This weekend, Bishop Denis Brennan was present at Clonard’s Vigil Mass to commission two groups of people in their new ministries for the year. The first group was a new group of Ministers of the Word, who will serve as lectors for Masses in the parish. And the second group was Teach Bhríde, Season 3. This weekend marked the (hopeful) end of the “settling in” period and the beginning of “settled in” period. We had the opportunity to stand before the parish community, represented by those present at that Mass, and before the diocesan community, represented by the presence of the bishop. At the Mass for whose music we’ll be responsible for the coming year, we pledged our time and talents to our ministry, and received a blessing for our time here. We then had the chance to get to know the bishop better over a lovely meal; we are blessed, as always, to have such a generous supporter at the diocesan level.

We’re looking forward to several great events this week, the first of which is our meeting tonight for parents of Confirmation students. Say a quick prayer for this meeting if you can today, as we need many of these parents to commit to volunteering as leaders if our parish preparation program is to run successfully. We’re also looking ahead to the Opening of the School Year Mass for Scoil Mhuire, which we’ll be having in the church on Thursday. The school’s liturgical theme for the year is “They’ll know we are Christians by our love,” and we’ve chosen readings and designed an offertory procession that will hopefully give the children a chance to think about ways they can be a Christian in their lives outside of church.

On Friday, we’re heading to Glendalough for a night’s retreat with some of the people from Ferns who went to World Youth Day. I’m excited to introduce my fellow House-of-Brigideers (I like that, it makes us sound like pirates) to some Irish young adults, and for them to get a chance to explore one of Ireland’s most beautiful sacred sites. Lots of good stuff coming up this week, so thank you for all your support!