the audience, as well as Linda, Nancy, Barb’s principal and AuntTammie!<\/p>\n

Here are links from our presentation, for those of you who would like to know what we talked about:<\/p>\n