Hello. Nicole from the parish team in Athenry here with you today. It's coming to the end of the semester and boy have we been busy lately. This last weekend we hosted our first overnight retreat in Connemara for the 3rd year through leaving cert. students. It was a small retreat with only 10 students joining us, but still it was overall a very enjoyable and relaxing weekend for everyone. While we did encounter a few minor obstacles during the retreat, it just made for an even greater adventure.
It all began on Friday night when we packed the teens into a bus and headed out down the winding roads of Ireland...destination Connemara. By the time we all had arrived at the retreat center it occured to us that none of the outlets were working, nor was the heat. Although this did prolong dinner a bit and created a problem with keeping some of the food cold, we perservered onward and later that evening thanks to the grace of God, the keeper of the center came to save the day. Through some magical powers, which I am still unaware of he managed to get both the heat and outlets working once again.
After getting through that little set of adventures, it was smooth sailing from there. Saturday was packed with various activities, small groups, and the showing of a Nooma video clip, which the really impacted the youth. The highlight of the day was definitely when Fr. Charlie joined us from Athenry, and the students had an opportunity to go to confession, as well as spend some time in adoration. It was a powerful evening and many students really entered into prayer.
Sunday morning was simply spent rushing around trying to get everything cleaned-up and to be out on time. The weekend may not have gone as smoothly as any one of us would have hoped. Yet, despite all of the obstacles everyone pulled together and seemed to really enjoy themselves. I guess God was just giving us an opportunity to grow in greater trust, and to show us all that He really does have everything under control.
So until next time, stay safe and have a Merry Christmas!
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
The joys of confirmation retreats & Lyons tea.
Greetings all! This is Kelsie of Team 1 writing to you from Rathmines, Dublin. We are finishing up our last week in the Dublin Archdiocese, which coincidentaly is also our last week of ministry before our December retreat and Christmas break.
In the past few weeks here in Dublin, our team has been doing lots of Confirmation retreats. Just today we had one as well. It has been great to get to reach the young people and to help them realize what being an adult in the church actually means. This past weekend we were at the enrollment mass for one class of candidates and then today we were able to have a retreat with them! Today, on the feast of the Immacuate Conception, we were even able to have Mass on our retreat. It was amazing to see the reverence the youth were able to conduct themselves with when just a short while before they were screaming and shouting along to the song we were singing. One thing is for sure, these young people are FULL of energy. They love running and they love shouting, most of them also love singing with us. If this is any reflection of what is to come for the Church, I'd say that we should get ready for it, cause it's gonna be massive! The joy that they have is really contagious and it really pumps our team up even at the end of a long day.
Since we've been staying so close to the city centre here in Dublin, on Saturday we had a day off and many of us were able to go in to the city centre to explore and, of course, go shopping. The city is all decorated for Christmas, and although it may be jumping the gun a bit as we are still in preparation mode during Advent, it looked beautiful with all the lights strung over the streets. We even got to hear Christmas carollers outside the GPO, which is the General Post Office for you non-Irish readers. It was a bit different for me since I am used to experiencing all this Christmasy scenerey with a steady falling of white snow, but a light drizzle of rain was the only contribution from the atmosphere. Meg, Tanya, and myself got quite lost on our way home and ended up in the nicest and most posh part of Dublin by accident. It was a nice surprise to get to experience the great architecture of the buildings there, and eventually with a little help we made our way back to our host home safely where a cup of tea was waiting for us.
Much of the team who is going back to North America for Christmas is also bringing along a great friend and contributor to our team: Lyons tea (gold blend). It is being debated whether or not this is for the benefit of our families, or merely because we are going to miss it ourselves. Personally, it is a bit of both for me. The way I see it is, Christmas is a season for sharing the joys of life. A good cup of Lyons tea (gold blend) can bring true joy, so by bringing it home I will be able to spread that joy to my family and experience the joy by having a cup or twenty with them.
As I mentioned earlier in this post, today is the feast of the Immaculate Conception. When we were back at training in Canada, each of the women chose a Marian title to take on for the year, and I was given Immaculate Conception. So I couldn't write this post without giving a shout out to Mother Mary. Today I was thinking a lot about Mary's obedience to God's will and how she conducted herself in such a docile and gentle way and how much we all need to imitate the virtues that Mary had. Good to know though, that Mamma Mary is always ready to pray for us as we strive to get closer to God's will.
