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News from Ireland

Stumbing Stones Into Stepping Stones

Sixty people met at All Hallows College in Dublin on the first weekend of October to reflect on the way forward for the charismatic renewal in a retreat led by Fr Ronnie Mitchell SMM. Below He shares a few thoughts about what he felt the Spirit said at the weekend.

We wanted to strike a note of repentance, especially in areas where we had failed Renewal and ourselves. But there were many positive aspects which we acknowledged and rejoiced about. For me the vital message was how to turn stumbling blocks into stepping stones. Three areas of change were acknowledged and the way shown for growth, which I feel are not just for Ireland but for elsewhere too.
1 The first criticism we often receive is that “charismatic people” are too emotional! Yet is it not one of the problems today that people are not emotional enough? Whereas we must be wary of emotionalism which leads to self destruction, positive healthy emotions are good as they motivate us out of living at a superficial level. Many who have come into Charismatic Renewal have experienced a “jailbreak” of their emotions. To see people released into tears and laughter is not only healthy but can be a sign of deep inner healing. Others who know what is happening can assist in the healing process will be supportive. It’s good to befriend our feelings.
2 The second obstacle highlighted was that Charismatic people were “elitist”. They felt themselves superior to others in the Church and they lacked discernment in dealing not only with people but also in the use of the spiritual gifts. Some were power-hungry while others were self-righteous. Some found it difficult to step down from leadership positions and so found themselves on a sinking ship. It is so absolutely essential that “new blood” be encouraged and trained to take over as leaders. “Old hands” need to hand over when the Spirit is moving, not when the Spirit has moved on!

We have to make sure that this is not true for us. Because we are so highly favoured through the working of the Spirit we have a right to feel special but this must not become an obstacle to building the Kingdom of God. No, the real danger of elitism is that it makes us self-conscious. This is an unhealthy trait in evangelisation because it takes the focus off God and puts it on us thus lessening the power of God to work through us.The way to avoid this danger is to keep looking to the Lord and to give Him the glory. I believe that our miracle-working God would do much more though us and for us if He could trust us not to spoil His plans. God will use us to the extent that we yield to His Spirit.
3 Finally it is said that the prayer life of many in Renewal is too shallow. We need to remember that the grace of Baptism in the Spirit is not an end but only the beginning of a deeper journey into God. Taken up with the “emotional high” people can easily revert back to old stagnant habits once the honeymoon period is over. To launch out into the deep is not just about evangelisation but also more importantly about going deeper with God in prayer, otherwise there will be little fruit of our going out.

Latest on Irish National Conference

The dates for this year’s Irish national conference have been confirmed for the 11th-13th June and the venue will be the same as last year at Maynooth, with a retreat format and accommodation on site offered. The theme will be on the Eucharist and the two main speakers will be Bishop Martin Drennan, auxiliary bishop in Dublin, who is a marvellous scripture teacher and Fr Ciaran McDonnell, who was once part of the Drifters Show Band, but now works as a parish priest in Hartlepool in England and is known for his healing ministry. Fr Ciaran recently spent a sabbatical year in Medjugorje and has given missions in Africa and Slovakia. Chairwoman, Marie Beirne, commented, “We are really excited about the preparations for the conference and we want to help people to go deeper in their faith and be sent out in the power of the Holy Spirit to use the spiritual gifts.” Fliers will be sent out shortly to the prayer groups with details.

Power To Change

Paddy Monaghan, project manager of Power to Change, which took place in Ireland in the autumn of 2002, said that despite some organisational problems in some areas, the ecumenical evangelistic initiative, had overall been successful. Some statistics are: 160,000 accessed the two websites, 10,500 people (39% in the 21-40 age group) asked for the free evangelistic book/CDROM from the call centre: over 1000 parishes/churches registered to take part of which 410 were Catholic parishes and 10,000 people attended the 3 hour training session.

Parishes which already had a heart for evangelisation and really embraced Power To Change experienced the greatest fruits, said Paddy, and led directly to new initiatives like the Alpha Bible course being run in many parishes. The initiative received the highest backing from all the four main Church leaders as well as the national conference of priests. This thrust for evangelisation looks like continuing with the appointment of the new Coadjutor Archbishop of Dublin Dr Diarmuid Martin, who wrote in the Irish Times on 30th August 2003 that his “major hope would be to redirect resources to evangelisation.” Paddy hopes that the bishops might set up an agency to promote evangelisation as exists in some other countries.

Galway Charismatic Conference

Numbers were down at this year’s Galway conference as there was another event going on at the same time. The theme was “Come Holy Spirit” and the speakers were Marie Beirne the Irish NSC chairwoman, and Fr Diamuird O’Riain OFM. John Pridmore from Youth2000 also gave his amazing testimony. About 20 of the participants came from Northern Ireland as well as other parts of Ireland. Organiser Peter Spellman commented, “A lot of people can’t travel to Dublin for the national conference so local events like these are very important.

