CIMS Quiet Day 2008 in Holy Trinity, Joanmount, Belfast

The Quiet Afternoon in Holy Trinity, Joanmount, Belfast commenced with Holy Communion celebrated by the Rt Revd Alan Abernethy, Bishop of Connor and Chairman of the Men’s Society, assisted by the Rector of Holy Trinity, Reverend Canon Trevor Williams.

Canon Williams addressed the members of the Society on the theme of Reconciliation. He said that reconciliation is God’s plan for all creation. He continued, “For those of you who live in leafy South Belfast here in North Belfast we still live with the legacy of 35 years of civil conflict. Peace walls divide our parishes. More people have died in the ‘troubles’ here than in any other place in Northern Ireland. In conversations between people certain topics will still not be mentioned if civil relations are to be maintained. In the words of Seamus Heaney, ‘Whatever you say, say nothing’” Canon Williams went on to say that the way individuals, communities and our nations see themselves is a reflection of the stories they believe about themselves. If those stories are lies then in the words of Ben Okri, “They will suffer the future consequences of those lies”. Those words of Ben Okri graced the service sheet for that afternoon’s Communion service. Again in the words of Ben Okri, “Change the stories individuals and nations live by and tell themselves and you change the individuals and nations.

Canon Williams quoted St Paul in his letter to the Romans, “While we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of His Son”. The task ahead is reconciliation and the transformation of human lives under the Cross of Christ