Well I think that is all I have to contribute for now, so I hope you all are contiuing to stay warm and well and are getting ready for the birth of Christ in our hearts at Christmastime. Please pray for our team, especially this week as we will be traveling to our various homes around the world.
Slán leat!
Kelsie Grimes
Team 1
PS: The first photo is Sara & Matthew performing one of our funny skits for a group of young people, the second is some of the women of the team in St. Stephen's Green in Dublin, and the last is Laura & mysef enjoying a good cuppa Lyons.
In the past few weeks here in Dublin, our team has been doing lots of Confirmation retreats. Just today we had one as well. It has been great to get to reach the young people and to help them realize what being an adult in the church actually means. This past weekend we were at the enrollment mass for one class of candidates and then today we were able to have a retreat with them! Today, on the feast of the Immacuate Conception, we were even able to have Mass on our retreat. It was amazing to see the reverence the youth were able to conduct themselves with when just a short while before they were screaming and shouting along to the song we were singing. One thing is for sure, these young people are FULL of energy. They love running and they love shouting, most of them also love singing with us. If this is any reflection of what is to come for the Church, I'd say that we should get ready for it, cause it's gonna be massive! The joy that they have is really contagious and it really pumps our team up even at the end of a long day.
Since we've been staying so close to the city centre here in Dublin, on Saturday we had a day off and many of us were able to go in to the city centre to explore and, of course, go shopping. The city is all decorated for Christmas, and although it may be jumping the gun a bit as we are still in preparation mode during Advent, it looked beautiful with all the lights strung over the streets. We even got to hear Christmas carollers outside the GPO, which is the General Post Office for you non-Irish readers. It was a bit different for me since I am used to experiencing all this Christmasy scenerey with a steady falling of white snow, but a light drizzle of rain was the only contribution from the atmosphere. Meg, Tanya, and myself got quite lost on our way home and ended up in the nicest and most posh part of Dublin by accident. It was a nice surprise to get to experience the great architecture of the buildings there, and eventually with a little help we made our way back to our host home safely where a cup of tea was waiting for us.
Much of the team who is going back to North America for Christmas is also bringing along a great friend and contributor to our team: Lyons tea (gold blend). It is being debated whether or not this is for the benefit of our families, or merely because we are going to miss it ourselves. Personally, it is a bit of both for me. The way I see it is, Christmas is a season for sharing the joys of life. A good cup of Lyons tea (gold blend) can bring true joy, so by bringing it home I will be able to spread that joy to my family and experience the joy by having a cup or twenty with them.As I mentioned earlier in this post, today is the feast of the Immaculate Conception. When we were back at training in Canada, each of the women chose a Marian title to take on for the year, and I was given Immaculate Conception. So I couldn't write this post without giving a shout out to Mother Mary. Today I was thinking a lot about Mary's obedience to God's will and how she conducted herself in such a docile and gentle way and how much we all need to imitate the virtues that Mary had. Good to know though, that Mamma Mary is always ready to pray for us as we strive to get closer to God's will.
Well I think that is all I have to contribute for now, so I hope you all are contiuing to stay warm and well and are getting ready for the birth of Christ in our hearts at Christmastime. Please pray for our team, especially this week as we will be traveling to our various homes around the world.
Slán leat!
Kelsie Grimes
Team 1
PS: The first photo is Sara & Matthew performing one of our funny skits for a group of young people, the second is some of the women of the team in St. Stephen's Green in Dublin, and the last is Laura & mysef enjoying a good cuppa Lyons.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Ice skating; a traditional Irish sport?
Hello, This is Kelsie with your first update from NET Ireland Team 1. I hope you're all doing well in this first week of Advent. It's hard to believe that it's already December. These first few months have flown by. They say that time flies when you're having fun, and it must be true because our team is certainly enjoying the ministry and all that comes along with it.
This past weekend we had our first supervisor visit and we learned a lot about how we are already working well as a team, but more importantly about how we can work to become better and more effective instruments for God this year. As a fun surprise, Matt & Sheila brought us all to do a particularly Irish activity, ice skating in Dublin! Just kidding, it's not really Irish, but it was still fun. While skating is an activity that is well known and loved by most of the Canadian and American members of the team, for Ireland's Tanya it was a totally new experience. But I must say, she did very well and even skated a bit on her own towards the end of the night. Our whole team was in agreement that it was a good time even with the minor bumps and bruises sustained.
