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J U B I L E E S 2 0 1 6 |
2
I
warmly congratulate the
Parish Community of Mary
Immaculate and thank God
for his continuing presence
among you over these last 25
years.
To start a new Parish is a great
act of faith and the pioneers –
the Parishioners, the Religious and the Oblates
who are to be remembered for their courage
and tenacity. Often they are the ones who set the
tone for the life of the Parish as it grows to meet
the challenges and blessings that life presents to
us all.
To tell stories of people and events is to bring
them all to life again here and now and into the
future. I hope that there will be many stories
told in your time of celebration. It is our way
of honouring those who began the Parish and
those who continue to build this wonderful,
diverse and caring Catholic Community. We
thank God for the wonderful things he has done
through you.
I thank the various members of your Parish
Council who have helped steer the development
of the Parish. I also thank the many Oblates
of Mary Immaculate who have served in this
community. We see ourselves as being very
much at one with the community.
I congratulate Fr Slawek Plonka OMI and
Fr Donal Madigan OMI for their love of the
people here and for continued pastoral
outreach.
You have accomplished much in the last 25
years; your success in the years to come will
depend upon your response to the challenges of
the future. I believe you will. These words from
Mother Teresa perhaps indicates why:
We must not think that our love has to be
extraordinary. But we do need to love without
getting tired. How does a lamp burn? Through
the continuous input of small drops of oil.
These drops are the small things of daily
life: faithfulness, small words of kindness, a
thought for others, our way of being quiet, of
looking, of speaking, and of acting. They are
the true drops of love that keep our lives and
relationships burning like a lively flame.
May the lively flame of love and mercy continue
burning brightly in the lives of the people of the
Parish of Mary Immaculate!
P R OV I N C I A L O F T H E
O B L AT E S O F MA R Y I MMA C U L AT E
message from the
Rev Fr Peter Daly OMI
OBLATE PROVINCIAL