Tapes of Derry Conference May 2003. Talks by Fr pat Lynch and dr John Bonnici Malia available from EIST, 30 Ballinteer, Dublin 16.

News from Scotland

Life in the Spirit Seminars

The Glasgow diocesan service team once again ran the Life in the Spirit seminars for the Craig Lodge community at Dalmally. Eddie McDonald, the chairman of the DST commented, “Every time we go to Dalmally we get a huge experience. God is really doing something up there. They have their own vision and are very marian, but more recently they have opened up to the charisms of the Holy Spirit in an amazing way. When people go on their community weekends, the community now pray over people and do a lot of ministry. I believe something really special is going to happen up there.”

The Glasgow team who run regular days and weekends of renewal throughout the year, plan to balance inviting outside speakers with helping the local team to develop their gifts. Thus for their February day of renewal, they will be encouraging local leaders to give the talks and lead the healing services etc, while in March 5th-7th 2004, they have invited Fr Bob Faricy, the American Jesuit, who lives in Rome to come and speak on Mary and the Holy Spirit.

Eddie feels there is a growing coming together of the marian and charismatic dimensions. This is underlined by what’s happening at Dalmally and also the fact that the Holy Spirit seems to be leading the charismatic renewal to a new assessment of the role of Mary and her place. Eddie comments, “This doesn’t mean just saying the rosary more or concentrating on her, but simply that we invite Mary every time we gather to intercede for us. She was the first charismatic and the first disciple of Jesus, and we can receive a lot from her example and intercession.” He feels his own spiritual life has been deepened in recent years with a fresh understanding of the place of Mary.

The most exciting development has been the decision to organise the Life in the Spirit seminars as a weekend 2nd-4th April 2004. “Immediately it was mentioned there was total unity among everyone that this was the right thing to do, which is unusual and a sure sign that this was the Holy Spirit working,” said Eddie.

Back To Basics

Seventy five leaders from all over Scotland met together in Calderbank in the Motherwell diocese at the end of October 2003 for a leaders’ day organised by the National Service Team of Scotland. Almost all the dioceses in Scotland were represented. The main input of the day was given by NST chairman Tom Mullen and he called the leaders of the prayer groups back to basics. He encouraged core groups to pray together and prepare for the meetings they were running and also to review the meetings afterwards to be aware of what had been said at the meeting. It was important to ensure that prayer meetings didn’t simply become gatherings where people just came together but that they were faithful to the call to bring Baptism in the Spirit to the Church and to reach out to others. The day concluded with a powerful time of prayer over the leaders of all the different dioceses and everyone was given words and prophecies and scriptures to meditate on. Steve Lavery, from the Dunkeld diocese commented, “It was a very powerful and unifying time and we had a lot to think on.”

RIP

David “Dee” McFarlane, a leader in the Dunkeld diocese from the very early days of Charismatic Renewal, died on 5th December after a long illness. He was only 61 and leaves a wife Margaret and 3 grown up children. His daughter Michelle and her husband continue the family tradition and are active members of the Charismatic Renewal. Dee, who with his wife, were leaders of the St Vincent’s prayer group, was ordained a deacon in the 1990s and served his local church tirelessly in this capacity. He was also a member of the Scottish NST for many years until illness forced him to step down 5 years ago. “He was a keen musician and tremendous servant to the Catholic Charismatic Renewal,” said Steve Lavery, fellow DST member, “and we will really miss

News from England & Wales

Ark of the Covenant in Coventry Opens

After almost a decade of praying, planning, dreaming and waiting the Ark of the Covenant, a centre for prayer, formation and evangelisation, has come into being and was formally opened by the Archbishop Vincent Nicholls on 22nd November 2003. The centre is the fulfilment of the dream of Fr David Keniry, a Birmingham diocesan priest, who has been involved in Charismatic Renewal for many years.

Frustrated that as a busy parish priest he wasn’t able to give the formation, help and ministry that lay people often needed if they were to serve the Lord, in an active way, he dreamed of some kind of centre, where there could be a collaborative team and where lay formation could be offered. This vision grew and solidified as he was joined by a team of friends and people from his parish in St Joseph’s, Chasetown, who supported the idea with their prayers and their time.

Interestingly the property, a convent in Potters Green, was used in the early 1970s for the running of the Life in the Spirit seminars, one of the most effective evangelistic tools to emerge from the Charismatic Renewal. It was also the base for Faith Alive, one of the first Catholic youth mission teams, founded by Cormac O’Duffy.

