The End of the Lent of Mercy
This Easter Sunday we complete a cycle of events to mark the year of MERCY. A huge banner of the Logo of the Year of Mercy was unfurled in the Parish. The Beginning of Lent was marked with the distribution of the Ashes AND a copy of the Works of Mercy. This was an invitation to consider the works of Mercy as the “homework” of lent.
On some of the Sundays of lent we heard different voices; Sister Helena O Donoghue spoke to us about the Theology of Mercy and Fr. Peter McVerry gave us a vision of how to apply Mercy in dealing with youth, homeless and outcasts. Fr. Derek Farrell (Parish Priest of the Travelling community) read the hymn of love to us at the special event called the Sounds of Mercy. This liturgy was an answer to the desires of the Parish assemblies to reach out to those members of the community who may have been disaffected, hurt or discouraged over the last years. The event contained a range of reflections, silences, hymns, explanations and images: it invited people to be at peace with God, to take the pebble out of the shoe and to offer signs of peace to those around.
As always the Hospitality teams swung into action when the liturgy was over and they made everyone feel at home… and full.
We also had a “Trócaire Thursday” where we shared prayer, a roll and soup in the Parish centre, we reflected on the needs of those less fortunate and made donations to the Trócaire boxes.
St. Patrick’s Day was marked by the reading of extracts from the proclamation with special attention given to the first and last paragraphs where God was invoked and the Republic and all its principles were put under God’s care. The penitential rite was formulated around the text…. “For the times we haven’t cherished all the children of the Nation- Lord have Mercy”.
This year for the first time in the history of the universe Sandyford and Balally parish put together a single Holy Week Timetable. The timetable was given to each family on a Holy Door card as a reminder of the Year of Mercy. This timetable facilitates the sharing of resources and gives new options to the parishioners of both communities. The first sign of this sharing was the conjoined liturgy of Reconciliation held on Tuesday of Holy week in Balally.
Many other things occurred during lent in the Parish. The Flower Teams, BEG, the burying of the Alleluias team, the Family Mass team, the choirs, the Liturgy Team and the Altar Society, the Gardening and Maintenance teams, Choirs , Ladies Club, Defibrillator Raffle team ….all contributed in different and generous ways to make this a very special time in a very special year.
“MERCY IS THE FACE OF GOD
MERCY IS THE NAME OF GOD”
