St. Paul's Retreat, Mount Argus

The beginning of the year saw the departure of John Craven to Ardoyne. We wish John well and thank him for all his hard work in the parish over the previous three years. Such is our reality that no one came to replace John.

Some of you may remember our previous chef, George Stone. George sadly died and was laid to rest in England. On 22nd January a memorial mass was held in the student oratory for our staff and for George's Dublin friends. It was a very moving occasion.

On 2`d February it was the turn of Mount Argus to meet with the Provincial and his Council to continue the conversation about the Province Plan, and this remains an ongoing discussion in our own community meetings. On 4th February some of our parishioners journeyed to Crossgar for the day on "Building Walls, Building Bridges ". They thoroughly enjoyed the event and our thanks to Ken Brady for organising it and to Dermot and the community at Crossgar for their hospitality.

On 27th January Linus was moved from St. James Hospital to Our Lady's Hospice. At the time we were delighted but unfortunately his stay there was to be short lived as Linus passed away just nine days later on 5th February. Linus was laid to rest on 9th February. We were joined for dinner afterwards by his family and former neighbours, as well as some Cross and Passion Sisters who had been in Botswana
with Linus. We also had a great turnout of our own Passionist brethren from around the province. A fitting tribute to a decent man.

On that same day Robert Joerger arrived to begin General Visitation. As well as meeting with each individual member of the community, Robert celebrated mass with us and met with all the community at one time. His fraternal manner warmed him to all of us and we appreciated his visit. Robert will return to Mount Argus in May to give the Novena of Hope, together with Edward Beck CP, author of the book "God Underneath " which has been so highly acclaimed. We look forward very much to them being here. Early on the morning of 16th February Robert left with Frank for the Passionist Monastery of Maria Schutz in Austria, where both would attend a North European planning meeting.

On 13th February Mount Argus Parish held a celebration in the Blessed Charles Centre for all the parish workers, followed on 14th February by a Parish Assembly. This was part of an ongoing process to develop a collaborative model of parish whereby there is further promotion of lay ministry and the development of genuine shared leadership between priests and laity. As always Ash Wednesday in Mount Argus was also the beginning of the 40 Hours Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, which helps us get Lent off to a very prayerful beginning. As part of our Lenten Programme we are running a series of Adult Faith lectures in the Old Choir. These have the general title "What are they Saying About... ....Sin (Sean Fagan SM); Jesus (Pat Rogers CP); War & Peace (Peadar Kirby); Mass & Sacraments (Frank Keevins CP). "