Our recent Parish Council Meeting was a constructive and lively discussion on many aspects of parish life. From making all as welcome as possible to reception of Holy Communion under both kinds. The need for more volunteers is a constant. The very insightful point was made by one member that we can’t return to pre-Covid days, It simply will not happen. It was added that this didn’t just apply to Church, but to every walk of life. “How Covid changed Religious Experience” by Dr. Joshua Edelman is worth Googling. Alexander from Mexico, joined us for his first meeting as a new member. It was indeed good to have a representative of the growing international community present. We all agreed that greater regard needs to be given to important national religious celebrations of the various countries now attending our Masses. A bidding prayer on Sunday could be one way of recognising this. It was added how marvellous it always is to have intercessions in different languages, at Easter especially. The replacement of Katie Flood as Youth Worker again came up. We need to revisit an approach to how we welcome people to Mass. There is already in place a marvellous welcoming atmosphere in both our churches. Getting a balance and being sensitive to the small acts of kindness, building friendship with, bridging cultural and language differences, and … knowing when to respect the need for privacy.A possible change of Mass time to our Sunday morning Mass at St. Joseph’s was discussed. Is 11.00am too late? Children’s Liturgy: we are delighted with how it’s developing again. Thanks to our volunteers. We had a good turnout for our Baptism Programme on Monday evening. Thanks again to our Baptism Team.
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- Oct 6, 2023
Congratulations to the Capuchin Community at Tenter House on the Feast of St. Francis. Last Wednesday we celebrated the Feast Day with Mass at St. Joseph’s with an excellent homily on the life of St. Francis by Fr. Peter, Dominican and resident at Tenter House whilst studying at the Centre for Catholic Studies. Our next Baptism Course takes place this Monday, 9th October. Can I ask parents attending to familiarise themselves in the life of the church their child is being baptised into. I would ask this especially of parents who do not attend Mass regularly. The Mass (Eucharist) is central to our religious faith. It’s the essence of what we believe as Catholics. It is also (should be) pivotal to understanding the role of a Parish Community. And still on Mass attendance, our numbers continue to slowly return to pre-Covid numbers. The virus is still out there, but we can’t allow our fears to dictate the important positives gained by gathering as a people, especially at a spiritual and mental level. Again, can I ask for more volunteers in all areas of parish life. We have a great set of volunteers already, but more would be very welcome. We sadly lost Dave Simpson this week. Dave, a quiet man, lived alone and got great comfort being collected by a parish volunteer every Wednesday and brought to our Lunch Club. May he rest in peace. We hope to begin again our Journey in Faith Programme. If anyone is interested, please contact me, or the parish secretary.
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- Sep 15, 2023
Earlier this summer I reflected that, as part of our efforts to continue to build a strong parish community, we would hold 'Parish Development Day 2' on 14th October at St, Leonard's School. As you are aware, St. Leonard's building is currently inaccessible therefore the decision has been made to postpone the development day. It is very important that we continue to explore ways to create 'the best of times' and therefore we hope that an alternative date will be planned soon.
Fr Colm
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