Short notices

• Fr Adolfo Nicolás, Superior General of the Jesuits, visited Central America and parts of the Caribbean from 19 April to 1 May. The trip included a visit to earthquake-stricken Haiti, where he was shown the efforts at reconstruction. Read a report on the Australian Jesuit’s Province Express. Also read a port-trip interview with Fr Nicolás on SJWeb.info.
• Gearoid O’Brien is writing a biography of Athlone-born Michael Watson SJ, in instalments in the Westmeath Independent.
• Fr Provincial and his Consultors have just returned (via an ash-cloud diversion to Shannon and a 2 a.m. bus from there) from a joint consult with the British Province, with observers from the two Flemish provinces, at Drongen near Brussels. Fr Provincial has also been visiting Irish Jesuits in Britain: Jim Hayes in weak health in Liverpool, and Pat Riordan in bouncing form in London.
• The shape of Irish Jesuit communities is changing gradually as we move into the summer. John Austen House on North Circular Road has been disbanded and the house closed down, a sad process carried through with gentle efficiency by Michael O’Sullivan. Michael is crossing the Liffey to join the Campion Community in Hatch Street, which will include the new Provincial, Tom Layden. Another small community, Iona in Portadown, is being strengthened by the addition of Frank Brady, who will be hugely missed in Ballymun.
• Fr Steve Curtin SJ, Australian Provincial, sums up the significance of Matteo Ricci, who always saw his missionary work as an expression of the gift of friendship.
• The Sacred Heart Novena will be held in St Francis Xavier’s Church, Gardiner Street, from 3-11 June. Mass will be at 11.00am and 7.30pm (Sunday: 11.00am and 3.00pm). Homilies will be given by Kevin O’Rourke SJ (3-7th) and by Tom Layden SJ (8-11th).

Forthcoming events

• 8-17 June: Nine-day pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. For details, contact Caitlin or Seán at 01 8625345. Alternatively email ballymunadmin@sli-eile.com or sean.meehan@sli-eile.com
• 19 May and 26 May: ‘Insights from the Mystics’, Manresa, Clontarf, 8-9.30pm
• 24 May: ‘The Pilgrim Road’, Manresa, Clontarf, 7.30-9.30pm

Spirituality and social justice

Mary John Manazan OSB, a Benedictine sister working in the Philippines, once urged a large crowd to oppose a hike in the price of oil. A policeman approached her. “Why are you talking about the oil price hike? You are a Sister. You ought to take care of the souls of the people. Why don’t you talk about mortal sin, purgatory, hell?” In his paper on ‘Spirituality and social justice’ at the inaugural conference of the new British Association for the Study of Spirituality (BASS), Michael O’Sullivan SJ (at left in photo) saw Sr Mary John’s experience as emblematic of a tradition in Christian spirituality which disables commitment when social justice is needed. He then presented grounds for conceiving a commitment to social justice in terms of meanings and values that are integral to Christian spirituality. Read below for a report on the conference. Read more »

John Sullivan SJ still inspiring…

A huge congregation attended the annual Fr John Sullivan SJ mass in Clongowes chapel, Naas, Co Kildare on Saturday 8 May. Chief celebrant Conor Harper SJ said the support of the people for the canonisation cause of Fr Sullivan was most heartening. “John Sullivan’s reputation was one of healing and holiness, and even though he died 80 years ago people today still feel a close connection to him and are utterly convinced that his prayers on their behalf are still being heard.” Fr Sullivan’s cross from Gardiner Street was used in a blessing ceremony for those gathered, and there was a special emphasis on the healing of the sick for whom the renowned Jesuit had such caring and compassion. (Photo by Kim Mullahey)

Belvedere hosts Bostonians

For two weeks in April, Belvedere College hosted 12 students and 2 teachers from Boston College High (BCH), USA. This was the first ever such exchange between both Colleges. During their stay in Ireland the BCH staff and students attended daily classes and special modules on James Joyce, Irish scientific discoveries, debating, and traditional Irish cooking. They went on tours, made weekend retreats, shared community care reviews and TEFL teaching, and tasted their hosts’ involvement in Lourdes, St Vincent de Paul work and the Youth Club. Through the Dublin families who hosted them, they learned something of Irish norms and values. Thanks to everyone’s efforts the exchange succeeded brilliantly, and has a future. Next October, sixteen Belvedere students will live for two weeks with host families in Boston whilst attending BCH.

Newsboys at ninety

Over 300 past and present members, ”docs” and guests (including Lord Mayor Emer Costello, Bishop Eamonn Walsh and Bill ‘Penny Apples’ Cullen) attended a ninetieth birthday party on 26 April, at which Provincial John Dardis SJ launched Gerry Walsh’s book, How’ya Doc?  – the story of the Belvedere Social Service Club, later to become the Belvedere Newsboys’ Club and in 1969 the Belvedere Youth Club.  The co-founder in 1918 was Doctor William Lombard Murphy – hence the title ‘Doc’.  Because of generous sponsorship, Belvedere Youth Club will get all the proceeds from the sale of the book, which is available from the club at 41  Lr. Buckingham Street, Dublin 1 between 2.00pm and 9.30pm Monday to Friday or by e-mailing the author at hslaw77@eircom.net for €20 (postage €3.50).

