April 2000
Topics
in this issue: 1)Cell Groups 2)Evangelisation 3)Catholic Dictionary 4)Come and See
5)International Workshop
6)The Belfast Experience
7)St. Olivers Parish, Clonmel
Letter from the Editor
Welcome to the first National
Cell Newsletter. Our aim is to encourage, promote and co-ordinate the
parish cell groups in Ireland. Today we feature Belfast and one of the newer
groups Clonmel. Jesus says “ go out to the whole world and proclaim the good
news” and again “ fear not I am with you always”. We in the National Cell
Executive are here to help all cell groups. We would appreciate news items and
articles from all groups in the country.
Denis
O’Leary
Cell Groups in Ireland
By Fr.
Michael Hurley
In 1990 cell groups were launched in Ireland
to prepare for the New Millennium. It is extraordinary to witness what has
happened in the meantime. I thank God
that he has inspired cell groups in so many
parishes throughout Ireland. In
the next few months we can expect ten more parishes to launch them. I thank God too that cell groups now exist
in such diverse places as Texas, London, Scotland, Wales, Australia, New
Zealand, because some Irish source provided the inspiration. Above all I thank God for the quiet
enthusiasm and the outward looking attitude that I see in people who
participate in such groups.
One reaction to the New Millennium that I heard was “at least we
made it”. Celebrating Jubilee is so
much richer. It is about knowing the
presence of Christ in our daily realities.
For us, who participate in cell groups, it means renewing our
determination that Christ be known and proclaimed.
On the 24th December last our Jubilee year began when
Pope Jon Paul II opened the Holy Door (Porta Sancta) in St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome. Walking through
the holy door is for the Christian a prayer, which in effect says: “we leave
the old way behind and embrace the new life that Christ holds out to us”.
May the
Lord use cell groups to encourage people come to a deeper faith and be formed
as evangelists to serve within their local communities. May each of us be attentive to His call upon
our lives. May He open a great door for
us into his heart. May he also open new
doors of evangelisation so that each of us can announce him within our families
and neighbourhoods. May we, during this
new millennium, have new vision of the Lord’s purposes. May we see him raise up many people to
pioneer initiatives and nurseries of evangelisation.
One day a man was walking along
a beach. On this beach there were ten’s of thousands of starfish that had been
washed up by the tide. They were dying,
having been dried up by the hot sun.
The man saw a small boy picking up the starfish one by one, going down
to the sea and throwing them in. He
kept on doing the sane thing over and over.
The man, as he saw the boy,
said, “Say son, with ten’s of thousands of starfish lying up and down the
beach, you must feel like you’re not making much of a difference”. The boy went and picked up another starfish
and as he threw it into the sea he said
“I bet it made a difference for
that one”.
Catholic Dictionary.
AMEN: The only
part of a prayer that everyone knows.
HOLY WATER: A liquid whose chemical formula is
H2OLY. Made by boiling the hell out of
water.
INCENSE: Holy
Smoke!
JONAH: The
original “Jaws” story.
JUSTICE: When
kids have kids of their own.
MAJI: The most
famous trio to attend a baby christening.
MANGER: Where
Mary gave birth to Jesus because Joseph wasn’t covered by VHI.
PROCESSION: The
ceremonial formation at the beginning of Mass, consisting of altar servers, the
celebrant, and late parishioners looking for seats.
RECESSIONAL:
The ceremonial procession at the conclusion of Mass – led by parishioners
trying to beat the crowd to the car park.
“Come and See”
Recent months have
seen remarkable interest in the Come and See course. One at times gets the
feeling that parishes are lining up to undertake it. It has been hosted in a
great variety of parishes. The course is described in Transforming Your
Parish a book by Fr Michael Hurley. This is a five night course written to
invite people to a deeper faith and give them an experience of community.
Transforming
Your Parish deals with the basic principles of a Christian’s life. It gives all
the information required to organise and run the five night course. In an easy
way the course guides each person to get in touch with his/her faith story. It
is ideal for those who wish to take their faith a little more seriously. It
stands on its own as a course guide, however it also offers guidelines for
follow-up through the formation of small faith groups (cells).
Transforming
Your Life is a
companion book of daily personal reflection to accompany the Come and See
course.
The Come and
See course has taken on a life of its own and is widely throughout Ireland and
England. It has even been used in Malta, Australia and the USA.
A promotion
team of
Hilary McCann ,
Dublin.
Sr. Patricia
O’Donovan, Nenagh.
Brid Kelly,
Carrigfergus.
Fr. Michael
Hurley, Dublin, is available to help with this course.
Are all
available to offer advice.
11th
International Cell Workshop on Evangelisation
Milan 13th. to 18th.
June 2000
The system
The system is a comprehensive structure which always
reports to the Parish Priest. Each part
of this structure has a mutual relationship and dependence on every other part.
By means of an appropriate organisational structure, this system contributes to
the development of the living body which is the Church.
Parish
The fabric of which the Cell System forms part is
precisely the Parish Community, defined by John Paul ll. In Christifideles Laici as the “Community of faith and physical community in which the parish priest is the
organisational link to the whole Church”. (n 26).
Evangelisation
“The Church
exists for the purpose of evangelisation” as Paul VI reminds us in Evangelii
Nuntiandi. In the same way the cell
“the Church in miniature”,rediscovers and brings to life this fundamental
vocation: SHARE JESUS WITH OTHERS.
