A different sort of Sunday for me, listening at the two Eucharists I celebrated, to each of the trainee Lay Readers preach. First Jenny at L'Ampolla, then Paul at Vinaros. As past of the process, I then had to write an evaluation, something I'm used to from St Mike's, except that the assessment form is different and required additional scrutiny in order to fill in properly ready to discuss with each of them in turn. All in all, I spent a lot more time on these tasks than it would take to write a sermon of my own, but it's good to contribute to their learning and development. The chaplaincy is fortunate to have two capable people who are good with words, confident about speaking in public, and getting a lot out of studying scripture for the purpose of writing sermons and course essays.
Monday, was the feast of the Immaculate Conception, a major public holiday. Vinaros was quieter than the average Sunday and every kind of shop was shut, except for a few bars and restaurants, as I soon found out when I went out shopping. The only essential things I needed was motor fuel, and fortunately there are a good number of service stations with automatic self service facilities. I'm quite impressed by how easy these are to use, regardless of language. I walked into town, late afternoon, hoping that the Archiprestal Church might be open for Mass, but it wasn't. To my surprise, the plaza in front of it, with the Ajuntament on the corner, was packed with Christmas market booths. Only a couple of these were open. I wondered if they might be open later in the evening, but didn't hang around and find out.
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