The broken hallelujah of Leonard Cohen

Few songs have achieved the status of Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’. It has been covered almost 200 times, by singers such as John Cale, Jeff Buckley, Rufus Wainwright and k.d. lang; and it has graced the soundtrack of movies and television series. How to account for the extraordinary popularity of a song that invokes the Books of Samuel and Judges, and features a rousing chorus that simply repeats the great Hebrew exclamation to ‘Praise Yahweh’? According to Irish Jesuit Tom Casey, director of the Cardinal Bea Center for Judaic Studies in Rome, Cohen’s masterpiece “gives voice—and song—to the spiritual hunger of millions who find it difficult or impossible to identify with orthodox expressions of their longings”. Read the whole of Tom’s reflection on this song in last week’s America Magazine.

Magis travels to Galway

‘Understanding Disability – Our Relationship with Ability’ was the theme of the first West of Ireland-based Magis experience. Organised by Slí Eile, Jesuit Centre for Young Adults, the event took place in the NUIG chaplaincy centre on Sat 8 May. A young adult with chronic fatigue syndrome and a young woman caring for her father shared their experiences with the group. The carer highlighted how society actually disables the person with the disability by not providing adequate services. Attendants also met with a self-advocacy group of people with intellectual disabilities and were told that tackling disabilty is not about  providing for ‘special’ needs but meeting basic human rights. Reflection on the way in which we experience ability and disability in ourselves led on to a closing liturgy. For further information, contact Noelle Fitzpatrick at 01-8880606.

The wise man from the west….

“Not only was Matteo Ricci willing to go to China to preach the Gospel of Christ, but he was willing to be transformed by the people he befriended there.” So said Antoni Üçerler SJ, speaking at the Church in China conference in Gonzaga, Saturday 8 May, to commemorate the Jesuit missionary’s death. According to Üçerler, Ricci learnt Chinese, adopted their dress, studied their thinkers, and wrote books which greatly impressed the literati, who called him ‘the wise man from the west’. He added that Ricci’s missionary style of inserting himself with respect into the culture of the people, drawing out Christian concepts from their insights and beliefs, was very much rooted in the tradition and style of St Paul. After the conference he elaborated on aspects of Ricci’s life in an interview with Pat Coyle of the Jesuit Communication Centre.  Listen to the podcast here.

Conference marks Ricci anniversary

Over 100 people attended an international conference on 8 May to mark the 400th anniversary of the death of Matteo Ricci (1552-1610), a remarkable Jesuit missionary who did much to build a bridge between the cultures of the West and the East. The conference was held in Gonzaga College, Dublin 6, and the chairperson for the event was RTE presenter Sean O’Rourke. In welcoming the attendants, Irish Jesuit Provincial John Dardis noted the importance of Ricci’s inspiration for later Jesuit missionaries. In the first address, Antoni Üçerler SJ expounded masterfully the historical context of Ricci’s work. Also addressing the conference were John Lee Hua SJ, on the Jesuits in China today, and Willi Müller SVD, on the present state of the Church in China. After lunch there was a demonstration of Chinese character painting and a DVD about Ricci’s life.

JESUITICA: Ricci’s Korean legacy

The founding fathers of the Korean Church were not Western missionaries but Confucian intellectuals who studied Catholic books published in China by Jesuits, especially Ricci’s The true meaning of the Lord of Heaven. They came to consider Catholicism as a new interpretation of Early Confucianism, and embraced it with faith. By contrast, lower-class Koreans understood that Catholic belief was different from Confucianism, and saw it as a way to challenge the unjust social system based on the Confucianism of the ruling class. For them the gospel was not just a piece of good religious news but a faith expressed in social justice. Consequently the government came to see the church as a threat to the social order, and tested the loyalty of Catholics in repeated persecutions. Pictured here is a statue of Christ from outside the Myeongdong Cathedral in Seoul.

Chinese-Irish mass in Gardiner Street Church

The mass to commemorate Matteo Ricci commemorative mass in St Francis Xavier Church, Gardiner St, on Sunday 9 May was a moving occasion for the hundreds who attended. Chinese Jesuit John Lee SJ read the Gospel in his native tongue, and a Chinese choir provided the music. In his homily, Fr Lee said that despite the challenges facing the estimated ten million Catholics in China today, the Gospel call was to place their trust in God and follow His will. Principal celebrant, Irish Provincial John Dardis SJ, noted that Francis Xavier himself never made it to mainland China, dying on the island of Sancian, off the Chinese coast. Fr Dardis said the saint would never have thought that 400 years later the Gospel would be read in Chinese by a Chinese Jesuit, in a mass organised by the Chinese Catholic community in Ireland in a church named after him! After the mass, children in traditional costumes, gave a colourful display of traditional dancing.

Ricci remembered by Irish Province

The Irish Province celebrated the life of Matteo Ricci this weekend, 8-10 May, marking the 400th anniversary of this extraordinary Jesuit missionary, with an international conference on Saturday and commemorative bi-lingual Mass on Sunday. Over 100 people were welcomed to the conference in Gonzaga by the Provincial, John Dardis SJ, who said that Ricci was an inspirational man for the many Jesuits missionaries since his death. He quoted  from Ricci’s book On Friendship: One hundred maxims for a Chinese Prince, saying that Ricci’s insight was truly relevant in these times. According to Ricci: “Proper friends do not always agree with their friends, nor do they always disagree with their friends, but rather agree with them when they are reasonable and disagree with them when they are unreasonable. Direct speech is therefore the only responsibility of friendship”.