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.