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News
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News from Ireland
Limerick Mission In conjunction with the physical renovations to St John's cathedral in Limerick, the bishop has invited the Emmanuel Community, an international Catholic charismatic covenant community, to conduct a two week city wide mission, this Lent (22nd March - 6th April 2003) for spiritual renewal in the town.
Altogether she envisages a team of 70 volunteers will participate and they are also hoping to draw in local people to help too. This will be the 3rd such mission done by the community over the last three years. During the first week, the volunteers will go out on outreach, doing house to house visitation and visiting the local prison and hospital as well as local schools. Then during the second week, there will be events every evening at the cathedral.
Linda comments, "We will advertise which pubs we will be putting it on in, and we will have people in the bar drinking and simply available to chat to the people there, as they are watching the musical. It's very modern music, with songs taken from the gospel and goes down very well with the pub culture we have here in Ireland." They have also been asked to conduct a retreat for priests and religious during the week. Linda says she feels that in the last couple of years the Church seems to have become much more open to what the community has to offer and they are finding all kinds of doors are opening for their work. In the future they are hoping to organise a youth retreat in New York, to give young people from Ireland an experience of retreat and mission in another country, but details for this are yet to be finalised. Venue Change For National Conference The Irish NSC have decided to change the flavour and tone of their annual national charismatic gathering. For many years this has been held at the Royal Dublin Showground (RDS), but this year they have decided to hold the annual get together at Maynooth, which is smaller but with more facilities, and which has residential accommodation for those who wish to stay on site. The gathering will be over the Pentecost weekend (6th-8th June) and the main speaker will be Fr Tom Forrest CSSR, the American Remptorist, who was responsible for setting up Evangelisation 2000 in the 90s and despite his age, is still full of evangelistic fire. Sr Briget Dunne, the NSC secretary said, "Fr Tom spoke so brilliantly at the Limerick conference last autumn, that we decided we should have him for the annual gathering too." The theme for the conference is "Let the Fire Fall". The Maynooth venue can only hold 700 people, so the NSC are encouraging people to book early. Those who will be travelling longer distances and who want accommodation will have to contact Maynooth direct. For further details phone Cork 021 427 0362 Life In The Spirit Seminar Booklets Those who have been having difficulty getting the participant booklets for the Life in the Spirit Seminars will be pleased to hear that the Irish NSC have obtained a licence from Ann Arbor to print them in Ireland and they will be available shortly. Further details from Cork 021 427 0362
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Linda
Walker, one of the leaders of the Emmanuel Community in Ireland, is
very excited about the challenge. She comments, "The Emmanuel
community in Ireland is quite small, but the community is sending
over 40 volunteers from the different Emmanuel communities abroad,
particularly from the international school of evangelisation in Rome
to help us over the two weeks."
Different
means will be used to proclaim the gospel. One will be to train some
of the young people in the diocese to perform the musical "Jacob's
Well", which was put together by two young Irish people. This
hour long production, which is based on Jesus' encounter with the
Samaritan woman, has been especially designed to be performed in pubs,
and has proved very effective when the Emmanuel community have put
it on in the past.
