The April meeting of Ballyhaunis Parish Pastoral Council was held on Monday 22nd. Among the items discussed were:
- Funeral Ministry – Questionnaire re: funeral ministry had been sent out. Westport had identified a need for a team. Fr. Stephen would like to identify a group of 6-8 people for a team in this parish. Initially their role would be to lead prayers in funeral home/home, assist with choosing readings and prayers for Mass. Ideally teams would work in pairs. The level of involvement varies from parish to parish. It was agreed that we should look to other parishes and see what we could learn from them.
- Conversations in the Spirit – Fr. Stephen mentioned that, as part of the Synodal Pathway, we are trying to embed this approach in PPC’s. There was agreement that we should get somebody to speak to the PPC.
- Refurbishments – Fr. Stephen had emailed M. Horan on 20th March but had not received a response. Arising from a question from M. Judge it was agreed to look at accessibility to the altar area as part of the work. It was agreed that we need to progress to tender stage as a matter of urgency.
Correspondence
Fr. Stephen circulated copy of “Audit Tool” document. This is a tool which can be used to see how inclusive we are as a parish. This document is part of a booklet called “From Every Nation – A Handbook for a congregation’s journey form welcome to belonging” Fr. Stephen to circulate this in the following days. It was agreed to include this topic as an agenda item as it needs further discussion.
Review of Easter Ceremonies
Thanks was expressed to Ann Phillips for arranging participants for the washing of feet ceremony. All the ceremonies had been well attended and everything had gone well. The christening at the vigil Mass and the Children’s liturgy all added to the occasion
First Holy Communion Preparations
First Holy Communion was due to take place on Saturday 18th May. A. Lyons & E. Jordan agreed to organise refreshments in community hall.
Corpus Christi 1st June
The PPC members have a number of tasks to undertake to ensure the smooth running of the procession following the Vigil Mass on Saturday evening 1st June.
Reports of Sub Groups
Faith and Light
The group had their Easter Celebration in Clare Court on 7th April. Music was provided by Le Cáirde. The theme was new life of Easter. Dunmore members also joined. The group are planning a bowling outing in the coming weeks.
Childrens Liturgy
Children’s liturgy had taken place on 21st April. The theme was the Good Shepherd. A lot of positive feedback from parents and parishioners.
News From the Pews
Suggestion that a substitute be trained to cover for Irene in her absence. It was suggested that when funeral ministry team is in place this could form part of their work.
AOB
Liturgy in Absence of a Priest – Fr. Stephen will be away on Tuesday 23rd for confirmation. This will be used as an opportunity to implement the plan for covering absence of a priest. He will also flag it to parishioners at Masses the previous weekend. In practice what will happen is that a Leader will say the opening prayers, readers will do the readings. The consecrated Hosts will be taken from the tabernacle by Irene and distributed by Eucharistic Ministers and closing prayer/blessing will be said by the Leader.
Date of Next Meeting
8:30pm on Monday 20th May