A Summary Report from Pastoral Council Chair for 2022

I am very pleased and humbled to be able to provide the Parish of Our Lady of Fatima with a few words of summary for our 2022 year as Chair of your Parish Pastoral Council.

To begin, I would like to recall my opening address to the PPC at my first meeting as Chair on the 12th February 2022.

“I wish to use the following words to encapsulate our purpose and role as parish councillors in our OLOF community

Faith, Spirituality, Charity, and Humble Service to others, in particular those in most need….

I have repeatedly heard these terms used by Francis in his homilies over the past weeks during Christmas and into the New Year, and I know they are very important.

An important part of our role as Parish Councillors is to be of service to the Parish Community, and we can do this by being more visible, and more approachable to the community at Masses and any other events related to the Parish. This will lead to improved communication with the community and avoid any small issues, becoming major.  There is a poster I noticed in the Hall with a picture of the Holy Father, Pope Francis, with the words “Tell me your views, I want to listen”.  This is very powerful and epitomises our role as Parish Councillors in our community, regarding communication. We need to always be listening to what the community needs.  Communication is the key here and we should put our focus on improvements in this area.”

While all the above has not yet been achieved, I believe we are progressing in the right direction.  Some key milestones of our PPC for 2022 are listed below:

• Introduction of Mass Coordinator role
• School Advisory Council (SAC) member on PPC
• Volunteer Busy Bees for manufacture and installation of pew kneelers
• Completion of Presbytery renovation
• Introduction of THE FEEM WEEKLY
• Sacred Art Donation and unveiling event per Yusef Hourani
• Update of Hall Hire and Booking Procedures
• Preparation for Centenary of Parish and Golden Jubilee for Fr Francis next year
• Initiation meetings for Parish Renewal

As you can see it’s been a very busy year and I thank each and every one of you for your generous volunteering of time and valuable contributions.

Our Parish is our community and is only successful where we contribute in any way we can, to help those less fortunate than ourselves, and to this end we have an army of volunteers contributing in many different ways in our Parish Community.  I thank them for all their hard work, and long may it continue, as I’m sure it is very rewarding for the volunteers and greatly appreciated by the recipients.

As we complete our Advent preparation for Christmas may we all enjoy the break, celebrate with our families, rest, and re-charge for the New Year.

May GOD bless you all.