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News from Scotland
Brother Paul Steps Down As Leader Of Anawim Community
The community plan to run the Life in the Spirit seminars at St Paul's this year starting April 24th and finishing June 5th, the week before Pentecost They are hoping many parishioners from St Paul's will attend. The community's Friday night Holy Hour will continue to be held at the Marist House 8-9 pm until further notice as will the seminar "Lord Teach us to Pray". Bro Paul comments, "Although I have retired as leader, I hope to continue to help the Charismatic movement in whatever way possible: I owe so much to it. I believe if we understood it better, and were steeped in its spirituality and convinced of its power, we would see great happenings in the Church which Christ founded." Renewal In Shetland Hilde Bardell who comes from Shetland writes: "Being so far north in the UK means that we can feel very isolated as Catholics. We only have a small parish church St Margarets in Lewick but are blessed to have a resident priest for the Isles. We see our mission as one of praying for and working towards renewal of the parish." Ecumenism on the islands is also a priority and Hilde says "There have been many prophetic words over the years about a light/flame coming from the North and spreading down to join other flames burning for the Lord in the UK. Prophetic words have come from all the different denominations including Roman Catholics. Those who might be interested in seeing a copy of these prophetic words should write to: Marantha, Gord, Cunningsburgh, Shetland ZE2 9HG. Glasgow Renewal One hundred and sixty people attended a day of Healing through the Eucharist organised by the Glasgow Renewal team on 11th January. The speakers were Morag Fitzsimmons and John Cairns from Christ the King prayer group and the Rhema prayer group. Nan Downie, one of the co-ordinating team commented, "We often invite speakers from outside Scotland but we had a word recently about developing our own gifts. We realised because we were not using the gifts we had, they were not being developed. We looked around us and thought about who we felt had the gift of teaching and asked Morag and John to do the talks. And they were both very good." In February the team also organised an ecumenical weekend with the theme "I plead with you to be of one mind and thought and purpose" (1 Cor 1. 10-12) as a follow up to the one they had last year. Among the speakers were Hugh Wallace, from the Church of Scotland, Steve Anderson from Prayer for the City and one of the leaders of the local Assembly of God Church. Grace Binnie from Paisley was the Catholic Charismatic Renewal representative. On April 4th an evening of renewal and healing is planned at 7.30. The venue is to be confirmed but it will probably be at Christ the King Parish. For further details ring the Glasgow office 0141 553 1066. In May Fr Richard McAteer from the United States will be visiting and speaking at a weekend and in June there will be the Scottish National Service Committee organised weekend with Fr Jim Flynn and Sr Maria Natella at the Cooper Institute, Clarkson Road in Glasgow.
David McGill the founder of the Risen Christ community, in Glasgow is now back on the National Service Committee for the Charismatic Renewal in Scotland. David, who recently stepped down as international president of the Sword in the Community network, has felt called with his wife Margaret to run marriage in the spirit seminars, drawing on their experience with the married couples in their own community. 8 National Youth Event In Livingston In March A group of people involved in evangelisation of young people are organising a national outreach day at St Margaret's Academy, Howden, Livingston on 2nd March 2003 called "Are You in the Right Place?" The event is geared to young people over the age of 16 and will have input from Living Water Ministry and the Risen Christ Community. There will be music, drama, talks and sharing. The day will start at 10.30 for 11 am and finish with Mass starting at 4.15 pm followed by supper. There is no charge for the day but participants are asked to bring a packed lunch. Andrew Brookes one of the organising team comments, "A major feature of the day will simply be having lots of very committed young people leading the activities and sharing their testimonies, so that other young people will be inspired. The fact that it is a national day will also give young people from all over the country a chance to get to know each other and meet other young people." The event they hope will be relevant both to those with a committed faith and those of no church background at all. The organising team are asking parishes to help promote the event and actively encourage young people to come, helping them perhaps with transport or in other ways. They are also asking everyone to pray for the event that many young people will be touched by Christ.
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Octogenarian
Brother Paul Sacco, the Marist brother who has led the Anawim prayer
group community in Glasgow for many years resigned as leader at the
end of January this year. The new leader is Mary Cargill. The community
also had to change the premises where they meet, and have been praying
about a new location. They have now been invited by Fr William Mone,
parish priest of St Paul's, Whiteinch, who has wanted a charismatic
prayer group in his parish for some time to bring Anawim to his church.
