The Parish of St. Gabriel.

At Last!
We hope you like our new Gathering/Baptismal Area. As you come in, you cannot but be struck by the words of St Gabriel to Mary:
“With God nothing is impossible”…………….

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Sacred Heart Statue
Having listened to people over the last two and a half years, a karge majority were in favour of the statue to its original place. I know that soe people will be disappointed and miss it from the room at the back. The room needs to be looked at- how we can make it more prayerful and comfortable – ideas welcome.

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Parish Visitation:
This week I hope to finish visitation on Clontarf Road, with thanks to all I have visited so far.

A Bit of This; A Bit of That !

Refurbishment of the Baptismal / Gathering Area – Just two weeks to completion (hopefully!). it is beginning to shape up and I hope you like it. We will have a few spare benches and so far I have failed to find a suitable home for them. I have tried the Missions but shipping costs make it prohibitive. Any help would be welcome.

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Monster Sale –

Thanks to all who made it so successful last weekend –
Anne McHugh and all the team
Those who contributed items for the sale and the raffle
A special word of thanks to Frank Foley for his beautiful woodturnings
To all who came along and made it such a happy event
So far the Sale has raised €4,405 which will help greatly with the refurbishment along with the many generous donations already received.
Painters – Thanks to our Painters who have done such a marvelous job on our Railings. It was a mammoth undertaking. Well done lads!

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Clustering –

The Parishes of St. Anthony’s, St. John’s and St. Gabriel’s were clustered by the Diocese in 2009 to better answer the pastoral needs of our area. We hope to set up a small working group from the three parishes to see how we can best support each other and work together in bringing the “Good News” to Clontarf/Dollymount. While it is important that each parish keeps its own individual identity, it is desirable also that we work together and share our talents and resources. When the Archbishop asked me to be Moderator of the three parishes last year he suggested that we
See what needs to be done
See what can be done
Look for new ways
Some people see the shortage of priests as a crisis but it can be an opportunity for us to look for new ways. Pope Benedict XVI reminds us that lay people are not collaborators with their priests but co-responsible for the running of the Church. There are many things that priests do at the moment that do not necessarily have to be done by them. We need to look for new ministries and opportunities and train people for them.
Eucharistic Services – Already St. Anthony’s Parish has trained people to preside at Eucharistic Services and St. John’s are exploring the issue. This is in case there is not a priest available for Mass. While this is not an issue for us at the moment – it might be sooner than we think.
Perhaps we should follow the example of our sister parishes?

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Sacraments –

While we are fortunate to have excellent Catholic schools in Belgrove who help prepare our children for the Sacraments, the primary responsibility rests with the parents. In the past few years we have developed very successful parish programmes for First Communion and Confirmation – “Do this in Memory” & “You shall be my Witnesses” which involve the parents and children.
Youth – My thanks to our young people who organise the 6pm Sunday Mass – readers, singers, greeters and Eucharistic ministers.
They hope to be back in September and will be recruiting for more young people to join them.
Young People, this is Your Mass – please get involved.
New Wine, New Wineskins – The Christian message does not change but the way it is communicated needs to be constantly renewed. Christ ‘s final message to us was “Go therefore, make disciples of all nations; baptise them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teach them to observe all the commands I gave you. And know that I am with you always; yes, to the end of time”, (Matthew 28.19-20) God Bless, Fr. Pat

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Sacrament of Baptism

Last week we welcomed into our Christian Community through the Sacrament of Baptism:
Emily Kate Mitchell,
Mt. Prospect Park

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Parish Visitation

This week Fr. Pat will continue visiting on
Clontarf Road

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We extend our deepest sympathy to the family, neighbours and friends of Anne Phillips, Kincora Court, whose funeral took place here on Thursday, and also the family and friends of Rev. Derek Sargent, and the parishioners of St. John the Baptist Church Seafield Road, where his funeral service was held on Thursday. May they rest In peace