Fr Colin Bids Farewell

At 11 am Mass in Saggart on Sunday, 1st August, Fr Colin told the congregation of his being assigned to Swords parish, with his first Mass there taking place on Saturday, 28th August.  We thank him for his three years' faithful service to our parish at a time when, due to the Covid pandemic, such service was never more appreciated. We wish him many happy years' service in St Colmcille's. 

Fr Colin's Address    To my great surprise, Archbishop Farrell has asked me to leave the parishes of Saggart, Rathcoole, Brittas and Newcastle, to begin a new ministry as Co-Parish Priest in the parish of Swords. I began my ministry here less than 3 years ago on the 15th of September 2018 and I will say my first Mass in Swords on the 28th August.

We have been told that a priest will be sent to replace me, but we await confirmation of this. No doubt he will find the same warm welcome and prayerful spirit as I enjoyed when I came. This is a community of deep faith. The prayerful atmosphere in our liturgies has been an inspiration. It has been my privilege, responsibility and joy to share with you our regular times of prayer as well as some of the most powerful moments of joy and sorrow in your lives, and to live the huge challenge of an unexpected global pandemic here with you. Half of my time here has been in time of lockdown. I want to sincerely thank you for your gestures of support during this time and especially for your prayers. Due to the very short duration of my time with you, and of course the pandemic restrictions, I will not be having a going-away event of any kind, but I will be giving a donation to charities in Dublin, Haiti and India in thanksgiving for my time here.

Apart from people too numerous to name, I want to thank Fr. John and Fr. Kevin for all their kindness and understanding, and Fr. Michael McGowan for hearing my confession on more than a few occasions! They say that in the case of most of us priests, we are liked by a third, disliked by a third and not even on the radar of another third! We come and go, with our faults and our quirks, along with our gifts. To anyone who in the course of my time here I have in any way failed, disappointed or offended, I ask your forgiveness and your prayers.

One of the reasons priests must move frequently to other parishes is the great lack of new priests in formation and being ordained. This will only change when boys, young men and maybe not so young men like me begin once more to get the message from grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles, neighbours and friends that if they said they were thinking about priesthood, this would be welcomed. God is always calling but we need help from the Christian community to hear the call. Priesthood is wonderful but challenging. To be happy and at peace while bearing the responsibility of being your priests, we need your support, before and after ordination. Please pray for your priests and pray for vocations.

As you can imagine, moving house and going to live somewhere else is always a big challenge but also an opportunity to do God’s will in a new way in another place, with other members of God’s family. I will certainly miss you. We will be in different parishes but still in the same diocese, the same universal church, and most importantly of all, serving the same God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. May God bless and protect you all.

Thank you!