THE
P RTAL
August 2015
Page 22
Proclaim 15 –
to Build Missionary Parishes
Jackie Ottaway and Ronald Crane reflect
on this national evangelistic initiative
P
revious experience for both of us involves Evangelism;
the spreading of the Word, bringing others to know Our Lord
within His Church. Not for us the common tendency to separate Jesus
from His Church. The Catholic Faith is about communion, and as such,
has more in common with team games than it does with individual
sports. So when we heard about Proclaim 15 we were interested.
Held in mid-July, in Birmingham, Proclaim 15 was a
whole day event to promote the building of missionary
parishes. The event was professionally organised and
had some keynote speeches, a few interviews and quite
a lot of workshops. Unfortunately, we were unable to
choose which workshop to attend and had to go to
those chosen for us.
Seven hundred lay Catholics and about one hundred
clergy packed the Birmingham Repertory Theatre.
Not all of the day was to our taste. Perhaps everyone
thought that.
straightforward: ‘How is the Church measuring up to
the Master’s command: Go, therefore to all nations.
Baptise them in the name of the Father and of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit and teach them to observe all
the commands I gave you (Mt 28.19)?’” He went on to
quote Pope Saint John XXIII, “In order to respond to
the Saviour’s command the whole Church must be put
on a missionary footing!”
He unpacked his message of mission with reference
to our Baptism, begun with prayer and grounded in
the Church as a communion. He carefully avoided
the temptation to separate Jesus from His Church.
Archbishop Bernard Longley gave the, excellent, He recommended Mother’s Prayers for our attention:
opening keynote address. He set the tone for the day www.mothersprayers.org.
and directed us to Blessed John Henry Newman,
of whom Birmingham is rightly proud, and closed
The Cardinal suggested three “Cs”: Colleagues who
by pointing us in the direction of Blessed Dominic have lost their way: These can be fellow Catholics
Barberi.
who are resting: all those who cross the threshold of
the church just every now and then. They have heard
Michelle Moran of the Sion Community had the of Jesus; they have some of the words; they have a
pre-lunch spot. She knew her audience and had them familiarity, of sorts, with the Church. Can we lead
in the palm of her hand. Her task was to interview Mgr them, step by step, to know Jesus more clearly?
Vladimir Felzmann, the Catholic Chaplain for sport in
the Diocese of Westminster. Fr Vlad, as we were told
Then the curious. “I was asked some time ago why all
to call him, was inspirational. He encourages parishes the cars were parked up every Sunday morning. ‘Is it a
to form sports clubs for boys and girls. Football, rugby, car-boot sale?’” Curiosity, even if tinged with hostility,
hockey, basketball; all sports are covered. As he said, can be a marvellous opportunity if we are open
“It is a case of mass followed by football! What is more, ourselves and remember that within that curiosity
it is not a labour laid upon the over-worked Parish may well lie the prompting of the Holy Spirit.
Priest.” Many Ordinariate Missions could do much
worse than contact him and follow his advice.
Finally “the most important of all: the cry of the
human heart; the cry of confusion, pain, hunger,
A Packed Lunch (always a priority with The Portal) loneliness, need, anger.”
was provided, after which we had another keynote
address, this time by Vincent, Cardinal Nichols. His
Bishop Alan Williams gave a very good workshop on
talk was magnificent.
prayer. We left feeling that the real testimony of the
day will be what actually happens in Catholic Parishes
He began, “The question before us today is and the Ordinariate Missions.
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