The Ark takes its name from Our Lady, the ark who carried Jesus Christ, God’s new covenant. The centre will hope to equip and empower lay people to evangelise, while also helping them to be spiritually equipped for the work. Fr David comments, “People often need somewhere to go where they can receive prayer, ministry, spiritual direction and counselling and to be able to have their ministries and gifts discerned and encouraged.”

Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and prayer will lie at the heart of the work. Archbishop Nicholls, is extremely supportive of the work and has released Fr David after almost 40 years of parish ministry, to lead the new project.

The Ark’s activities will include equipping people to evangelise in parishes through faith sharing and the setting up of mission teams. The Ark will also be collaborating with Maryvale, the Roman Catholic Institute, in developing their evangelisation and spirituality courses. The beautifully refurbished centre will also offer days of personal prayer and intercession, as well as opportunities for clergy to come and reflect and relax.

For further information about the work of the Ark of the Covenant and the opportunities its offers please write to The Ark of the Covenant, 110 Potters Green Road, Potters Green, Coventry CV2 2AN.

Growing Profile of the New Lay Movements and Ecclesial Communities

More and more mention seems to being made of the significance of the new lay movements and ecclesial communities, in the life of the Church and their role in the new evangelisation. Not only are they mentioned in papal documents and in talks by our national bishops, but educational institutes are also looking at their influence. This is highlighted by the fact that St Mary’s College in Twickenham, which last year, invited ten cardinals to speak on different aspects of evangelisation, has chosen this year to invite representatives from the movements to come and speak about mission in their open lecture series running from October2003 to June 2004. Charles Whitehead, standing in for Alan Panozza, the new president of International Catholic Charismatic Renewal Services, who couldn’t make it, kicked off the series. Other leaders who have spoken included Don Luis Fernando Figari from Peru (from Sodalicio de Vida Cristiana), Austen Ivereigh and Mario Marazitti (from St Egidio in Rome), Fr Franciox Xavier Wallays from the Beatitude community in France. The final talk in June will be given by Chiara Lubich the founder of the Focalare Movement, who’s now in her 80s.(See coming events for future speakers and dates).

Praying For The City

New young adult Catholic prayer group in Manchester

Those who have enjoyed the music at New Dawn conference will be pleased to hear, that three of the music ministry, young married couple Andy and Nikki Kiely and their mate Frankie Mulgrew, have started a prayer group in their parish of St Dunstan’s in Moston, Manchester. The impetus for this was the very successful ecumenical Festival Manchester, a city wide mission organised by Soul Survivor and others, last summer, which drew 5000 young people to the city to do work in the community and evangelise. Moston, where Andy and Nikki live, was one of the “hot zones” and a large marquee was erected there and 1500 young people came every day to attend teaching and worship sessions. Twenty five local Roman Catholic parishes were involved in the mission, including St Dunstan’s.

The trio have long had a concern for their city and felt it was important to do follow up, and they decided in the autumn to start meeting, and praying for young people in particular and see where the Lord might take them. They are currently meeting on Monday evenings in the sacristry at St Dunstan’s from 7.30 to 9.30 pm for praise and worship, adoration and faith sharing.

Southwest Conference - Power In Advent

Andrew Shute & Adrian Wardle report:

The South West Conference 2003 took place in a stately surroundings of “Sidholme”, a seaside Victorian retreat in Sidmouth built in 1826 for the sixth Earl of Buckingham. It is now a delightful, well-run Christian Hotel and Conference Centre. There were over 90 delegates as well as the speakers and the ministry team - the Plymouth Diocesan Service Team for Catholic Charismatic Renewal.

This year the conference title was “ Empowered for Life and Witness” and the speakers included David Wells with the mime artistry of Steve Murray together with Peter and Michelle Moran of the Sion Community, the Catholic Community for Evangelism. The theme for the first part of the conference was the Advent call to wake up, and be ready to serve the Lord however insignificant we think we are. David Well underlined that Jesus chose the weak and outcast of society to receive His message.

Michelle Moran helped us to examine our role as witnesses to Christ in our daily life. In her first talk,”Put out into the Deep”, she looked at the “River from the Temple” described in Ezekiel (Ezek. 47:1-5). Her final talk was based on the Gospel story in Luke 5, when Jesus called Peter and the first disciples to follow Him:”Pay out your nets for a catch”.

A number of people gave their own personal testimonies, showing how God had worked in their lives and the conference ended with a truly joyful Sunday Mass celebrated by Fr Trevor Jordan assisted by Deacon, the Rev Paul Strickland.

After Mass a big card, bearing everyone’s good wishes was presented to retiring chaplain Fr Ray Beck with sincere thanks for his ministry to Renewal in the Diocese in the recent years.

The talk was recorded and tapes are available from AGAPE Tapes, tel: 0151 9244850

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