How important is the number 153?
It is not a very attractive number. Not a lotto-winning number… but one of the First Communion children called out “The number of fish the apostles caught in their nets, big ones” They were really paying attention to today’s Gospel. They even spotted the importance of the number 3 in the Gospel…. “the number of times Jesus asked Peter did he love him”. And so the children placed the fish they had drawn into the nets that were in front of the altar. A great effort was made by the DTIM parents and team to make the First Communion preparation a truly formative experience.
Meanwhile the schools have continued the preparation for the Confirmations with choir practices and liturgy practices. The efforts and dedication of teachers have to be commended. The Parish Pastoral Council (PPC) had its monthly meeting; as always child safeguarding was on the agenda. There was also a very thorough review of the Lenten and Easter celebrations. (In fact all parishioners are invited to give their feedback on the celebrations as these are the most important events in our Parish Calendar). Suggestions and commentaries can be made through the suggestion box or through the website. At the PPC there was a reading of the suggestions taken from the Suggestion Box: About the selection of music at Communion time: it will be spoken about at the next Altar Society meeting. There was also a suggestion for the coffee dock (seating arrangements for those serving in the coffee dock) which we will pass on to the Pastoral Centre coordina- tor. There is a suggestion to continue the Scripture Course once a month. The Parish Team will meet with Sr Therese over the next few days and review the scripture course and see what the future might hold. The Lenten and Easter time has been a very intense period around the Parish. Now we will have other very important moments like the Confirmations, the First Communions, the Celebration of the Ascension and Pentecost and the special Mass for the Fiftieth anniversary of St Olaf’s. All these events and efforts require great generosity on behalf of so many volunteers who con- tribute their time and talents to the Liturgy …
