Since our last update in the July issue of the Newsletter, a lot has changed in our parish.  Just before the holidays, we learned that Fr. John would be transferred to Blackrock Parish in September.  This was a seismic shock, especially since we had lost Fr. Kevin only a short while previous to this.  His tireless work for his parishioners and his commitment to our parish were exemplary and unfailing and will never be forgotten.  Our loss has become Blackrock's gain and we wish him every blessing in his new undertakings.

The Parish Listening Evening we had planned for September had to be rescheduled, in deference to our new Administrator Fr. Colm Kenny, to give him a chance to settle in and get to know the parish first.  A new date has since been set for March 06 2012, in OLV School Hall, at 20h00 and we ask you to make a note in your diaries. As we said before, remember:  it's your parish and your voice counts, so we hope to see a good turnout on the night.

The first meeting of the Council after the summer recess took place on September 22nd. This was a "meet-and-greet" occasion to allow us to get to know Fr. Colm and to welcome him into the parish family.  We have subsequently had two other meetings, October 27 and November 17. 

As ever at our meetings, top of the agenda is taken up with Child Protection and we are happy to report that our record remains unblemished.  We will be revisiting our Policy at the next meeting in December and will update it, if we find it necessary.

In our last report, we advised that the parish had offered a donation to the Archdiocese of three years' bank interest accrued on the proceeds from the sale of the Westfield House.  Before handing over the donation, we had sought clarification of the uses to which our donation might be put, stating that we did not want the money to be used for Child Sexual Abuse cases.  We recently received a letter thanking us for our generosity but refusing to accept the donation as no guarantee could be given that this money would not be used, in the future, for Child Sexual Abuse compensation.  We welcomed their transparency and honesty.  We also understand that no compensation payments have been made to date with any money collected at parish level in the Archdiocese.

Members of the Pastoral Council, Finance Committee and our Parish Secretary Marie Falvey, together with Fr. Colm, attended the recent Assembly Meeting of Pastoral Councils held in the Regency Hotel, Swords Road, on November 8th.

This was the third meeting on the series. Archbishop Diarmuid Martin attended and addressed the Assembly. We also had a submission on Archdiocesan finances by Kieran O'Farrell, Financial Administrator, which was very informative and detailed.  We will discuss this at length with you at our Listening Evening.

Regarding preparations for the Eucharistic Congress next June and our Parish Evangelisation programme, Fr. Colm and Denis Palmer are working together in this area and Fr. Colm will report what has happened to date via the Newsletter.  Once again, we refer you directly to www.iec2012.ie/ (or via our own website www.olv.ie and click the IEC icon) for fuller information on the Eucharistic Congress. 

Presently we are working well at Parish Council level with three other parishes in our Cluster.  Meetings continue monthly between the Chairpersons of each cluster parish.  We draw your attention to the fact that Corpus Christi Parish will be celebrating their 75th anniversary at a Mass on December 17 at 18h30, if anyone would like to attend.

Outstanding church repair work has been at a standstill for a while.  We now have the go-ahead for the remaining external work to be completed and have appointed a sub-committee of Council members to liaise with architect and Diocesan offices to expedite this matter as quickly as possible.

We will continue to update you at regular intervals, as promised and look forward to meeting with you at the Listening Evening on March 06, 2012.   In the meantime, please keep us in your prayers as usual.

Lighting of Parish Eucharistic Candle

On Saturday 25th June, myself, some parishioners from this parish, together with parishioners from some of our neighbouring parishes, travelled to Knock to attend the National Eucharistic Congress, together with representatives from every parish in Ireland. The National Eucharistic Congress opens a year filled with grace, that will culminate in the International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin in June 2012.

It was an event that invited us to reach across the boundaries of our own parishes and dioceses to celebrate our faith in Jesus Christ, as one body. As disciples of Jesus we know we are part of something which is bigger than ourselves as individuals. Similarly in 2012 we will celebrate our faith with people from around the world who will gather with us in Dublin for our International Eucharistic Congress.

As part of the celebrations at Knock, a diocesan candle was blessed and lit for the first time, for each diocese. The candle for our diocese was brought back to Dublin and was lit again at a special Mass of celebration in the Pro-Cathedral on Sunday 26th June, the feast of Corpus Christi, and will be lit at diocesan celebrations throughout the year. Also blessed at Knock were Eucharistic candles for parishes and we brought back our parish candle which was lit for the first time at the 10.30 celebration of the Eucharist on Sunday 26th June. This candle will be lit at parish celebrations as we go through the year as a reminder of our pilgrim journey towards the International Eucharistic Congress and a reminder of what our goal is as we set out on that journey now- to deepen our understanding of the Eucharist so that our communion with Christ at the celebration of the Mass will be reflected in a very real way in our communion, our relationship, our daily interaction with each other as members of the one body of Christ.

Prayer at lighting of the Parish Eucharistic Candle:

Blessed are you, Lord our God, Father of Light,
You sent your Son into our world,
A light that darkness could not overcome.
Enlighten us, lead us and brighten our world view
as we journey towards the
50th International Eucharistic Congress.

Shine your light in our hearts that we may be renewed,
and come to know the Eucharist as communion with
Christ and with one another.
Blessed are you source of hope, of light and of joy.
Blessed be God forever!

Mary Kirk
Parish Pastoral Worker

The Baptismal font has been refurbished and been moved to its own new area in the church. There is a new cabinet, called the Ombray, containing the Holy Oils for the Sacraments set in place in the Baptismal area.

