Announcements
St Thomas’ Mulhuddart – Winter Schedule:
From October, there will be a candle-lit service of night prayer at St Thomas’ once a month, on the third Sunday at 8 p.m. (this month on 17th October). Do join us - St Thomas’ is opposite Hollystown Golf Club - but remember to wrap up warmly!
Healing Eucharist:
From October, our monthly Healing Eucharist takes place on the 2 nd Sunday of each month at 7 p.m. in St Brigid’s Church. Also, to mark St Lukes-tide, our Sunday morning services on 17 th October (10 a.m. in Clonsilla and 11.30 a.m. in Castleknock) will be a Eucharist with the laying on of hands for those who wish.
Harvest Thanksgiving:
This takes place on Sunday October 10 th at 10 a.m. in St. Mary’s and 11.30 a.m. in St Brigid’s. We are delighted to welcome as our preacher at both services the Rev. Ian Gallagher, Rector of Stillorgan.
Harvest decorating takes place in Clonsilla and Castleknock on Saturday 9th October beginning at 10 a.m. Everyone is encouraged to give a hand and to bring any flowers, greenery, fruit or vegetables they may have. Newcomers to decorating are always welcome: we’ll certainly find you a job! Many thanks also to all who decorated St. Thomas’ Church for the Harvest Festival on 26th September.
Summer Bible Club “Desert Detectives”:
In the last week of August about 24 of our National School children enjoyed a week of fun, crafts, games, cooking, and videos, with a lively worship slot each day, as we followed the adventures of the Desert Detectives searching in the Holy Land for the God Sword. We concluded with a Family Service at St Brigid’s on Sunday 29 th August. Congratulations to the winners of the DD caps: Elvin Olarinoye, Semi Olusa, Aoife Doyle, Sarah Doyle, and Sam Bateman, and many thanks to all our helpers.
Confirmation 2005:
Our Confirmation club is beginning again on Sunday 3rd October, preparing our candidates for Confirmation in May 2005 (date to be confirmed). Most of those eligible to join Confirmation Club (6th class or older) have been contacted. If we haven’t been in touch with you and you are interested in being confirmed next year, please contact Rev. Andrew or Robert Lawson as soon as possible.
Confirmation for adults takes place in June, and if you are interested in being prepared for that public declaration of the Christian faith, again please contact the clergy.
Congratulations to our Curate, Sandra, who has been awarded 1 st class Honours in the MA in Pastoral Leadership from All Hallows, Drumcondra. Her thesis “Spirituality and the Older Person” was also awarded a 1 st: Sandra would like to thank all those from the parish who assisted with her research for the this. Well done Sandra!
Farewell (for a while):
Our organist, Raymond Russell, is taking a year off for family reasons from the end of September. We are very sorry to see him go, for he has greatly enriched our worship over the years since 1998. He has taught us lots of new music, while his playing is always to an extremely high standard. We are delighted, however, that he should be returning to us this time next year: we will keep him and his family in our prayers over the coming months. At the time of writing we have no permanent replacement for Raymond for the next year, but we hope to have some news very shortly.
More organ news: our Organ scholar Maedhbh Abayawickrema (Dalthuin) is continuing to teach in Japan with her husband Ronan for a further year. She sends her best wishes to everyone in the parishes.
Another Farewell:
The parish priest of Castleknock, Fr. Diarmuid Connolly, is retiring at the end of September. Having served for 20 years in the parish, he has been a great friend to us, supporting all our parish events and holding many ecumenical services with us. He has been a great friend to the clergy over his time here and Rev. Andrew represented the parish at Fr. Connolly’s Farewell Mass and presentation on September 24th.
Blessing of the Graves: our annual Graveyard services of Remembrance will take place in Castleknock and Clonsilla on Sunday November 7th at 3.30 p.m. Collections will be for the Dublin 15 Hospice appeal. All welcome, but do come early to get a seat.
Looking ahead to November & beyond:
Sunday 14th Nov: Gift Fair in aid of Clonsilla Project
Sunday 21st Nov: Boys’ Brigade Enrolment Service, 11.30 a.m. St Brigid’s.
Saturday 4th Dec: Parish Christmas Fair.
