The Emmanuel School of Mission spent 17 days in the Dublin Diocese doing evangelisation as part of the 50th Eucharistic Congress. Along with the members of the Emmanuel Community in Ireland we facilitated a week long parish mission in St. Martin’s Parish in Tallaght as well as a week of evangelisation and outreach at St. Andrew’s Parish in Westland Row.
In Tallaght we organised a number of outreach events in the parish. We had a family fun day which included music and dance, soccer, refreshments and games & facepainting for the children. We visited primary schools where we presented a special schools programme of catchechises, music and prayer. There were also visitations to houses in the parish and street evangelisation at a local shopping centre. At the parish church as well as the daily programme of Masses there was also an evening of prayer for families, a reconcilation evening and a Mass for exam students. We welcomed the children celebrating the Sacrament of Confirmation along with their families and met with Bishop Eamonn Walsh. During the week we had a lovely opportunity to make a retreat visit to Glendolough as well and even the heavy rain didn’t detract from our enjoyment of exploring the historic monastic settlement and learning more about the life of Saint Kevin. Overall it was a great week and a joy to receive such a warm welcome and response from the parish community.
St. Andrew’s Church at Westland Row was the focus of a different kind of mission from June 10th-18th, a very vibrant City Mission during the week of the IEC! 6000 commuters pass by the well-known city church daily (which is close to Trinity College and next to Pearse DART Station). It was our objective to be joyful missionaries and reach out to as many people as we could, and complete with our distinctive IEC2012 Volunteer jackets we were certainly a visible presence of the ‘Congress in the City’, attracting much attention on Westland Row and the nearby shopping and business district including Grafton Street where we also evangelised. Each day we had praise (morning prayer) on the steps of the Church from 8am, as missionaries engaged in street evangelisation and personal contact with the many people walking to work on the streets. There were lots of interesting conversations each day, many scripture verses & cathechises booklets handed out, and prayer intentions offered for the people we encountered. We encouraged people to enter the church for Mass, Eucharistic Adoration or a time of personal prayer daily through uplifting music and by sharing the joy of our faith. There was evening Vespers at the Church, while later in the evening there was a different daily programme each day focusing on a different theme – God’s love, reconcilation, the Holy Spirit & the new movements of the Church, Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Visits were made throughout the week to the local primary schools and some community initiatives/agencies of the Church.
Overall it was fantastic to be part of the Congress. We attended the Opening Mass at the RDS, the Eucharistic Procession and the Closing Mass at Croke Park as a group of missionaries and also got the opportunity to spend an afternoon at the talks, prayer, youth and exhibition spaces at the RDS. It was great to meet many old friends there as well as many new people as a positive, energetic and joyful atmosphere resonated throughout the arena – a real feeling of welcome which was fostered so greatly by the large number of staff and volunteers present who gave of their time so generously to ensure the Congress was such a great success. It was especially good for us as a group of young international missionaries to help bring the Congress to the City and encounter so many people on the streets of Dublin during the week, listening to their experiences and sharing the personal joy that we have experienced through living the Catholic faith in our own lives. It was great to see buzz that the Host Churches, Evangelisation and Pilgrim Walk created in the city centre. I was interviewed by Zenit after the Congress about my experience, the article can be read here. May the mission continue!
