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"Mission Preaching" is one of the important pastoral ministries of the Redemptorists of the Dublin Province. It is based on the type of ministry begun by St. Alphonsus Liguori and the first members of the Congregation. It has now been redeveloped as a modern Catholic experience to meet the contemporary demand for a new evangelisation, a new spirituality.
The members of Mission Team North are:
Denis Luddy CSsR (Team Leader)
I joined the Redemptorists in 1982. I was 24 then and considered a “late vocation” since most of my classmates were school-leavers of 17 or 18. I was ordained in 1991 and have been giving parish missions for almost eighteen years now. I was based in Limerick in the 1990s from where half of my work consisted in giving Secondary School Retreats. I was assigned to the Dundalk Redemptorist Community in February 2000 and have been giving missions mostly in the north east of the country since then. At present I lead the mission team and organize parish missions and solemn novenas given from the Dundalk and Esker/Athenry Redemptorist s. Why do I give missions? Why go from place to place preaching the Word of God? For Redemptorists in Ireland this is surely our core ministry. We have a responsibility to the Church in Ireland to continue offering this form of renewal, parish and personal, on our island today. I am convinced that preaching parish missions is a worthwhile way of supporting and encouraging Irish Catholics in living the Christian life in this new century.
Contact Information: Phone: +353 42 933 4042 Email: Denis Luddy CSsR
Kevin Browne CSsR
I was ordained in 1974 and spent the next eight years on the Redemptorist School Retreat Team, which was dedicated to you ministry in the 1970s and 1980s. This was followed by one year in (the now-closed) Saint Clement’s Retreat House in Belfast and then ten years preaching parish missions between Limerick, Dublin and Dundalk. After that I spent six years working in Clonard church (Belfast). Then I had a sabbatical year and a year working with asylum seekers in Limerick. For four years I worked in a parish in Lagos (Nigeria) and in the Redemptorist seminary there. On returning to Ireland I worked in the Esker Retreat House for three years and since September 2008 I am back preaching parish missions, based in Clonard Redemptorist Community. In proclaiming the Gospel on parish missions, I have the opportunity to tell God's People of God's invitation to us to share in his life which is given and achieved in Jesus. This is of the utmost importance because it gives purpose and meaning to life and is, in my view, the goal of the human project. Parish missions also bring a renewal of belief in God's love for us all and they are an instrument to bring joy to people. They are also an encouragement to people to be involved in the building of a faith community in their own areas which is essentially what Jesus meant by the ”Kingdom of God.”
Contact Information: Phone: +44 28 9044 5950 Email: Kevin Browne CSsR
Tony Flannery CSsR (Contact for Western Missions)
I was born in 1947, am a native of Attymon, Co. Galway and the youngest of four in my family. I have spent thirty-five years preaching missions, retreats and novenas all over the country. I believe that Ireland today is more in need of hearing the Word than at any time in my working life. For many years we bought into the fallacy of consumerism, and at some level all of us believed that we could buy happiness and a meaning to our lives. Now, with the dramatic collapse, we are left floundering, but also more open to hearing an alternative message than before. So there is a fertile field now. The time is right for preaching the Kingdom of God. I write books and articles. I am probably best known for The Death of Religious Life? and From the Inside. My latest book, Fragments of Reality, is selling well. I also write a regular column for Reality magazine, and occasionally for other publications. I am a member of the Esker Redemptorist Community and the team's contact person for Parish Missions and Solemn Novenas in the west of Ireland.
Contact Information: Phone: +353 91 844 007 Mobile: +353 87 681 4699 Email: Tony Flannery CSsR
Brendan Keane CSsR
I was ordained a Redemptorist priest in July 1972. In the past thirty-seven years I have worked as a parish missioner, given retreats in our retreat houses in Belfast and Esker (Athenry) and have been on the church ministry teams in our houses in Belfast (Clonard) and Limerick. I have also worked in various other ministries with married and engaged couples; on programmes for the bereaved and for people with addiction. I have also given retreats for religions and priests. At present, I am a member of the Clonard Redemptorist Community and I work both on the mission team and in the church ministry. I also work in the other ministries mentioned above. Over the years, I have gradually deepened in awareness that the Word of God tells people at the deepest level who they are. It reminds them of their potential for goodness and influencing others and helps them leave the wounds of sin, hurt, and all that’s negative behind and face the present and future with solid confidence. The Word of God makes people aware that God is with them in times of suffering, failure and pain, and that through suffering they can grow, change, and come to new life. The Word of God also helps people face the reality of death and breaks down barriers between peoples, races, and nations. I am also very convinced of two other things. First, that people can love God and let God’s love shine through them by being themselves and doing very ordinary things. Second, that people show God’s word of forgiveness, kindness, intimacy, justice, peace, and truth, more than they think. The word of God is within them and their experience.
