Thought from Fr. Colm - 4th November

Confirmations went very well last Sunday. A special thanks to all catechists, and Paul Crilly on the music, for their input. It’s continuing this contact with those confirmed that is the big challenge for all of us. Parents, please do help with this. Your role is pivotal. Can I ask for a return to pre-Covid roles of readers and ministers of the Eucharist. In fact, can I ask those who were on either rota pre-Covid to consider returning to read, or, become ministers of the Eucharist again. Welcomers too. Our churches have always been places of welcome. I’ve met so many touched by that friendly smile of welcome that it was their main reason for returning. Please let me, or Marjorie know if you would like to get more involved. Fred Haywood, our Parish Treasurer for the past 15 years resigned in April this year after he and Helen, his wife, decided to move closer to their daughter and family in Marton, Middlesbrough. We did find a replacement initially but as a result of sudden additional work pressures the new Parish Treasurer had to withdraw. Fred has since returned to the job on a temporary basis. In the last few months the Treasurer’s role has changed significantly with most of the routine tasks being passed over to a book-keeper and the Parish Secretary. The Treasurer’s job is now much more of a management and co-ordinating role, which can be handled mostly at home if preferred. With a weekly Mass attendance of 500, I am sure there is someone in that number capable and generous enough to offer a small amount of their time to fill this important role. I would therefore ask you to please give serious consideration to whether or not you could help the parish by taking on this role. We should not need to rely on someone who has moved away from the Parish to continue to manage our Parish finances.