Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Lay mission returns to Belfast church

A lay mission that lapsed eight years ago has been revived this week in a Belfast church.

The Lay Passionist Mission in the Passionist Holy Cross Church ran for six days and consisted of six hour-long services led by lay people, many of whom recount difficult periods they have experienced in their lives.

This time, parish priest Fr Gary Donegan, c.p. said, the speakers were people, “who came from many different backgrounds; who have fallen away from faith; and people who may have been anti- Church but through difficult or challenging times they found their way back to faith and want to share it.”

He said that since the Holy Cross Church last hosted a lay mission in 2003, the scandals had hit the Church and there had been a fall in the number of Massgoers.

The lay missions offered the chance for people to return to the Church in a different environment.  

“Eight years have seen any challenges including a fall in the number of people practising their faith and the Mission was an opportunity to revisit their own faith,” said Fr Donegan.

The Mission’s open door policy meant that someone who had not been to Church in a while was “offered the same welcome as someone who comes every week,” he added.

The event is intended to tie in with plans to set up a lay pastoral council in the Holy Cross parish.  “It is about giving the laity a real influence in the Church, not just a nod on the head,” said Fr Donegan.

“When you consider the small percentage the clerics make, the Church really is the people of God.”

One of the speakers at the mission was Bernie Montgomery, who founded the charity Cancer Lifeline after recovering from the illness herself.  

Fr Donegan said that when she was ill with a 16% chance of surviving, she felt “isolated and with no-one to talk to and the support she has given cancer sufferers is an inspiration” to the attendance at the Mission.