Mission in Dublin

Just before we were to leave for two weeks of mission in Dublin, I spoke with the person in charge of the Emmanuel Community in Ireland (Linda). We both said, "What were we thinking?!? Planning two parish missions in a row!" Anyway, we did it and we survived.

We left for Dublin on Saturday 2nd June and went straight to the parish of St Martin de Porres in the suburb of Tallaght. We each stayed with local families and were given a very warm welcome. We stayed for one week during which time we spoke with the people on the streets, in schools, in the shops, at home, in the church, and of course in the pub. Most of the time it was cold and rainy but we had two good 'summery' days.

 Obviously the schedule was very gruelling for the ESM students

A condition of us doing two missions in a row was that we have a day off in between. A coach took us to Glendalough which is about an hour and a half out of Dublin. It rained all day but that didn't spoil our fun. We were happy to be out in nature and to be able to run and play like kids. It was so much fun.

Some dear little dear

After one week in Tallaght we moved to the city centre for a parish mission at St Andrews in Westland Row. This was our main reason for coming to Dublin. The priest who was in charge of the 50th International Eucharistic Congress had requested that we come. We had been planning this for a couple of years. It was a wonderful to be on mission during an event like the Congress. After so much bad publicity for the Church (due to the scandals of some bad individuals) the people of Ireland were able to see the Church in a new light - young, vibrant, healthy, good, true, beautiful....etc.

We spent a lot of time singing hymns in front of the church and speaking with people. We invited them to come and pray or to merely accept a small gift - a piece of paper with some words from God. On the most part, it was very well received.

Street evangelisation

We were kept very busy during the week. Apart from attending some of the Congress, we visited schools, shopping centres, and organised events in the church. We also bumped into some old friends..

 Fr Fred and Hele

 Fr Aurelio (in the Eucharistic Procession)

My Kev, Hele and Kevin McNena (who did the ESM with me ten years ago) 

The ESM students stayed in a nearby youth hostel. The Team stayed in a distant hotel. It was great popping into the bar dwonstairs on some nights. We were pleasantly surprised to find out that it was karaoke night one night. Kev, Fr Benoit and Eliane blessed us with their musical abilities!

We got to speak to lots of people who were also staying at the hotel. I spoke with a lovely couple who had experienced a lot of suffering in their lives. We prayed for them together (while Kev was organising his first song).

Kev and Fr Benoit singing 'Morning Has Broken' 

 Eliane, Theresa, Fr Benoit, Hele and Kev

We all went to the Closing Mass of the Congress on the last day. The numbers for the Opening Mass were a little disappointing (12 000 people). There were 78 000 at the Closing Mass. It was amazing. Before the Mass started there was some music. I was so happy to hear 'The Priests' sing. They are great. After the Mass there was a screening of a speech from the Holy Father. It received a standing ovation.

 Cris, Anna, Kev and Hele (wearing our beautiful Congress volunteer t-shirts)

 Members of the Emmanuel Community in Ireland

After the Closing Mass we went back to the parish for dinner and to pack things away. Then a few of us went to the pub to celebrate the fact that we were still standing...by sitting down to drink our guiness.

Anne Schneibers, Hele, Kev (and Anne's friend)

We went back to Rome on Monday 18th June - the school year is coming to an end........

Catch up time

I will do a short blog post to summarise the events of May...

We spent a lovely afternoon catching up with some quality Aussies. We saw Fr Withoos, and Matt and Julie MacDonald and their five gorgeous kids.  When the kids told us that we would be having three gelati, I thought they meant that we would have three flavours. But it was actually gelati from three of the best places in Rome. It was in fact, a gelati crawl. Kev and I didn't have the endurance of the others, and only made it to two of the places.

Gelateria della Palma

Giolitti

The following weekend, Kev and I were invited to a surprise party for Cardinal Pell to celebrate 25 years as a bishop.  The party took place on the rooftop of Domus Australia. It was a lovely evening.

The cardinal was genuinely suprised to see us all there. Kev and I were also surprised to see that we were the only laity - and I was the only woman. Luckily I was wearing a black dress with a white scarf so I fit right in. Kev on the other hand, was wearing a blue jumper and shirt - he was soooo out of place. I was embarrassed for him!

We had a 'simple' BBQ (as simple as you can have at such a fancy-shmancy place). Kev struggled with the tomato sauce and sprayed it all over my dress and the floor.  Overall, our presence was very discreet.

Cardinal Pell with his tiramisu cake

Fr Withoos and Kev

The following weekend we caught up with Fr Robbie who was my parish priest in Sydney. He has been in Rome for longer than us, but we had never managed to catch up. So we went to his place (one of the American residences) for Mass and a lovely lunch.

Later in the week, Cardinal Pell came to the ESM for dinner. He has often done this in past years. After dinner we moved to the lounge area and had a Question and Answer session with the Cardinal. The students were able to ask him any questions they liked.  It was a really great evening.

It was a good month for Aussie -catch-ups!