From Fr Greg's Desk: Sunday 20th March

Hi everyone, and welcome back to a relatively drier period after the ‘monsoon’ rains we’ve had of late!

Friendly Reminder of our Extensive Need for Volunteers over Holy Week
This past Wednesday night we had our initial meeting to organise the upcoming Holy Week Masses and Liturgies. A big thank you to all who turned up at such short notice to be a part of the planning. 

Again, we are going to need a lot of help, particularly for the Easter Sunday Masses, and in the areas of parking attendants, setting up before and after Masses and Liturgies, welcomers, First Aid Officers and ushers/wardens. Please contact the Parish Office on 9807 2966 or office@rgcp.org.au for more information as to how you can help.

Fr Greg is on the prowl for volunteers, so don’t be surprised if you get a tap on the shoulder from me at Mass!

Noah’s Ark Cafe Open for Business!
Just a reminder that Dominic and his friendly staff at our Noah’s Ark Cafe are open for great coffee, lunches and afternoon snacks Tuesday to Friday from 7am to 4pm, and weekends and public holidays from 7am to 1pm. They are also available for the same before and after funerals and weddings and the like, as well as before and after school. Please support them as they start up this valuable community resource for our Parish! Beside, great coffee and lunches available there! 

Repair Work to Bollards at SCB
It will probably come as no surprise to anyone that the prolonged and dogged rains we had over the past month have thoroughly tested the weak points of our electrical and communications systems. We have had some issues with water infiltrations in particular with the electronic bollards at the entrance to the St. Charles Borromeo grounds off Charles Street, Ryde. Hence the ‘witches hats’ had to be used to temporarily replace the bollards over the last few weeks. We apologise for any inconveniences this may have caused you. We had the technicians repair them this week, as they could not do the work until the rain had eased. These are now functioning once again, thanks be to God and to Rob and his staff from Eco Traffic Systems who maintain them in working order for us.

Changes to Times of Raising and Lowering of Bollards.
Please note that the times have slightly changed at which the bollards will automatically be raised or lowered, (with the corresponding flashing lights from green to red throughout), to allow for some early risers to get a coffee at Noah’s Arc Cafe on our premises. Please note the following times at which the bollards will be raised and lowered.

Nightly: 
The bollards will be raised every night for security purposes from 10 pm until 6.30 am in the morning with the exception of Tuesday mornings when garbage collection occurs (and they go down at 4.30am).

Mornings:
The bollards will be down from 6:30 am to 8am each morning, when they will automatically be raised again until 9.05 am, when they will be lowered for parishioners coming to the 9.20 am Mass. 

Afternoons:
The bollard come back up again at 2 pm for the sake of the afternoon school run, and will not come down until 3.15 pm when parents come to pick up their children after school. The bollards will then remain down until 10 pm each night.

Please note: Bollards may still be raised at other times
Please note that, due to parking constraints with funerals, weddings or other events, the bollards may be raised at other times to limit parking on the SCB grounds. We apologise in advance for any inconvenience this may cause to parishioners, visitors and delivery personnel alike.

No Parking Permitted in Front of Raised Bollards at Any Time or for Any Reason!
I remind all our parishioners and visitors to refrain from either dropping off children in front of the bollards, or worse, parking in front of them, as that makes it impossible for others to enter the grounds while the bollards are up, especially if emergency vehicles are required at the Church or school, and causes traffic blockages up Charles St.

And that’s about it for now! Enjoy the nice weather, while it lasts!

Your brother, in Christ’s service,

Fr Greg