Confessions and First Holy Communion classes.
This will be quite impossible to undertake unless we have help—YOUR HELP! Otherwise, these children may be deprived of the sacraments.
I would implore you, if you have free time in the afternoons, and are willing to help in this most essential pastoral work, and prepared to commit yourself, please come and offer your services to instruct our children in the faith.

We thought we could have got off to a good start last year,  but we discovered that it was so difficult to organise classes at a time for those who said they would like to help.
All that is required is to fill the Declaration Act, which everyone must do who are involved with children or elderly people. This can be easily arranged.
Books for the children, and a teacher’s manual, will be provided, which are very easy to follow, as they are designed for each class..

Parents rightly ask, what is being done about religious instruction for their children.  Since the nuns left, I have found it impossible to do all this on my own. I am grateful to Margaret Sargent who was an immense help last school year in preparing the children for Confirmation. I took Primaries 5 & 6 most afternoons in Spean Bridge—but there was no one for the rest of the children in the other classes in either school!

If you are free and are willing to help, this is one of the most charitable, pastoral and essential works you can do as a parishioner for the parish.
Please contact me as soon as possible if you wish to accept the challenge to help our children learn about their faith. It will also be most encouraging for me to know that there are others in the parish who recognise the seriousness of the problem and are willing to share and help with the responsibility of training our children in the faith.

I look forward to hearing from as many of you as possible. Remember, age does not count. All that is required is your good will and willingness to help. We will show you what to do.
Jesus took the children in his arms and blessed them,

For several reasons, last school year was a failure in providing catechism classes for our children.
Excellent catechisms were provided by the mothers who ran a bakery stall outside Spars to cover the cost of the books, but we were lacking in catechists to pass on  the faith to our children.
This is a very serious problem in our parish, and  we do need the help of parishioners who are willing to volunteer to instruct our children.
Before the new term begins in August, I earnestly ask  parishioners to let me know if they are willing to take a class each week at either Roy Bridge or Spean Bridge

There are several difficulties to be discussed
1. The young children finish at 2.45 p.m., and most
require transport get home.

2. The rest of the children finish at 3.15, and most of them  also require transport to get home.
We would have to have the co-operation of parents to ensure that the children are taken home safely after the classes.

3. There are children in both schools at the same level requiring instructions. Last year, children had to be transported from Spean Bridge to Roy Bridge for the Confirmation class. With extra teachers this would not be necessary.

4. This coming year, we will have Confirmation, First Confessions and First Holy Communion classes.