Renovation of St Mary's : A Pictorial Record, 2015

Before we bid farewell to last year, let us recall the significant year it was for our parish church. For the first time since its construction in the late 1840s it underwent major renovation, especially on the outside. The documentary record can be followed by clicking on 'St Mary's Renovation' on the menu-bar above. The pictorial record, or rather one person's such record (Donal McMahon's), can be viewed here: Photographic Record.

We saw a new initiative being introduced in the diocese to fund this renovation. 'Living the Joy of the Gospel' was a fund-raising venture designed to provide finance for major capital undertakings such as ours, as well as current expenditure requirements such as salaries for parish pastoral workers. Parishioners donated what they could afford to this fund. More information will no doubt be provided in due course on 'Living the Joy of the Gospel' but in the meantime these photos will bring home to parishioners the great work their generous contributions have made possible.

There are controls for back/pause/forward at the bottom left-hand side of the screen. The slides proceed automatically at a 5-second interval. If you want to change slide yourself at your own pace, press pause (the double lines become an arrow) and then press the right-hand forward arrow (not the middle one). You can then stay as long as you want on any slide.

A kind of premiere in its own small way, this first-ever slide show of our parish church allows us to ponder on each scene, focusing on whatever detail catches our attention. In a way, we are paying an imaginary visit to this familiar 'house of prayer', free to explore each scene as we wish and let our mind wander at will   . . . the workmen busy at their work ('laborare est orare')  . . . the parishioners coming out from Mass on St Patrick's Day . . . this old village we live in or near, Saggart . . . our lives here and now, those gone before us whom we remember, at rest across the road . . . God there, somehow, in all this  . . .

Living the Joy of the Gospel : A Diocesan Funding Campaign

Things have been happening very fast in our parishes and in our diocese over recent months. In our parishes: two new national schools, one open in Saggart for a year, the other in Newcastle about to open, then the beginning of a major 'make over' for St Mary's, now complete as regards the outside work. In our diocese: the hard thinking that has gone on over the future, focused on pressing personnel and financial needs.

'Pledge' cards were distributed at Mass last Sunday and will be again this Sunday. This certainly must have woken us all up, no doubt with a bit of a shock, to the hard realities of contemporary parochial life. Yes, we knew in theory all about the shortage of priests, and yes we were aware that Parish Pastoral Workers like our own Sean O'Rourke were helping out and, quite naturally, being paid for it, but now, with the gradual rolling out of the 'diocesan initiative for financial development entitled "Living the Joy of the Gospel - Building our Faith Community"' (words from the diocesan website), it is beginning to come home to us that we are faced, both locally and on a diocesan level, with an unprecedentedly challenging situation that we have to think about and, eventually (and now comes the big Yes or No), get out our wallet in response to.

When giving money, we all have to look very hard at what it is for and how much we can afford to give. We are bombarded with good causes, local, national and even international. It is becoming increasingly hard for families to 'hierarchize' these, to decide what knock on the door to respond to and what, regrettably, to refuse. Mid-range, high up or low down in that hierarchy, 'What does St Mary's or Dublin diocese mean to me in the final analysis?' is a question that arises for each of us and is for each of us to answer, me included.

Donal McMahon,  Web Sec

Example of Pledge Card: Click to Enlarge

Please see 'St Mary's Renovation' on the top menu bar for more information.