Sr Briege to lead parish mission

THE Shannon Parish Mission will take place this year from May 20 to 24 and it will be led by Sr Briege McKenna.
Sister Briege is known around the world and parish priest Fr Tom Ryan said Shannon is very lucky to have her coming. “This year, 2013, our parish is the only one in Ireland that will have her for a parish mission. Prior to that, she will be in America and after Shannon, she’s going to Poland.”
He outlines some of her background. “Briege McKenna was born in Armagh and as a teenager she joined the Poor Clare Sisters. She developed rheumatoid arthritis and her order sent her to their house in Florida so she would benefit from the heat there. At the age of 24, she was miraculously cured at the celebration of mass. Later on, she developed a ministry of healing and of caring, recognising the presence of the Eucharist, prayer and the sacrament of reconciliation.
“She has gone around the world since the 1970s, promoting the ministry of healing through the Eucharist and reconciliation. She’s the author of many books, the best known of which is Miracles Do Happen, in which she testifies and accounts for the many miracles that happened in her life, and in the lives of others, through prayer and intercession.”
Since 1985, she has been ministering to priests in collaboration with Father Kevin Scallon. She was the 1988 recipient of the Poverello Award from the Francisican University and the 2009 recipient of the award for Outstanding Catholic Leadership from the Catholic Leadership Institute.
So renowned is she that she has appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show and in a 2009 interview with irishphiladelphia.com, she said physical healing isn’t what’s most important. “The title of my book is Miracles Do Happen but I don’t believe physical healing is the most important. Many people have perfect health and they’re miserable; others are ill but filled with joy. But a miracle is something that cannot be explained through medical terms. An example, around last Christmas, a friend of mine brought me a doctor who was very critically ill with leukaemia. I think he was a Methodist. I talked with him and prayed with him, [since then] he’s been cured. His doctors say there’s no evidence he ever had the disease. That’s a miracle.”
She also spoke about her ministering to priests. “In 1972, the Lord gave me a five-hour vision in the chapel. He said I was to speak to people about the priesthood as God’s gift to us. He said I want you to speak to priests and bishops [and say that] the priesthood is not a gift just to them. I remember saying to the Lord ‘I can’t do this, I’m a teacher’ and the Lord said, ‘just be obedient. I’ll speak through you’.”