A Word From Fr Jim: 4th August 2022

A Word From Fr Jim.
Fr Dermot brought to my attention a recent homily by
Archbishop Francis Duffy of Tuam on Croagh Patrick Sunday. Here is a challenge.
Quote: “I Suggest you look at your priest, he may be the last in a long line of resident pastors
and may not be replaced. I suggest you look at your Church, you may be lucky to
have a Sunday Mass or several, but for how much longer? I suggest you look at your fellow
parishioners at Mass, especially the younger ones, who among your neighbours will continue to
be the new leaders and carry on pastoral work in your parish, alongside a much smaller number
of clergy? Who among them will lead prayer services and keep faith alive and active through
catechesis and other initiatives”?
This mirrors what our own Archbishop Farrell has written.
Quote: “Truly, we need to be courageous in moving beyond ways that no longer work in the
Ireland today. The question being posed is whether parish communities in the Archdiocese have
the energy to reinvent themselves and develop a contemporary way of formulating their
core mission for a world in need of hope. That is the challenge. Do we have the energy to
Build Hope to look to the future while celebrating the past to reinvent ourselves.
To be a parish of meditation and service, to be a community which reaches out to call disciples
rather than a dying club.
I am up for the challenge, it will take work and so is Fr Dermot, what about you?
With my love and blessing
Fr Jim