Greetings from Ireland, on the first weekend in October 2018 the National Cell Seminar was held in Westcourt, Callan, Co. Kilkenny. The planning for this Seminar started last January when we had decided to have a residential retreat for our Cells in the Diocese of Ossory where we have 10 Cells. In late February we were asked to host the National Cell Seminar in Ireland and when we were deciding to do this the founder member of the Cells in Ossory Fr. Joe Delaney died. Unanimously we decided to do the Seminar in memory of him.
After a time of prayer and discernment we started planning for October. We decided to ask Fr. Paul Feneck to be our guest speaker, but we wanted him to come a few days earlier so we could still have our retreat. All this proved to be a blessing to everyone, especially the team involved. Fifty days out from the Seminar, forty people started praying for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit and they were also reflecting daily on the Acts of the Apostles and the movement of the Spirit in the early church. One hundred and three people attended the Seminar from all the Cell Communities around Ireland, along with some new people looking at setting up a Cell in their area.
I asked some of the team what happened?
Deirdre “ there was a great sense of community”
Denis “laughter, food, friendship, encouragement, joy, positivity, optimism, huge boost for us, Holy Spirit “.
Kathleen “ the love and friendship that was evident during the weekend was very symbolic of the early church.
Flor “The Holy Spirit came in great power, unity, love and joy upon all who were there “.
Ann “There was joy, laughter, singing and praying. We need to keep on sowing the seed so there will be no room for the weeds. We received so much encouragement giving us the strength to move forward “.
Anne “We came to realise how important our Oikos list is, prayer, adoration, community. I want our Parish Cell System of Evangelization to grow. I want everyone to come and see”.
Mairin “Cell life is the way forward. By our baptism we are called to evangelization, the Cell community strengthens us to do this. We are called to be a leaven in our parish communities “.
Sharon “The Cells are more than a group of people, they are a safe haven of trust, honesty, support and freedom”.
We received some prophetic words a week before the seminar.
The Spirit of the Lord is upon you
because your God has annointed you
to preach the Gospel to the poor,
to set captives free,
to heal the brokenhearted,
to free the oppressed,
to restore sight to the blind,
to declare the year of favour of the Lord.
“Go, do not be afraid,
I am with you always” says the Lord.
In the two topics that were discussed at the Seminar
How can we, the laiety, in Ireland go forward today?
Where can we find hope and encouragement for the future?
Fr. Paul Fenech was the icing on the cake. He gave us hope and lots of encouragement on how to be a witness in Ireland today. He gave us belief in ourselves that each of us is a gift to our Parish, that what we have as Cell people is unique and we need to continue to sow the seed of faith by which our Parishes can fulfill it's calling of being Missionary Disciples today.
Michael Byrne
