Irish News

By Marie Beirne

“Return to the plan of your father, return to the purposes of your God” (Kansas City ecumenical charismatic conference, 1977 prophecy) - “The work of Jesus is to gather all God’s people into one” (John 11.52)

“May they be so one Father as you are in me and I am in you that the world would believe that you have sent me.” (Jesus’ farewell prayer in John 17)

If we are not ONE then we give the world permission to believe that Jesus did not come from the Father. Clearly the world will come to belief in God through the unity of believers. “Division openly contradicts the will of God, provides a stumbling block to the world and inflicts damage on the most holy cause of proclaiming the good news to every living creature” (Ut Unum Sint).

“I would have made you one new man but the body of my son is broken” (prophetic word given by Ralph Martin, Kansas City 1977)

The Kingdom of God in our lives

Dympna Sheehan reports on the Irish National Catholic Charismatic Conference at Athlone 18th-20th June 2010

“What is the Kingdom of God Like?” – the question, drawn from Mark’s Gospel (Mk 4:30), formed the theme for the 2010 Irish National Charismatic Conference which was held in Athlone between 18th-20th June. The answer provided by Jesus, is that it is like a mustard seed, which when sown is the smallest of all the seeds. Yet it grows to become the largest plant in the garden, so big that the birds of the air can take shelter in its shade.

The weekend provided all those gathered with the opportunity and space to reflect on what the Kingdom of God is like in our lives, individually, in our prayer groups and in the larger community of faith which is the body of Christ. An opportunity too, perhaps to reflect on whether our particular mustard seed, the grace of Baptism in the Spirit, has grown to its full size and potential so that it provides the “shade” where others can come to share it and to be nurtured; to a place where they feel part of that kingdom.

Time of soul serching for the Church

The last year has been a time of great soul searching for our Church and a time of confusion and pain for many Catholics. It was wonderful to take the time out to reconnect with old friends, make new friends and together praise the wonderful God that created us and blessed us with everything we need to be part of his kingdom. The Heart of Ireland venue, the lovely prayerful ambience (due in no small measure to the efforts of local Athlone prayer groups) and the wonderful music ministry of the Sligo based Ascension group all combined to make this a memorable weekend.

We were blessed at this year’s conference by the presence of three wonderful speakers in Sr. Miriam Duggan, Fr Ciaran McDonnell and Fr Peter McVerry. Each in their own individual style, and drawing from the lived experience of the promotion of God’s Kingdom, challenged us to fulfil that mission which NSC Chairperson Marie Beirne, citing Vatican II, outlined for us, - that “it is the responsibility of every Christian to promote the glory of God by the spread of God’s kingdom”.

The promotion of that kingdom and indeed the incarnation of the mustard seed parable was nowhere more evident than in the wonderful testimony of Sr Miriam Duggan which is carried elsewhere in this edition. If we needed confirmation of the wonders that God can do through faith and willing hands – no matter how “unqualified” those hands - we have only to think of Sr Miriam heading for Uganda, armed only with the participants’ Life in the Spirit booklet “Finding New Life in the Spirit” (she was unaware that a Leaders’ Manual existed) and look at how God multiplied that offering to astonishing effect.

Fr Ciaran McDonnell too, touched on the critical importance of stepping out in faith, of trusting God. Posing the question of why Jesus spoke in parables to the crowds, he explained that “understanding does not precede, but follows on from the commitment of the disciple”. Commitment and the decision to follow Jesus came first; it was not based on the safety of a detailed understanding of where that would lead. The Kingdom of God, said Fr Ciaran “exists here below in the measure in which God’s word is received in the hearts of people of faith” While we aspire to enter the kingdom of God in heaven, the kingdom of God must enter us, right here on earth. Fr Ciaran spoke of three steps taken by Jesus to usher in the kingdom of God on earth.

Kingdom for all

- He welcomed people who came to him.
- He spoke to them about the kingdom of God.
- He cured those in need of healing.

Jesus showed that this kingdom was for all by drawing near to the people on the margins of society and announcing to the good news to the poor.
Developing this theme Fr Ciaran posed the question Where was Jesus? The answer was:
- With the Father – because He loved the Father and the Father loved Him.
- With the disciples – close to them, teaching them and training them.
- With the people – the blind the lame, the poor, even in the house of the Pharisees.
- He is Lord to all who need His love, His person and His ministry in their lives.

The theme of faith and trusting in the Father was re-iterated by Marie Beirne in her chairperson’s address, as she exhorted us to “break your obsession with safety and security and self-righteousness and let go and let the Father provide for you – seek first the kingdom of God”. God wasn’t interested, she said, in us slavishly keeping rules and regulations. These get kept as a response to God’s love and she called for us to become “the tassel of His garment, the hem of His cloak through which other people may touch the magnetic presence of Jesus”. God’s vision was not for a world full of prayer meetings, necessary though they are to renew us and recharge out batteries. The call was one which we have heard from Marie many times – “go out and bring to others that which we have been freely and generously gifted”.

Radical solidarity with the poor

Fr Peter McVerry is someone who lives out his ministry in response to the words of Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel (Mt 25:40) “Truly I say to you whenever you did this to these little ones who are my brothers and sisters, you did it to me”, in his work with Dublin’s homeless and marginalised. It is hardly surprising then, that his spoken words as well as his writing, presents us with a challenge of radical solidarity with the poor. Drawing on the words of Jesus in Luke 6:10 (Lord’s Prayer) Fr Peter told us that “Jesus’ vision was that the Kingdom (or Community) of God in Heaven, where God’s will is always done, would be replicated in the Community that Jesus was establishing on earth. This community on earth, which we call the Christian Community, was to have two characteristics which are always present in the Community of God in Heaven. It was to be:

1. A Community of Radical Solidarity – a community where everyone’s needs were met by the community sharing everything they had, and were, with each other. Fr Peter referred to the rich young man (Luke 18:18 – 19:10) as an example of someone who kept all the commandments and was good living, idealistic and highly motivated. But because he could not make that radical move to share what he had, he was a counter-sign to the Kingdom of God.

2. A community of Radical Openness to all – a community where everyone was to be welcomed, valued, accepted, especially those whom society wanted to push aside, to keep at arm’s length. The phrase “Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners” was understood to mean that in the Kingdom of God in Heaven, those who were despised, rejected and unwanted were God’s invited companions and valued friends. Therefore in the community of God on earth, the poor, the marginalised, were to find the same welcome, the same friendship as everyone else. It was to be a community, not just of radical solidarity with each other, but also of radical openness to all. The following lines – directly quoted from the close of Fr Peter’s talk – encapsulate the challenge that he places before us as a people of God.

“The community that Jesus was establishing, which He called the Kingdom of God, challenged then, as now, the economic, social and political relationships that exist between people. Jesus message then was so uncomfortable, so subversive of the status quo, so critical of the relationships between the rich and the poor, the powerful and the marginalised, that the rich and the powerful felt they had to get rid of him. His message today is also so challenging, so subversive and so critical of our way of life that we have chosen to refocus the message on to the Kingdom of God in another life.

This new community, then, represents, in history, what God desires for all humanity in the face of poverty and oppression – a community which lives together in solidarity and equality, and so in justice and peace, and over which God can reign. The hope and salvation of all humanity are to be found in this community”.

Dympna Sheehan is a former chair woman of the Irish NSC.