David
McGill To Join The Scottish NSC|
News from England
Mothers' Prayers 3 days of Repentance Prayer Mothers' Prayers, the prayer network that unites mothers round the world to pray for their children, held 3 days of repentance, prayer and fasting last December. They prayed for all and those who harm children, drug dealers, porn barons, child abusers etc and knelt before the cross asking the Lord to forgive them. The final day was dedicated to praise and thanksgiving for all God's blessings to humankind. They are inviting others to join them in spirit for their next three days of prayer and repentance which will be 28th, 29th and 30th March 2003, for the general world situation especially in regard to children. Mothers' Prayers have a new HQ in Kent now called Star House. Their postal address is Mothers' Prayers PO Box 416, Sevenoaks, Kent TN14 6WE
This year for the first time Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor will be visiting Celebrate, the Catholic Family Conference organised by Charles and Sue Whitehead and team at the John Fowler Holiday Camp in Ilfracombe, Devon. The Cardinal's public affairs assistant, James Parker, has helped run the young adult stream for the past couple of years and the cardinal no doubt is keen to see what his assistant has been up to! The conference attracts 1200 people every Easter week, the majority of whom are families and young people, and is known for its exciting programme. It is so popular that it is fully booked within days of the publicity being sent out. In this case mid-September 2002. Sion Community Celebrates Fulfilment Of 5 Year Vision The Sion Community held a special celebration on 12th January this year to celebrate the fulfilment of their five year vision. The community which was founded over 15 years ago by Fr Pat Lynch, a priest from the Nottingham diocese, has been a pioneer in the field of collaborative ministry, bringing together lay people, religious and priests to work together in evangelisation.
Five years ago feeling they had lost a bit of focus, they called in a management consultant to help them strategize for the future. This they found very helpful in clarifying their gifts and direction and began a vision development process. The vision statement they came up with was that by 2003 they would be "key providers of prophetic, innovative and effective approaches to evangelisation within the Catholic Church." This they showed on the January day, they have more than achieved both numerically and in the innovative things they have been able to do. Over the last five years, for example, at a time when church commitment is generally declining, Sion has more than doubled in size. In 1998 there were 14 core members who were committed full time long term plus 2 youth members. Today there are 28 core members, 5 youth members, and 18 associates. The associate category is perhaps the most innovative and interesting, in that through it people, after a short period of training, can go out with the full time Sion team and help them on their parish missions for a week at a time. This gives people who cannot give a full time commitment because of their work an opportunity to grow in evangelisation skills, and practical experience which they can then take back to their parishes. The associates also benefit from community formation and a sense of belonging. Sion is also the first community of its kind in England which has a seminarian in formation to be a priest for their community. Simon Penhaligan, who has been a member of Sion for many years is currently training under the auspices of the diocese of Northampton with the understanding that when he completes his training he will work for Sion. As well as forming lay people, Sion over its fifteen years has been able to raise the profile of evangelisation in the Catholic Church at large, both in this country and abroad particularly through the teaching and preaching ministry of Michelle Moran, who travels round the world giving seminars and training days for lay people, clergy and even bishops.
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Cardinal
Cormac To Visit Celebrate
The
community began with Fr Pat, Sr Agnes, a religious sister and three
married couples, who went out together on parish missions. The community
still do parish missions, but now they also have a team that goes out
to primary and secondary schools and two members who are developing
university outreach. At their two bases in Brentwood and Chalfont St
Peter they also run weekend training courses for parish groups and discipleship
training for young people. Over the last three years they have been
developing a community in Ireland too and recently they have been asked
by a priest in the Salford diocese to take over an empty presbytery
on his patch and to provide a sense of presence.|
International News
The Community Of The Beatitudes Officially Recognised
