As we continue to live to listen to hope and to pray.
Our deanery meetings as we knew them have come to an end. At the last meeting of the priests, a presentation on the new order was unfolded in preparation for the year to come. An amount of work went into its preparation and in the same way that our own parish council has been very diligent, we must be prepared to do what is necessary for our churches to survive. This story is taking place all over our diocese and was well reflected at our celebration for the jubilarians in our diocese. When this situation was beginning, this statement came to my attention; a plan is useless, planning is all important. For our two communities this is being really, really well recognised and planning is in progress. Real efforts are taking place and I see this so well reflected in the hard work that is being undertaken to celebrate my Golden Jubilee. I am extremely grateful.
Pope Francis began the process, as he expressed the need for a Synod to update and structure which was initiated by the Second Vatican Council. This updated the liturgy and other aspects of the life of the church. Over the last couple of years we have responded to this and so we are ready to progress. As this happens initially, saplings in their early stages are fragile.
Last Sunday we returned to one of the original initiatives “Name Sunday”. The buzz was good, and the response was better. A sign of willingness to engage. Suggested initiatives by the parish council are excellent and the focus of developing different ministries begin to emerge. An early example will be the ministry of welcome and the ministry of the eucharist. Keeping a focus upon the R.C.I.A. is truly a guiding light waiting to be discovered and developed after all these years. We were beginning to work with this many years ago, but a plan renew was introduced.