Ecumenics then and now

The Venerable Patrick Lawrence, Rector of Julianstown and Archdeacon of Meath and Kildare, has been appointed the new Rector of Monkstown (church pictured here) in the Diocese of Dublin. While AMDG does not conscientiously report all Church of Ireland appointments, this one has special news value because Patrick’s wife Anne teaches Maths and Science in Belvedere, and his daughter Jane is a Leaving Certificate student in Loreto College, Balbriggan. Ecumenism moves slowly, but to see that there has been some movement, compare this news with a letter in 1847 from the Rector of Belvedere to the Jesuit General (see below)… Read more »

CLC in prayer

Something new is happening in Leeson Street. Michael O. Gallagher SJ has started an eight-week retreat with thirteen Christian Life Community members. Each Saturday they come together with Michael, reflect on what has happened in their prayer, and take away a set of texts to shape their prayer for the coming week. God alone knows what happens in prayer, but Michael is happy with what he sees and hears.

Young Scientists

What do young scientists look like? Here is a sample from this year’s exhibition in the RDS. Clongowes is proud of Henry Glass (pictured here with Taoiseach Brian Cowen), whose individual project won the runner-up overall prize for the second year running.  A young Gonzagan won the Science Foundation award, and four of his colleagues were highly commended. Thomas Breen from First Year in Belvedere took second place in the Junior Technology section, and two other Belvederian groups stirred much interest with their projects. For a fuller picture of the work from all three schools, read more below. Read more »

Church Unity week

Tom Layden SJ in Belfast is the Province coordinator of ecumenism, working as a quiet leaven rather than a city on a hilltop. He worships regularly with Christians of other traditions (Church of Ireland, Presbyterian, Methodist), and find it an enriching experience. So in sending on this reminder of Church Unity Octave (below), he is encouraging others to find their own way of reaching out. Read more »

“They cooked my dinners”

Comedian Dermot Whelan gave an interesting perspective on his Jesuit education in an Irish Times article this week. “Coming from Limerick to Trinity, I found Dubliners a bit strange. They are obsessed with schools, and Crescent College didn’t seem to impress anyone.  I lived in Hatch Hall with a bunch of Jesuit priests. I suppose that sounds peculiar, but they cooked my dinners and stayed out of my business and it worked out fine.”

Newsboy remembers

On the RTE Documentary on One, 11 January, John, a former newsboy, recalled being in the Children’s Court in 1952, along with other youngsters who came before the judge for offences like shop-lifting. If they were sentenced to Industrial School, they would scream for their mothers, and still screaming, be frog-marched down the stairs to be locked away until transport was ready to take them away. He’ll never forget his saviour, Gerry Walsh of the Belvedere Newsboys Club (pictured here receiving a papal knighthood two years ago). Read the story below. Read more »

John Dunne SJ: funeral homily

The death of Fr John Dunne has drawn condolences from near and far, including, from Zambia-Malawi, Declan Murray SJ and Provincial Peter Bwanali. Also, there have been numerous requests for the text of the homily which Brian Grogan SJ gave at the funeral mass in Gonzaga Chapel. Brian spoke warmly of John’s life and character, concentrating on three areas – the “three E’s”: the Enterprise of John’s life, his Endurance, and his Everlasting joy. Read the full homily below.   Read more »

World Day of Migrants

‘Floods of refugees’, ‘waves of migrants’, ‘immigration flow’… In an incisive article for World Day of Migrants and Refugees (18 January), Eugene Quinn, director of JRS Ireland, identifies a dehumanising tendency in our use of such “hydraulic metaphors”. “It is as if refugees and migrants are a wave that might drown us,” he writes. Taking his cue from the Pope’s message for the day of commemoration, he addresses the pivotal question: “How can we fail to take charge of all those, particularly refugees and displaced people, who are in conditions of difficulty and hardship?” Read the full text below.

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Jesuit students at Young Scientists

This year’s Young Scientists Exhibition discovered a couple of stars from Jesuit schools. For the second year running, Clongowes scientist Henry Glass, from Maynooth, was runner-up in the overall individual award, for his study of: The distribution of the freshwater limpet Ancylus Fluviatilis in a short stretch of the Moneycarragh River. Patrick O’Doherty from Gonzaga won the Science Foundation award for a project on Automatic Energy Saving. And Gonzaga’s Jack Hutchinson, Peter Gillen, Mark Lincoln were highly commended for their project on A Food stock renewal system for your house.

Following a star

On Tuesday 6 January, the feast of the Epiphany, Michael Hurley made a brief appearance on the RTE 1 programme Witness. He could be seen star-gazing through a telescope in Dunsink Observatory and heard talking about the Magi and their role in his own life in the early 80s. As aired, the all too brief programme had literally no time for this story, which Michael was telling for the first time. Here it is, below: Read more »

Short notices

• Fr Todd Morrissey’s book on Jesuits in Hong Kong, South China and Beyond will have its Irish launch in Milltown Park on Wednesday 28 January at 7.30pm. The Provincial, Fr John Dardis, will present a copy of the book to a family representative of each Jesuit who has served on the Hong Kong / Malaysian mission. All are invited. RSVP to Geraldine Kellett: tel. – 01 6768408.
• Fr Joe Kelly’s sister in Dundalk, Oonagh O’Hagan, and his Jesuit brother, Michael in Zambia, would like to thank all those who sympathised with them on the recent loss of their brother Joe. They acknowledge with gratitude all those who attended Joe’s wake and Funeral Mass in Jersey City and his Memorial Masses in Milltown Park, St. Malachy’s (New York), and Point Lookout (New York). They are especially grateful to Joe’s carers and to his American friends and fellow-Jesuits. Michael has already offered Mass for the intentions of all those in Ireland, the United States and elsewhere who have sympathised with the family and will do so again each month throughout 2009.
• Coláiste Iognáid have won the Connacht Tribune Senior Rugby League.They beat Sligo Grammar School in the final on a scoreline of 8-6, having been undefeated during the league. They now look forward to defending their cup title.

Belvedere hosts China

Back in the 1960s they used to say the optimistic Irish schools were teaching Russian and the pessimists Chinese – so Belvedere’s Fr Schrenk taught Russian. Things have changed, though, and cultural contact with China is growing apace. On Sunday 18 January the Chinese ambassador, Mr Liu Biwei, will visit Belvedere College to meet seventeen Chinese students from Wah Yan College. These two Jesuit colleges are participating in a student exchange programme. The second leg of the exchange will see eighteen Belvedere students visit Hong Kong and China later this year. They will teach English to primary school pupils in the Chinese countryside.

JRS brings Christmas cheer to migrant kids

Jesuit Refugee Service Ireland ran a very successful Christmas toy appeal, collecting a huge number of toys for distribution to more than 120 children of migrants and asylum seekers. The organizer of the appeal was Audrey Hogan of Slí Eile, and its success made for a memorable Christmas party in Clondalkin Towers on Friday 19 December. Thanks to the Trojan work of Nicola Morris and Elizabeth O’Rourke in preparing the event, all 90 of the children who attended received some special Christmas gifts. And they received them from the hands of Santa Claus himself, who more usually masquerades as Brendan MacPartlin SJ.