Serving at OLOL - Emily, Eve, Alaina & Leonie

I had a wonderful welcome and morning at Our Lady of Lourdes today. Sunday morning Mass at OLOL is always joyful, so many happy faces. This morning I was particularly impressed with our new alter servers Emily, Eve, Alaina & Leonie. They served really well, paying attention and making sure Fr. Frank and myself had the candles, books and chalices at the place and at the right time.

Chatting to Emily and Eve's Mum before Mass she was telling me how they had been up late last night. They had all been to the balloon festive and had got stuck in the car park for three hours. The girls had been very concerned because they were so excited about coming to church today and didn't want to miss church and the opportunity to be an alter server.

There is something special about serving at Mass. A server is dressed in a white alb, covering their day to day clothes, setting them aside to do Gods work, to be holy reserved for Christ, like the Chalice's they pass me. Over the next few months they will learn more about there faith and what it is to be a server in the Guild of St Stephen. I am overjoyed to see Emily & Alaina, who were part of this years first communion programme, to see them putting their faith into practice.

Well Done Girls and thank you.

If you would like to know more about being a server at Our Lady of Lourdes the ask at Mass or drop me email.

God Bless,
 Deacon John Scanlon.

Our Lady of Lourdes - Virtual Tour

Here's a new look at our Church. It's a 360 degree photo taken from the Deacon's chair and allows you to see the church as I do each Sunday. To see all the church, you can rotate the picture by clicking and dragging it with you mouse. [Note: Not all browsers support this functionality.]

You can look at other views of our church here:

OLOL From the middle of the Church.

Father Frank preparing for Mass.

A Joyous Welcome for May Pene Woodman

My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

It is with great joy that we welcome and introduce to you May Pene Woodman, the newest Christian in our community. May, the beautiful baby in the photo, was baptised here at Our Lady of Lourdes in July.

Baptism is a truly wonderful experience, it's the start of a relationship with God. With May, her parents and God parent's made promises on her behalf, they are the promises we all made at our baptism. During my christian life I have often repeated these promises at Easter as part of the congregation. However, nothing prepared me for the tingling and raw emotion I feel as a Deacon reading aloud these questions each time I do a baptism.

• Do you reject Satan?
• And all his works?
• And all his empty promises?
• Do you believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth?
• Do you believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was born of the Virgin Mary, was crucified, died, and was buried, rose from the dead and is now seated at the right hand of the father?
• Do you believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting?

It was after Paula and Tom, May's Mum and Dad, with the God Parents James, Geraldine and Georgia, answered "I Do" to all these questions, that water was poured over May's head and she was baptised in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

The baptism finished with special blessings for Paula, Tom and big brother Danny, who all promised to help May grow up strong in her Christian faith.

Please pray for our newest family member May Pene Woodman, and her family Paula, Tom and Danny.

God Bless,
Deacon John.


From Left to right: Danny, Paula, May, Tom and Deacon John.