The New Heart New Spirit logo takes its inspiration from the Last Supper story in John 13, where Jesus washes the feet of his disciples before his Passion, as a farewell image of the whole thrust of his life and ministry. He asks if they have understood the meaning of what he has done so unexpectedly, and insists that his action is an example for them to follow: if I, whom you call Lord and Master, have washed your feet, surely you should wash one another’s feet.

The New Heart New Spirit programme is offered in a spirit of service by disciples to fellow disciples. It hopes to create opportunities where those who follow the way of Jesus together may come to understand more deeply their Master’s teaching, the example of his actions so often filled with inexhaustible meaning, and the implications of discipleship for their daily living.

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Iontas Centre, Castleblayney

16 May 2011

My dear friends,

I have been busy on the confirmation round for the past few weeks.  This morning I woke early.  No confirmation ceremony today.  That’s a relief! Then I remembered.  La’s group, New Heart, New Spirit!  A Mass to be celebrated and some words of reflection to be put together.  I said a prayer for the group and another for myself, still between the sheets.  You’ve probably got the picture – some people do live dull lives!

I tried to imagine the group before leaving the bed, and a picture came into my mind – the two disciples on the way to Emmaus; which led me to thinking of Mary and Jim.  They celebrated six years of happy marriage recently and have two children.  At the celebration, Jim had a few words with Jack, an old friend who was his best man at the wedding.

As they exchanged news, and got deeper into the bottle, Jim told Jack how he had loved Mary from the first moment he set eyes on her.  Jack, still sober, reminded Jack that it was he who had introduced them “you heard her talking at a party, and when she rabbited on, you told me whoever took her would be marrying a mobile Oxford English dictionary, and not the concise one at that”.  Jack remembered the event as it was, Jim remembered it as something more.  He takes his new knowledge and love back in time and invests the past with a new significance.  Often the meaning of an experience may be unclear at the time.  We may have to wait a long time for meaning and only then understand.

Over the past two years, you have been on a journey together.  Where the journey began will differ from one to another.  It may have been a tragic event, it could have been curiosity, it might have been a search for meaning and love, it may have been an anonymous star that led you to the Presbyterian Hall in Smithboro.

Whether your journey began in hope or despair, you will undoubtedly have found that someone walked with you all the way in different guises, offering you the Word of God and His Grace, sharing with you his knowledge and his love.  He will have invited you to look at the past again and to make better sense of it in a new light.  Now, even suffering and death may be seen as the achievement and success of a mission, rather than the collapse of one.

The one who walked with you will have helped you by his knowledge and love to give a new significance to the past and now you will recognise him in the breaking of bread.  Not only will you recognise him, the whole group, graced by the love and understanding of God, will relate to each other in a redeemed way.  The branches are more firmly attached to the vine, the arteries are repentantly unblocked, eyes have new vision and the spirit hones the body parts into a comfortable co-operative hum.

The Lord has given you a new future.  The light of Easter Sunday scatters the darkness of Good Friday.  The past is now interpreted in the light of the great truth that Jesus is risen and is Lord.  As we look to the sky the earth is strangely a little firmer beneath our feet.  We have a lot to be grateful for from the self-giving of Jesus in the Eucharist to the support and affection of those around us.  May our journey always be graced with the presence of God to us and may we always recognise him and be nourished in the breaking of bread.

+Liam S. MacDaid

Bishop of Clogher

16 May 2011

Easter 2008

Group Photograph 2009

Launching Anew 2009

New Heart New Spirit regularly seeks feedback from participants with a view to adapting the programme the better to meet their learning needs as adults.  At the end of the recent two-year run in the Íontas Centre in Castleblayney, here (unedited) is what participants wrote in response to the question:

What has the experience been like for you? How did it go?

• It has been most enriching, it opened my heart to all kinds of ways to pray, to meditate, to see God in all things and all people, to appreciate myself and family and all others, to love more and trust more in our loving God.