Contact Information: Phone: +44 28 9044 5950 Email: Brendan Keane CSsR
Brian Nolan CSsR
Since making first vows in 2004 I spent two years studying Theology and Cultural Studies at the Milltown Institute for Theology and Philosophy. That was followed by two years of mission experience. During those two years I lived and worked in Clonard Monastery in Belfast. It was a time where I experienced first-hand the work of a Redemptorist parish missioner. I was also involved with the Clonard youth ministry team. This involved giving retreats to secondary school children from schools all over the North of Ireland. To be a preacher of the word in the Ireland of today is both rewarding and challenging. To have the opportunity of preaching the gospel to people from so many different circumstances and situations is a huge privilege. The message that we find in the Gospels is a challenging and to get up and preach that message is not always easy. To be a preacher today takes courage, courage to accept the challenges of the Gospels and courage to try and help those who listen to accept the same challenges in their own lives. I was ordained deacon on 30 May 2009 and in September 2009 I was appointed to the Dundalk / Esker Mission Team. I was ordained a priest in December 2009. I am a member of the Cherry Orchard Redemptorist Community in west Dublin.
Contact Information: Phone: + 353 1 626 7930 Email: Brian Nolan CSsR
Tony Rice CSsR
I was born in 1978 in Belfast and finished school in 1997. After that I worked at different jobs for a few years before joining the Redemptorists in 2001, following a long period of discernment. I first professed vows as a Redemptorist in August 2004, and I was ordained priest in December 2009. Moving to Dublin was an eye-opener – giving me a broader worldview from that which I had been used to. My formation and training as a Redemptorist has given me opportunities and experiences, in Ireland and beyond, that have greatly shaped me. I have lived and studied with people of vastly different backgrounds, journeys, gifts and theologies! Great learning has come in the guise of such a challenge. Since 2001, I have lived in Dublin (five years), Dundalk (one year) and Cork (two years). In September 2009 I took up my appointment as a member of the Dundalk Redemptorist Community. My primary ministries entail being a member of the Dundalk/Esker Mission Team and as a Director of Vocations. Both will require me to listen deeply, dialogue openly, share my faith readily and pray wholeheartedly. Perhaps my motto shall be; “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight” (Proverbs 3:5).
Contact Information: Phone: +353 42 933 4042 Email: Tony Rice CSsR also Redemptorist Vocations
The members of MissionTeam South are
Tadhg Herbert CSsR (Team Leader)
I come from the hurling stronghold of Ahane in County Limerick. I was ordained in 1988 and spent the most part of the past twenty years working on the Redemptorist mission in the North East of Brazil. I returned to Ireland in 2008 and now work with the Limerick/Cork-based mission team as a member of the Mount Saint Alphonsus Redemptorist Community. I find parish missions in Ireland both exciting and challenging. They are challenging because you can never take for granted that people will be interested in taking part in a parish mission unless the message is presented in an exciting and attractive way and unless there is quite a lot of preparation done beforehand in the parish. It's exciting because, even though the church is in crisis, there are signs of renewal in a number of parishes, especially where the laity has become more active in ministry. I believe that parish missions can be very effective in the renewal of people's faith and in strengthening community.
