Early and often!!
We were delighted to be a voting station in the Children’s referendum. It’s the first time that the Parish pastoral Centre was used for voting. It gave us an opportunity to show off the Centre and have tea and coffee available all day. Many people came in with no clue about the Centre and seemed quite impressed.
I regard myself as a tactical voter. I initially presumed that the referendum would be passed (my thinking was that any child who is abandoned by his/her parents should be able to be adopted), so I’d be glad that the referendum would be carried! When the discussions went on, I got more annoyed with what seemed to be muddying of the waters. I then decided I’d vote NO so that when the referendum was passed it wouldn’t be passed by a huge majority and so those in charge might take more care of referenda and children’s rights in the future.
As I got further confused I decided to look at the Referendum information. I couldn’t find where the ‘regardless of the martial status of the parents’ seemed to change anything as the info didn’t say that marital status was a problem to having a child adopted. (Are you confused? I was!)
Then came the Supreme Court decision about the 1.1 Mil of taxpayers (I’m one of those!) money miss –spent.
With Barnardo’s etc recommending a yes vote I still wanted it passed but, now with reservation. So I decided to vote NO in the hope that the lack of a good majority would get the Government to take some for the confusion and to put them on their toes re children’s rights.
Fr. Philip (on my toes?!)
Thank you for the €1,375 which you donated to last Sunday’s collection for the Support of Priests of the Parish (& Dioceses) and for the CYC Collection which amounted to €2899.
Our condolences to the family and friends of the late Liam Higgins whose funeral Mass took place here during the last week.
Family Mass /Children’s Liturgy of the Word: We invite parents of young children to a meeting in the Parish Pastoral Centre after today’s 10am Mass .We will be discussing a Parish Family Mass/ Children’s Liturgy of the Word. Our first project will be the Children’s Liturgy on Christmas Eve.
Envelopes are available at the back of the Church for those who wish to have their departed family members and friends included on our Altar List of the Dead.
Focus Ireland have cancelled their outdoor collection which was due to take place this weekend
Mission Sunday: The Society for the Propagation of the Faith thank the parishioners of Milltown for the generous donation of €3,105 to the recent collection.
All of our Eucharistic Ministers are reminded of the two night training course which will take place at 8pm in Avila on Monday 19th and Monday 26th November.
The local Focolare Group have invited Fr. Brendan Leahy, Professor of Theology at St. Patrick's College, Maynooth, to speak on ‘The Year of Faith’ in the Parish Pastoral Centre at 8pm on Monday 19th. The specific aim of the Year of Faith is that every Christian may rediscover “the journey of faith so as to shed ever clearer light on the joy and renewed enthusiasm of the encounter with Christ” (Apostolic Letter, Porta Fidei, 2).
The Focolare Group also invites parishioners to their 4 Advent Refection Evenings which will commence in their home in Ramleh Close on Tuesday Nov. 27th. Further details of this programme are on the Parish Notice Boards
The Annual Mass for parishioners who have died during the past year will take place at 8pm on Tues. Nov. 20th. Parishioners are invited to attend this Mass and join with the families of the bereaved for light refreshments in the Parish Pastoral Centre after Mass.
The Parish Liturgy Group will meet at 8pm on this Thursday, November 22nd.
New members are invited to join the Parish Craft Group that meets at 10.30am on Thursday mornings in the Parish Pastoral Centre.
Next Sunday’s 10am Mass is part of the ‘Do this in Memory of Me’ programme for children who will be receiving their First Holy Communion in May. We welcome the children their parents and families
We are looking for offers for an excellent Stamp Collection which a parishioner kindly donated. Please contact the Parish office if you, or somebody you know, are interested in collecting stamps. The collection will be sold to the highest bidder.
The Parish Advent Programme will take place in the Parish Pastoral Centre at 8pm on Thursdays December 6th and 13th. Fr. Jim Corkery S.J. will be the speaker on these nights. Further details will follow.
The Annual Milltown Parish Christmas Fair :will take place from 10am – 2pm on Sunday, December 2nd.
We have received a donation of some dried fruit and cherries. Please collect some of this fruit if you would like to use it for baking that will be donated to the Cake Stall at our Christmas fair.
Also, we ask parishioners to start gathering their unwanted gifts and ornaments that could be donated to the Treasures Stall which was a great success at last year’s Fair.
Attractive Parish Christmas Cards are with our printers at the moment and will soon be available for purchase.
The Milltown Parish Active Retirement Group is having its Annual Christmas Dinner at 7.30pm on Saturday December 1st in Milltown Golf Club. Tickets cost €35 and are for sale in the Parish Centre.
The Film Show which was arranged by the Active Retirement Group for Tuesday November 20th has been rescheduled to take place in the New Year.
It’s a pity to see parents with their children standing in the porch during Mass. Why not pop over to the Parish Pastoral Centre if you feel your children need a little break? With the help of our newly installed speakers you will still be able to hear what is happening in the church. Feel free to return to the church after your children have had a little break. Fr. Philip Bradley
