Eucharistic Congress Symposium
Eucharistic Congress Symposium in Manorhamilton
As part of the preparations for the International Eucharistic Congress 2012 in Dublin next June a very successful symposium was held in St. Clare’s Primary School, Manorhamilton on Thursday 17th November 2011. This was organised under the aegis of Cois Farraige Pastoral Area Team (P.A.T.), a body representative of the Catholic communities in four North Leitrim parishes. The format was an opening talk given by the renowned historian/theologian Fr. Liam Kelly P.P. Denn parish (Crosskeys) on the theme The Centrality of the Eucharist in Christian Life, followed by audience participation in the form of workshops. A very full attendance of approximately 65 people from all the North Leitrim area was present.
Fr. Liam gave a very entertaining, illuminating and educational opening talk, using projected screen images to illustrate his points, including one old photograph dated 1867 of an open air mass at Bunlin Bridge mass rock Donegal, and a painting by Aloysius Kelly of a station mass in Connemara in 1883. The theme of the International Eucharistic Congress is Communion with Christ and with one another. Fr. Liam said, quoting from Vatican ІІ, “The Eucharist is the source and summit of Christian life and it contains the Church’s entire spiritual wealth”. Communion, he said, means firstly a coming together and secondly a sharing i.e. loving and caring for one another especially the poor. The laity has an important part to play in the celebration of the Eucharist. They are not silent spectators but should be active participants.
Following the talk Fr. Liam prepared us for workshops. He projected an image first of the 1648 Rembrandt painting Christ and His disciples at Emmaus. This is based on the story in Luke’s gospel when, following the death of Jesus, two of His disciples were walking despondently from Jerusalem to the village of Emmaus. They were joined by a stranger who walked with them, joined in their conversation and explained to them the passages which referred to Christ in the Old Testament scriptures. Only when they came to Emmaus and sat down to eat did they recognise Him as Jesus.
The audience then broke into several workshops of six participants each. Each workshop was given a section of the Emmaus story to evaluate in the context of its time and how it is relevant to the modern Christian. Following this, a raconteur from each group was asked to summarise their workshop conclusions. This led to very active floor discussions by all participants. Fr. Liam summarised the discussions by saying that, as a church, we are at present downcast and despondent like the disciples on the road to Emmaus. What we need now, like the disciples, is the experience of the Risen Lord. By receiving the Eucharist we can be changed and transformed into a joyful people.
Fr. Liam concluded by again emphasising the role which the laity can play in the celebration of the Eucharist. We should be fully participative in the Eucharistic and put more work into reading and proclaiming clearly the scriptures at mass. We should consider Communion as being the presence of Jesus in three different elements: - the Word, which is the scriptures, the bread and wine which is the body of Christ and finally, the congregation present. We should consider the Eucharist to be a communion of and with the people. The challenge for us all is to walk the road unselfishly with other people as Jesus did.