PARISH ASSEMBLY
BUILDING HOPE
ASCENSION SUNDAY
A Word from Fr Jim
What a wonderful day we had on our feast day at the
Parish Assembly. 210 people attended, the children from Queen of Angels & St Olaf’s were our bakers, our waiters & our singers. They were fantastic.
A special word of thanks to our
Balally Hope Team:
Martina Kavanagh (Chair), Sarah Lane (Deputy Chair),
Sr Mary FCJ, John Ryan, David Healy (Secretary) &
Fr Dermot. Thanks also to Clare Neville for her great work with the children and to Avila Donegan, John Murtagh and Karen for their support in the schools.
The next stage will be our submission to the Archdiocese which we will share with you, followed by a pause for a summer break and then an action plan for the autumn.
98 people attended our reflection groups
Faith (37) Social Justice (17) Leadership (22)
Welcome (22) – who says the Church is dead?
It is alive and well here in balally. Let us continue on the journey together.
With Love Fr Jim
Fr Jim’s points for reflection
Go: be Disciples and make disciples
• A contemplative and serving parish
• A monastery without walls
• An Experimental parish
• Pope Francis: Church is not a museum but a field hospital– go to the peripheries.
• The grace of a new beginning
• Rebuild my church, Francis, which has fallen into disrepair.
• School of the lords service (St. Benedict)
• Meditation creates community (Fr J. Main)
• Meditation leads to engagement (Fr L. Freeman)
• Spiritual but not religious – spirituality is more than personal wellness.
• Hear the cry of the poor and the cry of the earth (L. Boff)
• Zero tolerance –Murmuring
• “When the institutional church is collapsing, the contemplative church is booming”(Fr Guerric/Mepkin Abbey)
• A new vision for the Parish Pastoral Centre
• The vision is to bring together into a creative unity.
• Contemplation and service.
• Meditation and Action.
• Prayer and social engagement all working together in the service of the Mission of Jesus( Fr Dermot)
• Joy is the echo of God’s life in us (Blessed Columba Marmion)
Comments/ Questions(jcaffrey73@gmail.com)
