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On behalf of the Parish we would like to thank Fr. Damian most sincerely for all his support over the past seven years. He has been very loyal to our parish and in particular to our 7.25am Mass. He has also given the parish huge support throughout COVID times in all our liturgies. We wish him all the best in Castleknock,. As the saying goes, our loss is their gain. Fr. Damian is also leaving his Diocesan Role in the liturgy office, where he has contributed not only to the enhancement of Liturgy of the Dublin Diocese but also was instrumental in the Liturgical celebrations of the World Meeting of Families and The Papal Visit.

Thank you to all who have donated towards our farewell to Fr. Damian. We will make a presentation to him next Saturday, 21st August, on your behalf.

 

By now you will be aware that Baptisms have been given the green light to proceed once more. During August we are celebrating twice each Saturday to clear the back log. Numbers are restricted to 8 family members with baby. This enables Parents, God-parents and Grand-parents to attend the celebration. Families are encouraged not to have a large gathering afterwards.

First Holy Communion celebrations were postponed until September and things are looking good to have these much smaller gatherings on Each Saturday during the month. The schools have informed the families of the dates.

Confirmation celebrations were postponed from July and the children will be informed of dates when the children return to school. These will hopefully begin mid September on week evenings with the class of 2020 celebrating the sacrament on the first week and the class of 2021 on the second week following a similar structure as was planned last month.

Weddings are permitted to have 100 guests whereas Funerals are still limited to 50 mourners present. All celebrations can be viewed online.

Sadie wants to thank all the people of Ballygall for their kind wishes on her retirement last week. She was overwhelmed with your thoughtfulness to her. The cards and gifts and well wishes were way more than she could ever imagine. “Please say a big thank you to all the parishioners for their kindness to me”.
She always operated quietly in the background and she retired in the very same way. No Fuss, no pomp, just slipped out the door, the way she wanted it. We wish her well in her retirement and pray that she will have many happy years with her son and family in England and at home when she returns after a well-deserved break.

Sadie Farrelly has informed us of her intention to retire as sacristan. She has been with the parish for almost 40 years as sacristan. The Tin Church where it all began and for over the past 30 years here in our current building. She will finish on Saturday 31^st July. Sadie has always led a quiet lifestyle and wants no fuss as she leaves us. Covid with all its restrictions has aided this and it is with regret that we bid farewell to her over the coming week in a quiet and gentle way respecting her wishes. Thank you, Sadie for your support to Ballygall over the years.

At the moment we are having problems with the webcam. Apologies for that and we will hopefully be back online soon.

Remember we can hold up to 100 for Mass. Not much use to those who are still joining us online but we are praying for you.

A working group of representatives of the Dublin Diocese Common Fund and Clerical Fund Committees have been meeting to address the financial challenges faced by priests over the past 16 months since a severe reduction in income. One solution to address this, has being a proposal to introduce a Summer Dues collection. Each parish is invited to introduce a Summer Offering on 20th June and parishioners would return this envelope similarly to the Christmas and Easter Offering envelopes. Here is a copy of the Archbishop’s letter, which covers the topic in detail.

(Your support through the Christmas & Easter Offerings has been greatly appreciated, as indeed throughout lockdown via the ‘Tap & Go’ and envelopes)

Broadcast from Ballygall

RTE will broadcast Mass from Ballygall church this Sunday afternoon at 2.15 p.m. on the RTE News channel. Archbishop Dermot Farrell will be celebrant at this Mass and some parishioners will be present. As it is a broadcast Mass numbers will be limited and the church will be closed for the duration of the Mass. In order for the team from “icatholic” who are responsible for its broadcast to prepare, the church will be closed from 1.30 until 3.30 p.m. approx. You are welcome to join us hopefully online or by tuning in to the RTE News Channel directly.

The church will be open after 10am Mass until 1.30pm approx. and after the televised Mass for private prayer until late Sunday evening.

Our normal Weekend Masses will be 6.30 p.m. on Saturday evening and 10 a.m. on Sunday morning.

Church reopens from Monday 10^th May for 10.00 a.m. Mass.

At last, the day has arrived that we can finally open our doors to you so we can celebrate Mass together.

We will be maintaining and operating the system that we had last summer, i.e. two pods of 50, using only the main two aisles and separate exits. We ask you to please be patient with all our volunteers and also, if you have any cold like symptoms that you stay at home for the moment.

A few things to remember: –

Wash hands before coming to church.

Sanitise on way in and way out.

Wash hands when home after church.

Face coverings must be worn unless you have a medical reason not to.

To receive Holy Communion:

Slip mask off one ear, leave hanging on the other ear, receive Holy Communion, then replace your mask.

Follow instructions from stewards

Enter via main doors at the front of the church.

Exit once mass is over via side doors (Near altar)

Remain in your place during Mass.

Collection bags & Holy Communion will be brought to you.

Sunday obligation to attend Mass does not apply for the moment. You may come during the week instead of Sunday.

In order to facilitate the cleaning of the church after Mass, the church will close briefly but will then remain open until 7.00 p.m. approx. for private prayer.

Toilets, Shop & Sacristy – Out of Bounds for the moment.

2021 Guidelines for Volunteers

Volunteer Rosters (password protected)

We received the good news on Thursday evening 29th April that we can shortly (from Monday 10th May) open our doors for the celebration of Mass. We are delighted and cannot wait to have you present.

Contact will be made week with our existing panel of volunteer stewards to assess their current availability to assist us with the safe reopening of our celebrations and the sanitising of the Church before and after each Mass. If you haven’t volunteered before and are interested in doing so, please leave your details at the Parish Office.

Unfortunately, we are not permitted to have celebrate the Sacraments of Baptism, First Communion or Confirmation.
We hope and pray that the reopening of our society will go well and that we will be in a position to celebrate these
sacraments very soon.