From Fr Greg's Pew: 13th September

                                            

Hi everyone!

Well, there has been a flurry of activity at our Parish over the past few weeks.


Huge 'Thank You' to Dominic Altachky, our Sacramental Coordinator!!

Dominic has been working tirelessly over the last two months to ensure that 'no child be left behind' when it comes to sacramental preparation and reception. These have been very difficult times to take on the role of Sacramental Coordinator in such a large and vibrant parish as our own, yet he has accomplished what few could, and renewed the sacramental formation at the same time with helpful videos and zoom meetings to counter COVID inconveniences. 

To give you a bit of an idea, we currently have nearly 150 children enrolled for the First Holy Communion/Reconciliation programme (from both Catholic and State schools), and this year we have to do each activity with a maximum of 100 people (including facilitators and support staff), meaning around eight different Masses each time to accommodate everyone. Not to mention all the delayed baptisms, confirmations and weddings that have accumulated because of the previous COVID lockdown.


Phew! That is a lot of extra work! I don't think many of you realise just how much 'goes on' in our Parish office each week, but I assure you, we are not in hibernation for the winter! Because of that, I ask for your continued patience, courtesy and cooperation with our staff as they grapple with the present difficulties and deliver you the services you need.

But Dominic particularly deserves our praise and support for wading through all these problems to make it all possible. Thank you Dominic, and the whole Sacramental Team! You have all done exceedingly well in the most challenging of times!

Ongoing Church Restoration Work

As many of you would be aware, over the last few years a lot of badly needed restoration work and improvements have been made to both the Church of Our Lady Queen of Peace Gladesville and that of St. Charles Borromeo Ryde. When we took on the Parish, we realised there was much to be done to bring our Parish's Churches back to their original dignity. It is kind of like when King David realised:

"Here I am living in a house of cedar while the Ark of the Covenant is living in a tent!" (2 Samuel 7,2).

And there was that other little line out of the Prophet Isaiah, which has been ever present in my mind and heart over the last few years:

"And give him no peace either until he restores Jerusalem and makes her the pride of the world!" (Isaiah 62, 7).

The upkeep and improvements to the Parish are everyone's responsibility, but particularly mine, as your Parish Priest. I feel called to do all we can to restore our Churches to their former glory and make them as dignified, inviting and comfortable as they can be.

OLQP Church Gladesville, the 'restoration to glory story' so far?:

- lead-light windows have been painstakingly repaired and restored;

- eaves, windows, stairs and back entrance to the Church have been fixed and repainted;

- all internal doors have been either replaced or refurbished at all entrances, with new sets of doors installed at all entry points, including the double doors to the back partition of the Church to permit entry and exit for funerals and weddings via the long aisle;

- walls to the sides and back of OLQP Church have been repaired and cleaned (although there is still some work left to do);

- roof flashings at the Victoria Road section have been replaced and repaired. The last sections over the sacristy and altar will be done in the next few weeks, now that the scaffolding is sufficiently high enough for access to roof;

- lighting on walkways between OLQP Church and Kid's Cottage have been revamped, and the lighting along the entrance to the car park off Oxford Street are currently being rewired;

- confessionals (OLQP and SCB) has been remodelled to comply with recommendations of Royal Commission, with physical separation between priest and penitent assured;

Our immense gratitude goes to the Cronin Family for providing the scaffolding for the external work over the last six months. Much appreciated, Brendan, Catrina and Seamus!

Fr. Alfredo has also been hard at work restoring the statue of Our Lady Queen of Peace mounted up on the facade of the Church at the corner of Westminster and Victoria Road. And, wow, what a result!!

The statue was examined a few months ago by our maintenance man and 'miracle worker', Keith Stanshall, who did a marvellous job of fixing severe cracks in the statue, even designing an arm for her (which had fallen off years ago) and beautifully gave the finishing touches to the statues physical features.

Enter Fr. Alfredo and his 'labour of love'! Fr. Alfredo then braved both the elements and heights up on that scaffolding and succeeded in restoring Our Lady Queen of Peace to her former glory. I think you would all agree, he has restored her magnificently!

But that's not all...our intrepid Fr. Alfredo has also been sharing his artistic talents between OLQP and SCB! Inside SCB Hall, the large white crucifix that was on the side wall has undergone a colour change. Fr. Alfredo turned our 'all white Jesus' into three dimensional colour, and the new crucifix will be affixed to the back wall, commanding an imposing presence over the whole hall. I am sure you will all be as impressed as I am!

So, thank you, Fr. Alfredo! Your artistic talent is much appreciated!

All the best for this next week of our lives.

Your brother, in Christ's untiring service,

Fr Greg