The Sacred Heart chapel has been redecorated and is now a beautiful space for prayer.

The work on installing new Altar lights and Church lights indoor and outdoor has also been completed.

The Tabernacle has been restored to its original condition and looks really beautiful.

The toilets in the sacristy area have been upgraded. There is now a new toilet with handicapped access at the central lobby of the church entrance. This will be a great help for people attending Mass and other ceremonies.

The concrete mullions around the stained glass windows have been treated and repaired.

The remaining work to be done is: The repairing of the Church spire & the instillation of the outside double glaze windows covering the stained glass.

Thank you for your continued support and generosity to the church through the Planned Giving collection, which provides income for the running costs and repairs of the church.

Every blessing

Fr. John Delany P.P.

OLV Parish Pastoral Council has had two meetings since our last article in the December/ January Newsletter. In that time, we have worked on many issues on your behalf.

Child Protection

Child Protection continues to be top of our agenda and we are happy to report that there are no problems in this area, which is looked after very carefully.

PPC representatives

Unfortunately, due to family commitments, Barbara Phillips resigned from the Council. We thank Barbara for her input and goodwill during her time on the Council. The next person to receive most votes in the election was Fran Caffrey and, thankfully, she has confirmed that she will be happy to join us. Fran will take up her seat on the Council in March.

Parish Pastoral Workers

We are extremely lucky to have been able to tap into the rich, pastoral resources available through Mater Dei Parish Pastoral Workers Course. Peter Siney, one of a group of 10 lay people being trained as Pastoral Workers in Mater Dei, came to our parish to work with us as part of his training course. PPC members past and present had the good fortune to work closely with Peter in a group of parishioners, to help devise and deliver evening prayer sessions Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays (or days when there is no evening Mass). The aim of this endeavour is to keep the Church open for prayer visits every evening. This was a new venture for us as lay people and we thank him for his generosity of spirit and tireless work with us over five months. Sadly, we are losing Peter, who is moving to Ballyfermot Parish but, happily, we welcome his replacement, Mary Kirk from Rush, who will be joining us until the autumn.

Deanery Meeting and Apostolic Visitation

A meeting for PPC chairpersons of the Fingal Southwest Deanery was held in OLV Church, to discuss a response to the Apostolic Visitation by Cardinal O'Malley. The meeting agenda dealt with an invitation from the diocese to have a single representative attend a meeting with Cardinal O'Malley on successive evenings and provide feedback on (a) The Apostolic Visitation (b) The Murphy Report and (c) Renewal in the Catholic Church.

Eleven Parishes in the deanery were represented at the meeting and a robust and open discussion prevailed. It was decided to elect two representatives to represent the deanery for both nights. It was also agreed that each PPC would submit its own feedback by way of a written submission to the Cardinal. The two representatives handed in all written submissions from each Parish directly to the Cardinal, as well as feeding back the views of each PPC regarding the aforementioned issues. Both representatives subsequently reported back to all PPCs after the meeting with the Cardinal and were content that the views of each parish were clearly presented and noted by the Cardinal and his team.

We expect a full report from the Cardinal and his team around May. A copy of OLV's submission to the Cardinal is available by contacting the Parish Secretary.

Volunteers

We thank all those who put their names forward as volunteers for the huge amount of work needed to keep our parish vibrant. We need even more volunteers and would ask you to dig deep and see if there is any spare time you can give on a voluntary basis, in any areas of ministry or practical work. If there is, please contact the Parish Secretary and give her your name. It will be deeply appreciated.

Repairs

We have been very happy with the quality of workmanship which has returned our mullions to their former strength. We have hit some snags with the replacement of our storm glass in front of the stained glass. The replacement glass has to come from Germany and due to some contractual problems it will take some time for them to be fitted. A new brass top for our newly positioned Baptismal Font has been commissioned, together with an ombré for holy oils which has been placed on the wall beside the font. The gilding on our Tabernacle is due to be upgraded soon. The PPC has worked closely with Fr. John on all matters of the repair and upgrade works.

Pope John Paul II Awards for young people

We have been delighted to give our support for the Pope John Paul II Awards for young people, through CYC. It is a project that places young people at its centre and it is an initiative of the Order of the Knights of Saint Columbanus. Our Archbishop Diarmuid Martin said:

"We need renewal in our system of Catholic education. We need renewal in our parishes. We need a strong injection of the generosity and idealism of our young people as an integral part of that renewal. I hope that the John Paul II Awards will become a strong starting point in that renewal".

Fr. John will be working with schools and other youth organisations in the area to find a suitable candidate for the award in our parish.

Upcoming meetings

There are many meetings ahead in which your PPC members will be involved. There will be a Liturgy Meeting on the 28th March, a PPC discussion on the Church and its future role on March 29th (both in Clonliffe College) and we will be attending Mass celebrated by Mgr; Lorcan O'Brien with our cluster parish representatives, in Ballygall Church on March 31st, to celebrate all Lay Ministry. All those who are involved in Parish Ministries, or who help in the Parish in any way are invited to attend this celebration in Ballygall Church.

Our meeting in April will devote itself entirely to the important issue of a Parish Centre. Two of our councillors will be visiting similar projects in the meantime to bring important information to the table and we will be taking a new look at our plans to ensure that they will serve best the needs of our parishioners.

We ask you for your continued prayerful support which is both greatly needed and deeply appreciated.