Parish Evangelising Cell 5 regularly meets on zoom, but meetings for fellowship are important to them.   
Camaraderie was enjoyed by all as Father Victor and Father Paul joined the event.  A blessed day. 

Father Wasim’s talk on Christian-Muslim relations in Syria.
It was an engaging and seamless interweaving of the erudite and the personal.
For example, he illustrated the long-standing peaceful co-existence between Christians and Muslims in Syria not only with images of beautiful and ancient Islamic architecture, but also with his memories of attending Ramadan fast-breaking meals with his close Muslim friends.
Tragically, as we all know, that co-existence has been shattered by terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda and Isis. Alongside his insights into the causes and effects of this terrorism, Father Wasim told us of the perilous journey taken by members of his family who fled from Syria as refugees.
A lively period of questions and comments from the floor followed, bringing a fascinating session to a close. Father Wasim has kindly agreed to our distributing a copy of his slides with this newsletter.
​
​Report by Stephen Walsh. 

See Father Wasim's talk in the pdf below. 

 A massive thank you to our gardening team who between them have saved the parish of Holy Innocents over £50, 000 over the last ten years.
​Seen here with Father Victor. 
Left to right, Brendan, Mick, Fr Victor,  Bramley and Chris.  Steve, unseen is the photographer.  Richard recently joined the team, but he was absent that day.

Please join the team.
Dear Parishioners/friends, As you leave today, take a moment to look at the lawns and the hedges. I think that they are looking in very good order. You may not know that this is all achieved by a small team of parish volunteers. Ten years ago we stopped paying a contractor £400 per month and used the parish volunteers. The saving to the parish must be in the order of £50,000 to date.
What you may also not know, is that this small team consists of four persons who have a combined age in excess of 300 years.  Do the maths. It will not get any less.

To maintain the grounds as you see them today, the parish has to provide additional support. There must be some people who can push a lawnmower (Provided), or use a pair of shears on a hedge, or weed a border.
[last year the Deacon, who is now ordained, helped out. No parishioners even enquired]
The team meet on a Wednesday morning which is convenient because they can usually make a noise without disturbing Mass. It does not have to be then. It does not have to be every week. It won’t be in the rain.
If you feel that you could help, please do not be shy or let others have the privilege of volunteering first.
Come along on a Wednesday morning around 9 or 10 am, meet the team, see what can be done to reduce the average age of the team.

 A beautiful sunny day saw 27 children receive their First Holy Communion at Holy Innocents'.  Their parents and other relatives joined them to celebrate with them and the church was well filled.    It was a very solemn occasion and what joy it was to see the faces of the children as they received Jesus Christ for the first time.  Father Victor spoke of the journey the children had made to reach this day,  Not a programme, but a journey that continues as they seek to deepen their relationship with Jesus and become His fruitful disciples.  It was very moving and reminded one of their own journey many years before.  Father Victor also encouraged all present to take up the opportunity to attend a Life in the Spirit Seminar.
We praise God for this great gift of the Eucharist.  We pray for the children and their parents as they continue  their faith journey together. 
Thank you to Fr Victor, the Catechists, Sister Esther, Suzanne Kelly, Moira Kelly and Sarah Mills for their diligence in leading the children to this day.