2018 will be an important year for those families in our parish who have a son or daughter preparing to receive the Holy Spirit through the Sacrament of Confirmation. Bishop Fintan Monahan will visit the parish on Thursday, 22 February 2018 to celebrate the sacrament of confirmation with the sixth class children from Kildysart and Coolmeen-Cranny parishes in St Michel’s Church, Kildysart.                                                                                          These final months of preparation will involve the families, schools and parish working together for the good of the young people preparing to receive the sacrament. The parish part of our preparation will include the ceremony of enrollment which will take place during Sunday Mass and a liturgy of light which will take place during a special liturgy.

The list of dates is as follows:

• Enrollment Mass on Sunday, 12 November 2017 at 10.30am in St Michael’s Church, Kildysart;
• Ceremony of Light on Tuesday, 24 Janusry 2018 at 7pm in St Michael’s Church, Kildysart;
• Confirmation, Thursday 22 February, 2018 in St Michael’s Church, Kildysart.

We are also planning a retreat for the young people who will be confirmed in 2018.

During our meeting with parents on 17 September last it was suggested that our confirmation class might wish to adopt a confirmation project. One proposal is that after their confirmation, each child is invited to make an anonymous donation (€10 is suggested as a guide) to help the work of Crumlin Children’s Hospital in Dublin. This would be a lovely example of the fruits of the Holy Spirit as our children use a part of the gifts they receive for their confirmation to help sick children.

First Holy Communion Pentecost Sunday 2013

We pray for the children in our parish who are preparing to receive the Lord in Holy Communion for the first time on the Feast of Corpus Christi, 3 June 2018 during our parish Sunday Mass.

May the Lord bless them, their parents, families and teachers during this important time in their lives.  As we discussed at our parents’ meeting with Joanne O’Brien and Cora Guinnane, preparation for sacraments is a three way partnership between home, parish and school.

Our parish preparation programme will include the following liturgies:

• Enrolment Mass                      Sunday 22 October 2017 at 11am;
• Preparation Mass                     Sunday 26 November 2017 at 10.30 am;
• Preparation Mass                     Sunday 4 February 2018 at 10.30am;
• Preparation Mass                     Sunday 15 April 2018 at 10.30am;
• Sacrament of Reconciliation  Wednesday 2 May 2018 at 7.00pm;
• Preparation Mass                     Sunday 20 May 2018 at 10.30am;
• First Holy Communion           Sunday 3 June 2018 at 10.30am.

We thank the group of parents who are organising these liturgies and pray God’s blessing on all our children, their families and all who care for them.