Carmel O’Neill sent us this latest update:
The annual crib exhibition takes place in Blessington Parish Centre from Dec 17th -20th with cribs on display representing places and cultures from around the world. Local parishioners and clergy donate their own unique crib for the exhibition with over 100 cribs on display. This event is of great interest to the local schoolchildren who enjoy the multicultural dimension as well as the variety of materials used in the creation of the Nativity figures.
This year the exhibition raised €200 which was sent to Fr Alan Neville who is working with children affected by climate change in Sudan.
This was in addition to the €200 raised from the annual mass of Harvest thanksgiving. Fr Alan was most grateful for these contributions which allow him to educate more children in their local school. The children are given one meal a day and this provides an incentive to come to school and receive a good education.
Following a meeting with members of Blessington parish eco ministry, it was decided to mount a collage of photographs in all 3 churches of the events which took place during the Season of Creation. We hope that this will keep the wider parish community informed on the development of this initiative which was established just 3 years ago at the beginning of Covid. We hope that it will also encourage those who have an interest in the environment and care of the earth to partake in upcoming events. We plan to have a guest speaker speak at mass during lent on Pope Francis encyclical Laudato Si.