The Belfast Cell Experience ST AGNES’ AND ST MICHAEL’S
PARISHES
In June 1996, three St Louis Sisters attended the 4th
Cell Seminar in Ballinteer, in response to an advertisement in Intercom. They were looking for ways of helping to
build up Faith Communities in the Parishes in which they worked. The experience of the Seminar convinced them
of the value of the Cell System of Evangelization. This was largely due to the inspirational people who were
organising the Seminar and to the Cell Meetings they attended as part of the
weekend.
Returning to Belfast, their enthusiasm convinced their Parish
Priests of the potential of the Cells, and an invitation was sent to Fr Hurley
and Team to give an Information Night to interested Parishioners. About 40 attended, most of them were already
involved in Parish Groups.
While this was not intended, it proved effective in providing
Leaders with some experience of leading groups; it did not involve coaxing,
cajoling and begging as well! The Cells
were launched with a minimum of support for the Leaders.
Currently there are six Cells in St Michael’s Parish and five
Cells in St Agnes’. After the initial
fairly rapid growth in 97/98, development has slowed down. We see this as a time of maturing for the
existing Cells, leading to further growth in the not-too-distant future. Members witness to a greater sense of
community, a deeper awareness of the faith and personal growth of the
members.
The Co-ordinators see this static period as a time for nurturing
and consolidating the existing Groups.
For future
information about the Cell Community in the above parishes contact:
Sr. Luca Henry,
91 A Hillhead Cresent,
Stewartstown Road,
Belfast BT11 9FW
St. Oliver’s
Parish, Clonmel
Each week,
the parish team in St. Oliver’s Parish (3 Rosminian priests and 2 Mercy
sisters) sit down together, to pray, reflect, discuss and evaluate their work
and the life of the parish. It was out
of such a meeting that the foundation of Cells took place in the parish.
In 1997, it was felt by the team that some sort of
spiritual injection was needed in the parish.
It was also felt at that time that a core group, representative of the
needs of the parish, should be formed, trained and encouraged to take on the
immediate needs. On May of that year,
Sr. Mary Madigan, attended the National Cell Seminar in Ballinteer.
Dublin. She carried back her enthusiasm
around the cell system to the team. She
also had knowledge of its thriving success from her own native town of Callan. After much reflection and debate, the team
decided to take it on.
The problem now, was how and where to
start. After much prayer and reflection
we agreed to choose people from different age groups, different backgrounds and
geographical areas in the parish (our parish is entirely urban). The team agreed on 10 names. They were asked and invited to an initial
meeting. They all agreed to come. They
were: Helen Cahill, Noel O’Neill,
Teresa Fitzgerald, Helen Denehy, Anne O’Shea, Mary Curran, Keith Gardiner,
Philip Fahy, Carol Gerrard and Michael O’Brien. Sr. Mary and Fr. Tom Griffin, the then P.P. also joined the
group. So we were like the 12 apostles.
So what did we do those first meetings? We looked at sections from the Come and
See video, reflected on it and discussed it.
It was my hope that at the end of those 6 meetings, those people would
encourage their friends to join them and set up small cell groups in their own
areas. Instead the group chose to stay together and form a cell, meeting in the
parish house. We continued like that
until June 1998, when we decided to split.
6 stayed on in the parish house and the other 6 moved to another house
in the same estate. No. 7 Honeyview
Estate, the home of Nora Lonergan. At
this stage we knew that Fr. Tom would be leaving us, and he was replaced by Fr.
Michael O’Neill.
Between September 1998 and December 1999, we have
experienced a lot of change and movement.
New people have joined but some of the original have also left. We are in 4 different areas in the parish
now. The 4 hosting houses are: Helen
and Michael Cahill, No. 63 Highfield Grove; Brenda and Paddy Keogh, No. 3
Bianconi Drive; Anne and Liam O’ Dwyer, No. 6 Auburn Square and Eileen and
Richard Kiely, No. 101 Elm Park.
During Lent 1999, all Cell members met in the home of
Patricia and Eldon Ryan, No. 126 Elm Park, and followed the course: Come and
See, as outlined in Fr. Michael Hurley’s book Transforming your Parish. We spent the final evening of that course,
out in Glencomeragh retreat House (about 3 miles from Clonmel) for a very
meaningful healing and reconciliation service.
In November 1999, 6 of the Cell members participated in a 2 days
retreat, in Villa Maria, Ardmore, directed by Sr. Noirin Foley R.S.M. They were Kitty Browne, Anne Morahan,
Kathleen McMenamin, Patricia Lloyd,
Norma Slater and Noel O’Neill.
Just before
Christmas last year, all members met in the home of Anne and Liam O’ Dwyer, No.
6 Auburn Square for a very beautiful Eucharist celebrated by Fr. Michael O’
Neill, our parish priest.
We are deeply grateful to Fr. Michael O’ Neill for his commitment
to making our Cell tape every fortnight.
Our sincere thanks to Fr. Michael Hurley and his Dublin team, who keep
us informed and encouraged at all times.
Finally, a heartfelt thank you to Fr. Joe Delaney and the Callan Cells
for all the support, encouragement and welcome they have given us and continue
to give us. We depend so much on the
support and prayers of others.
We
hope that during this Jubilee year the Cells here in St. Oliver’s will grow
strong in prayer, unity and numbers, and that all who come to them will
experience great peace, joy and heartfelt support.