The community, which has its foundation in Catholic Charismatic Renewal, is made up of lay people - consecrated celibates and families - and priests. More than 1500 brothers and sisters live in community in 32 countries around the world. There are 46 houses in Europe, 11 in Africa, 3 in Latin America, 3 in North America, 2 in Oceania and 3 in the Middle East. As yet there are no houses in Britain or Ireland. The communities combine contemplative prayer with missionary and apostolic work, and are inspired by Carmelite spirituality and the charism of St Therese of Lisieux. In England they do work with Youth2000 and come every year to their annual meeting in Walsingham. For more information about them visit their website at http://beatitudes.org/ Ralph Martin Leads Day Of Renewal For Cursillo Leaders In Detroit Growing signs of cross fertilisation between the ecclesial movements and lay communities is seen in the number of leaders from the different movements being invited to speak at each other's gatherings. In February Ralph Martin, the director of Renewal Ministries in Ann Arbor gave a day of renewal for Cursillo leaders in Detroit. New Chairperson And Members For European Iccrs Sub Committee Nikol Baldecchino from Malta, has finished his term of office as European representative on the ICCRS council. He has been replaced by Michelle Moran from England. Nikol was also the chairman of the European sub committee of ICCRS. This is made up of the 3 ICCRS members for Europe [(currently Michelle Moran (England), Matteo Calisi(Italy) and Michael Slavik (Czech Republic) plus Cathy Brenti(France) representing covenant communities and Charles Whitehead, financial advisor to the ICCRS council. The other European members of the committee are Darek Jeziorny (Poland), Kim Catherine- Marie Kollins (Germany) and Klees Slijkerman (The Netherlands). Please pray for the meeting in Budapest this month when new members to replace these last three will be chosen. Lamb Of God In NZ Filming Life In Spirit Seminars The Lamb of God community in New Zealand, one of the covenant communities belonging to the Sword of the Spirit network, has grown 22% in the last three years. They now have 250 adult members and number 600 including the children in the community. Roger Foley, one of their community leaders, has been based at the Tongues of Fire Office at St Joseph's Centre, Takapuna, and has been using it as a base for outreach. The community plans to film the Life in the Spirit seminars for video to use it for evangelisation.
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The
Community of the Beatitudes, which was founded in France in 1974 by
Ephraim Crossant and his wife Joseete, and another couple, was officially
recognised by the Pontifical Council for the Laity on 31st January
this year.|
Evangelisation News
CaFE
Many parishes it seems are hungry for CaFE's inspiring and accessible teaching material on the Catholic faith. Although it was only launched less than a year ago, the office at London Colney has been inundated with requests to run training days in their dioceses. Nine have been run so far, with about 100 people on each and the office estimates that in the light of the material they have sold about 400 parishes round England are now running the first series called "Knowing God Better." At their recent training day in Wimbledon, South London, among the participants there were representatives from Ireland, Malta and Australia, all interested in running CaFE. Many parishes in Australia already have Catholic Evangelisation Services video materials, which are produced under licence there. CaFE is simply a tried and tested way of using these to their best effect. CaFE training conferences are often preceded by special days for priests to explain the aims of CaFE and how it can be run in parishes. In order to cope with the demand, especially the growing one from overseas, the CES team have produced special material for CaFE information evenings which can be run using a 20 minute introductory video as a basis for explaining the CaFE principles and process. Another major new initiative is Youth Knowing God Better (KGB). This course which is being developed by Jenny Baker, herself the mother of two teenagers, is based on the main KGB series with short sections of the video being interspersed with testimonies and activities aimed at the 13-16 age group. The leaders' manual is a comprehensive guide to running the sessions. Currently this course is still in the developmental stage and is being piloted in selected parishes. After this the material and the videos will be reviewed in the light of the feedback and comments of the participants and if this proves positive made generally available. Please pray for the funding of this project and other future CES filming projects, including one on the Eucharist, which we would like to produce in the near future. Also please pray for those running and participating in all CaFE courses which are currently taking place, that everyone will come to know God better as a result. Those interested in doing a CaFE training course can note that the next courses coming up are : March 1st Mackworth Centre, Derby March 29th St Bede's School, Bristol June 14th Plymouth Diocese July 5th Portsmouth Diocese September 27th and October 18th Liverpool diocese November 15th Hallam Diocese. The office is now extremely busy but if you want to order videos, get more details about a training day or just find out more about CaFE then please contact us on: 01727 823803. We would be happy to send you a copy of the free introductory video. You can also visit our website www.faithcafe.org or write to us at Catholic Evangelisation Services, PO Box 33, St Albans, Herts. AL2 1EL
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CaFE
(Catholic Faith Exploration) the video series produced by Catholic
Evangelisation Services headed up by David Payne, to help provide
a process of mission and renewal for small groups in parishes, schools,
colleges and prisons, is expanding rapidly. As well as the high quality
video material on all aspects of Catholic teaching, CaFE encourages
parishes to pay attention to presentation too by creating an informal
"café" environment for the teaching.