This was a very important week in the Lenten journey of our Parish. The
first communion children from St. Olaf’s, Queen of Angel’s and Educate
Together made their first confession on Wednesday evening. It was a
beautiful evening and was made even more wonderful by the participation of
the children. They acted and sang the Gospel passage of Zacchaeus and
reminded us of the steps of reconciliation. The church was decorated with
art work and the choirs and the readers made it all the more reflective.
The children learned that one is never too small, too old, too far gone,
too bad … God can always find you even if you are up a tree. The commitment
of the Principals, the Teachers, Special Needs Assistants, Choir teacher’s and the Altar
Society was very important for the success of this event.
Sunday was a very busy day as the Parish Pastoral Council (PPC) had organised the Garda vetting sign
up day. At least 60 people came during the morning to begin the process of
their vetting. The Child protecting representatives, Bruno and Audrey,
spoke at every Mass and highlighted the seriousness with which the parish
takes the child protection process and the need to create a culture of
child protection. The response of the parish has been illustrative of how
this element is now embedded in our community. The PPC
was there to advise, to photocopy, to drink coffee, to get forms signed, to
hand out vetting papers, take more coffee and make sure all the paperwork
was signed and sent at first post. The positive outcome was the result of
hours of preparation of all the members of the PPC who developed a simple
step by step approach to this very complex process.
Also on Sunday Fr. Lane delivered a very important homily on
the situation of the Tuam “Mother and Infant” home. It has become the most
visited item ever, on the Parish website.
