IEC2012: Congress builds in Ireland’s parishes

“To be honest, two years ago when we were starting out on this journey we couldn’t have imagined the effect that the Pastoral Program would have had in parishes”, says Colette Furlong, Pastoral Services Manager for the 50^th International Eucharistic Congress. Listen to Emer McCarthy’s full interview with Colette Furlong:

“We started off with a bit of intrepidation, we were in a very particular phase in the history of the Church in Ireland and there wasn’t much of an appetite for even talk about the Church”, confides Furlong, who is in charge of supporting the development and implementation of the pastoral programme nationwide in the lead up to the June 10-17 appointment in Dublin. “Two years later, we have been left speechless, this is the best timing ever for a Eucharistic Congress in our country”.

The Pastoral Preparation Programme began in 2010 and was presented as an itinerary for the journey towards the great gathering for the Eucharistic Congress. Organisers mapped this journey out in four stages, each reflecting on an aspect of the celebration of the Eucharist and the lifestyle it inspires, in the light of the overall Congress theme - The Eucharist: Communion with Christ and with one another.

Beginning in 2010, parishes throughout the nation’s 26 diocese have already completed three stages of preparation for Congress. The first stage Christ gathers us a Eucharistic Community, focused on the Introductory Rite; the second, Christ gathers us to listen, to hear, to be nourished and to be formed into community by God’s Word focused on the how the Liturgy of the Word nourishes our Communion; stage three, Christ gathers us to be nourished by the Bread of Life reflects on the Liturgy of the Eucharist and the fourth stage, “Christ gathers and strengthens us for Mission by the Word and the Bread of Life.”

“The fourth stage mirrors the very first stage to a degree which was about gathering for the Eucharist and who are we when we gather”, says Furlong. “It picks that question up again and asks well, who are we when we leave at the end of the gathering when we are sent out to glorify the Lord with our lives”.

Each stage also corresponds to one of the rites of the celebration of Eucharist and what’s more, each stage is symbolized by a specially created icon, crafted by Irish Iconographers which have accompanied the Congress Bell the length and breath of the island and even to Rome, where they were presented to Pope Benedict XVI.

For the first stage, the Icon of Our Lady of Refuge and St. John the Evangelist is based on a 14th Century icon from the Poganovo Monastery. It evokes the text of John 19:26-27, and the formation of the Church at the foot of the Cross.

For the second stage, which focuses on the Liturgy of the Word, the icon of Christ Pantocrator based on an icon found in the Iviron Monastery on Mount Athos in the 16th Century. It depicts Christ holding the open Gospel in His left hand and blessing us with His right hand.

The third stage, which focuses on the Eucharist, is represented by The Icon of Elijah and the Raven is in the Byzantine Museum in Athens and dates from the 17th Century. IEC organisers explain that the reason this image was chosen (which pre-figures the Eucharist) is because Elijah is a strong prophet, but we meet him here at his most vulnerable. He has begun to realise that his own spiritual energy is not enough to sustain Him. “To that extent, he may capture quite well the 21st century experience of a Church in need of new energy; energy which only God can provide”.

The fourth and final stage is The Pentecost Icon from Staronikita Monastery, Mount Athos and presents the classic group of the early Christian community. Christ holds out to the Apostles the scrolls with the Good News, symbolic of the mission which flows from the Paschal Mystery.

“This is a mirror of our own being sent on mission from the Upper Room, from the Eucharist, confident that the Holy Spirit is guiding us”, continues Furlong. “On a practical level we are launching the Inclusive Parish Project. Remembering that the theme is always Communion, with Christ and with one another, this means that we must try to draw the people who are on the margins towards us and through us towards Christ. Those of us who have been present at the celebration at the Eucharist, how do we transfer that experience of community into our community? So the challenge is to look around and see who are the people in our parish on a very practical and honest level, who are on the margins and make them - the people on the margins - the centre of our parish. Theology is beautiful, but unless its informing parish policy, then its not useful. Its all about people, there is always more that we can be doing. We are still only scratching the surface”.