Roisin Leech is one of eight lay Dehonians attending the first week of the 20th General Chapter. She has been active with an SCJ parish in Dublin for many years where Fr. Mike Walsh, SCJ, is now pastor. Roisin, 57, is married, has three children and two grandchildren.

In 1990, she and three other lay people from the British-Irish Province attended the conference on Lay Dehonians held at the Generalate in Rome. "We heard how lay people were sharing in the spirituality and mission of the Sacred Heart Fathers in many provinces throughout the world, and as people already committed to Christ in our own lives, we looked forward to becoming involved in the beginning of such a movement in our province and especially in our own areas," she said. "While in Rome, we felt we were very much a part of the worldwide Dehonian family and we wanted to share that experience with people at home who had been working with the SCJs in many capacities throughout the years."

In the following months, a steering committee of five lay people and one SCJ was formed to look at ways of developing a lay Dehonian presence in the British-Irish Province. Soon, there were six groups of lay Dehonians: two in Scotland, three in England and one in Ireland. Each group was allowed to develop on its own. Some do apostolic ministries (one operates a soup kitchen) while others are primarily involved with spiritual study and renewal (a lay Dehonian group in Scotland facilitates a parish RCIA program).

It has been an exciting opportunity, said Roisin, but not one without difficulty. "We have struggled with questions regarding our identity... Who are we? What is our role in the Dehonian Family?" she said. "We have made mistakes in our eagerness to move forward and our reluctance to become too structured too soon... But we now have a strong core of people dedicated to a movement which will be broad enough to accommodate those people who wish just to be united in spirit with the Dehonian Family in their personal daily prayer and those who feel called to commit their lives in a special way as consecrated laity closely involved in the mission of the congregation."

For her personally, Roisin said that being a member of the Dehonian Family is a way for her to focus her commitment to Christ in her life. "The SCJs did not 'convert' me to a new spirituality," she said. "Instead, I felt that when I learned about the SCJ spirituality, it struck a chord in me... it was in harmony with the spirituality I was already trying to live within my own life."

She hopes that the continued growth of the Lay Dehonian movement will be an opportunity for the laity to more fully express and utilize their personal gifts within and for the church.