• I enjoyed the friendship among the facilitators and the group. Everyone felt completely at ease and discussed issues without any inhibitions
• I felt it was good to discuss with others about the Faith (in the groups). The talks were very informative – and we also met a lot of people and made new friends. It makes you more aware of how you can help people generally.
• It has been very enriching. It was great to be in contact with people of like mind. I found that people whom I shared with were very understanding, in particular Theological Reflection.
• I feel my prayer life has improved. That was due to the lovely evenings we had with Maeve Campbell on praying with scripture.
• For the first time in my life I realised that the Bible is, in fact, a Story Book. I now look at the Scripture quite a bit differently. I found the theological Reflection a very pleasant experience.
• It has been a spiritual journey, where I made a lot of new friends in the groups. I didn’t enjoy the groups at the start. I felt I didn’t know enough about the different topics, but as time went on I got more confidence and I learned from others’ experiences.
• It was a truly wonderful, challenging and enriching experience. The variety of speakers and topics were always interesting and it broadened my perspective. A wonderful trusting and comfortable space evolved.
• The whole 2 years has been a rollercoaster of emotions, a learning journey in which I fully participated in and although wary in the beginning I wanted to go every week and hated missing any night and often didn’t want a night to end. Some classes need more nights.
• It has far exceeded my expectations. I have really enjoyed it. It has been thought-provoking and made me think and reflect more about my faith.
• V enriching in personal and social development as well as of course spiritual and understanding of the scriptures -
• Generally it went very well with one or two exceptions
• On a scale of 1-10 I would say 6. About 30% was over my head.
• I enjoyed – liked the talks. They were very good.
• It has been a very enlightening experience. At first I was somewhat disappointed in how it was going and I thought I wasn’t getting a lot from the course, but I hung in there and it all fell into place the second year.
• Went well, Enjoyed coming to New Heart New Spirit. Made me think deeper on what it is to be “Christian”.
• It has been a very rewarding and nourishing soul-searching journey. It gave me more self-confidence and I learned to be more open in sharing.
• It was very interesting with lots of great speakers
• Very good. Learned a lot about a loving God. Made good friends.
• I have enjoyed the friendships I have made, and now know everyone has dreadful things happen at some time. It put my experiences into context.
• Have found the time on New Heart New Spirit enriching and rewarding, also challenging – Never had an evening that I didn’t want to come, and always left feeling positive. Very much enjoyed the interaction within the groups.
• “FANTASTIC”. I can say it made me more aware of my faith and that I am very much part of the Church.
• Brilliant – It went great. I’ve gained confidence and am more happy in myself. I’ve a bit of self-worth.
• A bit shaky at the beginning, but relaxed into it as time went on. I now look forward to each and every Thursday night.
• The experience has been re-invigorating for me in that I have gained an insight into various areas and still feel that I want to continue on this journey of learning.
• The course was a wonderful experience. I was surprised to discover the amount of new ideas put forward.
• Very enlightening and sometimes a challenge.
• I found it very fulfilling, relaxing and interesting. I looked forward to each week. As I got to know people in my sharing group I deeply valued uniqueness, difference, acceptance, trust and the value of each person’s contribution – Facilitation was excellent.
• Very warm – a great feeling of joy to meet, and share with others. Something I would like to do again in a couple of years.
• It has been beyond my wildest dreams. It has led me to places and introduced me to people who have opened my eyes and my heart and who have helped me to face challenges I could never have imagined.
• I have enjoyed the experience at many levels. Some input I found dead for me but I had many moments of experience of God alive and well. Also moments where my heart was smiling.
• I now know that the Holy Spirit is working within me and that it is me who ignores him. I am more content in my faith and have grown my faith through learning.
• A most enjoyable experience. The sharing experience for me was a wonderful openness of heart and mind that has stayed with me.
• It has been a really wonderful experience, thoroughly enjoyed most of the speakers. Some – maybe one night – went a little over my head. But the friendship & trust in groups was just so wonderful.
• Every week I look forward to Thursday night. The tremendous learning from the speakers. The very meaningful sharing and learnings from group reflection. A very enriching experience for me.
• It has been a great experience – really enjoyed most of what we did.
• Truly worthwhile!! I have enjoyed and treasured every part of the Course. It has deepened and nourished my relationship with God. I will try to use it as a stepping-stone to meeting God more deeply in my daily life.
• Good experience. It went well & was very interesting.
• It has been a rollercoaster! Hitting very great heights (joy) and depths (reflection). It’s nearly too early to evaluate the effect. Met great people – became very close – shared troubles and found a lot of support and peace.
• First Year – OK. 2^nd Year was fulfilling.
• Very good – a desire to deepen my understanding. How did it go – too quickly
• Enjoyed the experience & found it a worthwhile exercise
• Very interesting and challenging, helped to see new slants on modern living.

New Heart – New Spirit is a course for adult Christians which was offered for the first time in Clogher Diocese in 2003.  The course was developed by All Hallows College, Dublin, in 1985 in response to the needs expressed by many lay people for further faith development and for some skills training in the area of ministry in parishes.  Originally entitled ‘Preparing for Lay Ministry’, and later ‘Preparing for Ministries’, in All Hallows it is now known as the ‘Pathways’ Programme.  Over 1500 people have participated in the programme over the years, and the content has been reviewed and updated on a continual basis.

In 2002 an approach was made to All Hallows College concerning the possibility of providing an outreach of this programme to Clogher Diocese.  The coordinator suggested that a group from Clogher ‘come and see’ with a view to setting up the course locally. Preparations for setting up a parallel programme in Monaghan were begun in January 2003.  The programme has since completed four runs in Clogher Diocese: 2003/2005 – Monaghan, 2005/2007 – Tempo,  2007/2009 Castleblayney and Irvinestown.  174 participants have graduated to date. It is now launching again (September 2009) in Trillick, Co Tyrone and in Smithborough, Co Monaghan.

Why the change of name?  The 2002 title ‘Preparing for Ministries’ was felt to imply that this was a course which offered training for particular forms of ministry in the Church.  While the programme certainly helps participants to identify needs at local level and prepares them to work in their parishes as part of a collaborative team, it does not provide specific training for individual forms of ministry.  The All Hallows Team encouraged us to choose our own title – related to the purpose of the course. 

The title ‘New Heart – New Spirit’ is drawn from the prophet Ezekiel (36:26): “I shall give you a new heart, and put a new spirit in you”.  This was the promise of Yahweh to a people who were disheartened and disillusioned, who had been let down by their leaders and exiled from their homeland.  Our Church is today facing many difficult challenges, and some of us may have become confused or disillusioned.  ‘New Heart – New Spirit’ is designed primarily to encourage and renew us in our faith and to help us participate more fully in the life of the Church. For many that may lead to ministry in their parishes or communities.  For all we hope it will provide personal enrichment and new insights into whatever work they are already involved in.

Act justly, love tenderly, walk humbly with your God (Micah 6:8)
In communion with our All Hallows colleagues we draw from the prophet Micah our prayer for all who participate in our programme – that during our time together we will come to act a little more justly, to love a little more tenderly and to walk a little more humbly with our God. We hope that we may hear God call us by name, come to know how special and beloved we really are and develop a renewed sense of our unique part in making the Kingdom of God a reality in our place at this time.

The members of the New Heart – New Spirit teams in Clogher Diocese wish to thank the All Hallows College ‘Pathways’ Team for their encouragement and assistance to us over these several years.