MU Campaign against Gender Based Violence; New Prayer Ministers Commissioned; Fr Brian D’Arcy vows to leave the priesthood if Church tries to shut him up over new book; Singing Workshop; Household items needed – can you help?
MU Campaign against Gender Based Violence
The worldwide Mothers’ Union announces the launch of its 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence resources.
16 Days of Activism is a global campaign to raise international awareness of violence against women and girls (VAWG), held each year from 25th November to 10th December. It is an opportunity to show solidarity against gender-based violence; and provides a platform for individuals and organisations to highlight their work and speak out against VAWG.
This resource pack explains what 16 Days of Activism is about, how you can get involved and how Mothers’ Union is working to tackle violence against women and girls across the world. The resource pack has been devised for Mothers’ Union members but can be used more widely; and we would encourage you to involve as many people as possible. You can download the resource pack here
This is the first year that the Mothers’ Union has produced resources, so please do give them your feedback on how you have used them and how they can build upon them for next year.
You can find out more at the website for the 16 days campaign.
http://www.mothersunion.org/get-involved/campaign/16-days-activism-against-gender-violence
New Prayer Ministers Commissioned
Eight prayer ministers from Dublin and Glendalough were commissioned at the annual Diocesan Service of Wholeness and Healing which took place in Christ Church Cathedral on Sunday October 20.
Elizabeth Caird, Anne O’Regan, Stella Obe, Kelly Fogarty, Adele Sleator, Ernest Mackey, Brendan Sheehan and James Kilbey were commissioned by Archbishop Michael Jackson having completed the diocesan training course.
In commissioning the new prayer ministers, Archbishop Jackson urged the congregation to support and pray for those who had been called to the ministry. He added that they could give thanks for the variety of gifts and ministry being bestowed on the church.
The address was given by the Revd Daniel Nuzum, Chaplain at Cork University Hospital, who spoke about a friend, John, who was diagnosed with a brain tumour from which, following an operation and treatment, it became obvious he was not going to survive.
He said that people prayed, laid hands on him, anointed him and prayed for a miracle. “If ever there was an opportunity for God to make Godself known this was it. If ever there was a time to feel cheated, let down, disappointed abandoned this was it. I need to be honest with you and say that there days when I wondered where God was, and who was it that I believed in. I was privileged to accompany John throughout his illness and like Elijah I tried to find God in the dramatic, the earthquake moments of brain surgery or the noisy sound of radiotherapy and yet, like Elijah it was actually in the sheer rawness and stillness where we experienced God. There would be no dramatic miracle, there would be no Lazarus moment. So where were we to find healing or wholeness?” he said.
The preacher said that his friend exuded an extraordinary sense of peace, wholeness and inner calm that radiated from him to those who were close to him. “When John came to a place where he was at peace with how things were and that he would not recover from his tumour, there was an extraordinary sense of inner peace for him. He described it as a healing,” he said.
Mr Nuzum said that healing was about acknowledging and addressing anything that disrupts our sense of relationship with creation, with God, with ourselves and with one another.
However, he said that the other end of the spectrum of healing was and the church needed to proclaim that healing ministry was part of its core work. He added that the greatest challenge for our faith was being able to hold in the one hand the reality of disappointment and pain and yet our hope in God who knew every hair on our head.
“This is not a resignation or a giving up but rather it is finding an inner strength that proclaims that nothing is greater than who we are as created in God’s image. We may be frail, we may have physical, spiritual or emotional pain but nothing can diminish our core personhood. So when we pray today we are not trying to convince God to do anything but rather as Søren Kierkegaard puts it ‘The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays’,” he said.
The newly commissioned prayer ministers will work in their parishes and will participate in Services of Wholeness and Healing. Apart from services in various parishes, prayer teams minister in St Ann’s Church on Dawson Street, Dublin, on Tuesdays and in Christ Church Cathedral on Thursdays – both at 12.45 pm.
Fr Brian D’Arcy vows to leave the priesthood if Church tries to shut him up over new book
Outspoken priest Fr Brian D’Arcy has warned the Vatican he will quit the priesthood if his new book is censured.
The cleric was formally censured by the Catholic Church in 2010 because he had been critical of it.
And he was told by a senior member of the Church that he was a “source of great scandal”.
But in his new, ‘Brian D’Arcy’s Food for the Soul’, he defends his decision to speak out against the Church’s handling of clerical sex abuse.
He said: “I was absolutely correct to do so. I am survivor of clerical sex abuse myself.”
The broadcaster said he would leave the Church if they decided to censure him over his book.
He told the Irish Independent: “That would be it. The fact is, there is nothing in it that Pope Francis hasn’t said.
“I don’t believe there would be any grounds for censuring me again or any attempt to shut me up.
“Pope Francis knows there is too much power and wealth in the Vatican; he’s said all his life what I have said all of mine.”
The book will be released next month from Columba Press.
Singing Workshop
A Singing Workshop will be held on Saturday 16th November in Aghavea Parish Hall, Cloger Diocese.
The workshop is open to all who have an interest and enthusiasm for singing in worship. It will cover many aspects of choral singing and music in worship, including warm-ups, breathing exercises, hymn singing and lots of other useful singing tips and is open to anybody from across the diocese; you do not have to be part of a choir to take part. The workshop will be led by Nathan Barrett, Director of Music at Rossorry Parish and will run from 11am-4pm. A light lunch will be provided. The workshop is provided free of charge, all you need to bring is a pencil and a bottle of water plus your enthusiasm and a sense of humour. To reserve a place, please contact Nathan at rossorrymusic@outlook.com or (028) 66 320239 by Thursday 14th November.
Household items needed – can you help?
The Besom ministry at Willowfield Church has had a very high demand for requests for help recently. They do value people’s prayers and support as they seek to meet these requests.
Currently required: 2 fridges, 2 sofas (with fire tags), one double bed, 2 cookers and a washing machine. If you can help, please contact Richard Waller on 07906679789 or (028) 9045 0885
About Besom – Poverty, isolation, abuse, ill health, injustice, homelessness: we all see the sharp inequalities of life around us and the devastating impacts they have on people’s lives. Many of us want to do something, to get involved but we don’t always know how. The Besom exists to help you make a difference to the lives of others and to make it easy for you to do so.
The aim behind all Besoms is that everyone – whether you are three years old or over 80, whether working full–time or part–time, a student, a mum with toddlers, in between jobs or retired – can get involved. By giving your time, money, things or skills you can help those who are in real need and make a long term positive difference to their lives.