Mags Gargan‘A new age of hope’ and ‘of discovery’ in Limerick diocese
Some 350 delegates drawn from parishes across the diocese attended the first event in preparation for the Limerick Diocesan Synod at Mary Immaculate College.
Titled ‘Together in Mission’ the inaugural event heard from keynote speaker Fr Paul Philibert – a Dominican friar and expert in pastoral theology from the US. He said that there needed to be a recalibrating of people’s understanding of what the Church was and what our role within it must be.
He said that we must let go of calculating Christian life in terms of Masses, rosaries and novenas alone. “These were the lifeblood of Catholics in the hard times, and they are due all proper respect. But we must let go of thinking of the saving sacrifice of the Mass as something done for us but without us.”
Fr Philibert said the synod “could be an invitation to enter a new age of hope, of discovery, a new age of joy and investment, leading to new challenges but also to deeper peace”.
Reflecting on the inaugural synod gathering, Bishop Brendan Leahy said there was “a real sense of energy and enthusiasm about the role of the diocese going forward and how we can look at the obvious challenges we face, not as hurdles, but platforms for positive change”.
The synod will be officially launched at a Mass on Sunday, December 7 in St John’s Cathedral, Limerick. For more details see www.synod2016.com