Contact Information: Phone: +353 61 315 099 Email: Tadhg Herbert CSsR
My name is Seán Duggan. I was born in 1979 and am from Galway. Before I joined the Redemptorists I studied law at NUI, Galway. During that time I also worked and studied in Paris and worked on a voluntary basis in Haiti. I have a wide range of interests, which includes playing music. The period of formal training as a Redemptorist included academic study, various ministry experiences and two years of parish missions. I made my life commitment as a Redemptorist on the feast of St. Clement (a Redemptorist saint) 15 March, 2009. I have recently moved to Limerick City and am a member of the Mount Saint Alphonsus Redemptorist Community. I was ordained a priest on 06 December 2009. My main ministry is parish missions. An essential part of any parish mission is the preached Word. As preachers of the Gospel, we have a life-giving message to proclaim (John 10:10). This message of life is at the core of the Gospel and of our preaching. It touches every possible life situation there is and echoes in the hearts of people I meet all over the country through parish missions. Striving to hold Christ at the centre of our lives, Redemptorists invite those we meet to share more fully in the life God has given to each of us.
Contact Information: Phone: +353 61 315 099
John P. O'Riordan CSsR
I was ordained in our (now-closed) seminary Cluain Mhuire, Galway in 1960. I then worked in the (former) retreat house in Limerick in the 1960s. I was also Director of Archconfraternity in Mount Saint Alphonsus in the late 1960s and early 1970s. I then worked as chaplain in Saint Clement’s Redemptorist College from the mid1970s to the early 1980s. The period 1982-1990 saw me as Rector and parish missioner in Dundalk. I 1990 I went to Nigeria and worked as a missionary there until 1996. I had the opportunity for a sabbatical in Jerusalem in 1997 and since then I have preached parish missions, based mainly the Mount Saint Alphonsus Redemptorist Community. As a preacher of the Word in the Ireland today, I have been given an opportunity by God to help people to rediscover who they are, where they are going in life, what their deepest and most urgent needs are. Above all I can help people to rediscover the One who can show them the way, tell them the truth, and help them to live a fully human life. That One, in whom we find plentiful redemption, is our Redeemer Jesus Christ. There is truly a great hunger for Jesus’ Good News in the modern Ireland.
Contact Information: Phone: +353 61 315 099 Email: John P. O'Riordan CSsR
John Hanna CSsR
I worked in the Philippines for my first eleven years as priest. Those were formative years for me as a priest.I will always be grateful to God that I had the opportunity to work among those wonderful people. I have been giving missions, solemn novenas and retreats in Ireland since 1975. I am now a member of the Mount Saint Alphonsus Redemptorist Community. I love the work, though it can be demanding. Whatever gifts I have, I believe that I can use them best in giving missions. I get to know the country and to meet so many people in all kinds of different situations. It is wonderful too be able to see people celebrating their faith with joy, people being reconciled and finding peace in their lives. On missions so many people discover the wonder of who they are; the spirit of the community is experienced and celebrated. I think it is an extraordinary privilege to be a preacher in Ireland today. I know there is a great hunger in people in Ireland today. Modern people need to hear authentic voices proclaiming the Word of God. As a Redemptorist preacher I have to be a witness to the presence of Christ in my own life. I try to live in my own life what I preach to others, otherwise the Word of God will not be heard. I also strive to have a heart that is focused on people and to be a man of faithful daily prayer.
Contact Information: Phone: +353 61 315 099 Email: John Hanna CSsR
Derek Meskell CSsR
I was born in Limerick and at 19 joined the Redemptorists in Galway. After a couple of years there, I left for India where I continued my studies and was ordained in 1966. Nearly ten years later I returned to Ireland. Apart from two years in Nigeria in the 1990s, I have been working in Ireland, spending nine years in Galway (Athenry) and seven years in Dublin (Marianella). For the past fourteen years I have been attached to our community in Cork (Scala Redemptorist Community). Our foundation in Cork was opened in 1988 with the express purpose of developing collaborative ministry and of working with young people. These years have been truly an enriching experience on all levels of community and work. Most of my assignment in Ireland has been working on parish missions and some solemn novenas. It is a work that I value greatly and feel privileged in doing. The mission weeks are graced as they offer an opportunity for the goodness in people to find expression in faith, acceptance and renewed friendship. Evermore nowadays, the mission event becomes an occasion when parish groups and councils are recognised, accepted and encouraged as they become more and more involved in their parish life. In the middle of the winter times of our lives and the life of the country, events like missions and solemn novenas bring a bit spring, a bit of good news, perhaps a lot of good news.
Contact Information: Phone: +353 21 435 8800 Email: Derek Meskell CSsR
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