This week we've also been blessed to witness God teaching us through the young people we've met on retreat. Personally the eagerness toward prayer and Confession shown by one group of confirmation candidates reminded me that God us wants us all to have that same childlike faith and to turn to Him with absolutely no apprehension. Sometimes we go into retreats with the mindset that we are there to teach the young people, but the reality is that God can choose any person to teach us a lesson about Him!
The weather here has changed from wet to wetter & colder, but we haven't seen any snow yet. Honestly though that is fine with me, I know I'll get my fill of snow when I go home for Christmas. Speaking of Christmas, we go on break in just two weeks, however, until then I am completely in love with being here and serving God with our team!
Please continue to pray for us in our ministry!
God bless,
Kelsie Grimes
Team 1
Ps:Hopefully there will be pictures to go with this soon!
This past weekend we had our first supervisor visit and we learned a lot about how we are already working well as a team, but more importantly about how we can work to become better and more effective instruments for God this year. As a fun surprise, Matt & Sheila brought us all to do a particularly Irish activity, ice skating in Dublin! Just kidding, it's not really Irish, but it was still fun. While skating is an activity that is well known and loved by most of the Canadian and American members of the team, for Ireland's Tanya it was a totally new experience. But I must say, she did very well and even skated a bit on her own towards the end of the night. Our whole team was in agreement that it was a good time even with the minor bumps and bruises sustained.
This week we've also been blessed to witness God teaching us through the young people we've met on retreat. Personally the eagerness toward prayer and Confession shown by one group of confirmation candidates reminded me that God us wants us all to have that same childlike faith and to turn to Him with absolutely no apprehension. Sometimes we go into retreats with the mindset that we are there to teach the young people, but the reality is that God can choose any person to teach us a lesson about Him!
The weather here has changed from wet to wetter & colder, but we haven't seen any snow yet. Honestly though that is fine with me, I know I'll get my fill of snow when I go home for Christmas. Speaking of Christmas, we go on break in just two weeks, however, until then I am completely in love with being here and serving God with our team!
Please continue to pray for us in our ministry!
God bless,
Kelsie Grimes
Team 1
Ps:Hopefully there will be pictures to go with this soon!
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Welcome to NET Ministries of Ireland's Blog
NET stands for National Evangelisation Teams. We are Catholic missionaries who share Jesus' gospel message with young people in a team format. NET Ministries of Ireland challenge young Catholics to love Christ and embrace the life of the Church. NET Ireland recruits and trains teams to evangelise to over 7000 youth every year in parishes, schools, and dioceses across Ireland.
NET’s mission, to challenge young Catholics to love Christ and embrace the life of the Church, is accomplished by:
* Proclaiming the Gospel of Christ through a personal witness of faith
* Inviting young people to live for Christ
* Forming young people in Christian character through the study and practice of our faith
* Equipping youth workers and young adults with the ministry skills needed for evangelization.
Our churches are not as full as we would like them to be, vibrant young people who want to share their faith are stepping out and volunteering to share the gospel message with us.
In these times of complexity, God wants all of us to make a difference in the lives of others by repairing a broken world...repairing a broken heart. This can simply be done through grace and acts of charity. Sharing Jesus' love with others. Our missionaries do just that.
NET HISTORY
NET Ministries began in 1981 when an "experimental" travelling retreat team was sent out from the Catholic Youth Centre in St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S.A. After a favourable response, demand for the ministry increased and additional teams were assembled to meet these growing needs.
Presently, there are NET Ministries' offices in Canada, Australia, United States, and Ireland. Each year, several hundred missionaries are trained and equipped from these four countries.
IN IRELAND
In the Autumn of 2004, NET Canada sent a three month mission team to Ireland to say, "Thank you" to all the Irish missionaries of religious and priests that evangelised Canada by evangelising the youth there. The team of 12 missionaries travelled through schools, parishes and universities facillitating retreats and evenings of prayer as a means to proclaim the Good news of Jesus Christ. The results were far greater than expected. Teenagers began writing in, expressing their gratitude for their new found faith and hope. One Dublin priest, after hearing countless confessions during retreats said "you have restored my faith in the sacrament of confession, which I thought was a dead sacrament."
The following five years of expansion to a full ministry year has made a powerful impact in the lives of countless teenagers, families and religious in Ireland.
Today NET Ministries of Ireland sends out two teams of young adult missionaries who lead retreats and develop lifeteen programs for Catholic youth across Ireland.
Our office is situated in Letterkenny, Co. Donegal at 13A Lower Main Street. You can contact us on 074 91 25839
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