Short Notices

• Heart of a Jesuit, the Irish Jesuit Vocations website, has a new poster, a section of which is pictured here, devised by Graphics Artist Aine Kierans and Jesuit novice Niall Leahy. For copies, contact vocationpromoter@jesuit.ie.
• Irish Jesuit and author Michael Paul Gallagher is among a group of six Jesuits, of differing nationalities and disciplines, appointed by Father General, Adolfo Nicolás to help him, he says, “regularly reflect on and understand more deeply different realities concerning our mission”. The ‘Gregorian Reflection Group’ members are all based in Rome and have been meeting in the Gregorian University since January of this year. Their monthly reflection sessions focus on relevant issues that Father Nicolás invites them to consider.
• How Roman Catholic Theology Can Transform Male Violence Against Women by Dr Michael O’Sullivan SJ, will be launced in the Coffee Dock, Purcell House, All Hallows College, Drumcondra, Dublin 9 on Tuesday 3 May, 6pm, by Professor Linda Hogan, Irish School of Ecumenics at TCD. RSVP 01-8520717 or mosullivan@allhallows.ie
• Chaplain Peter Sexton SJ scored an ecumenical First when he led the celebration of Evensong in Trinity College Chapel, standing in for his Anglican colleague Darren McCollig.
• To Grow in Love: A Spirituality of Ageing by Brian Grogan SJ and published by Messenger Publications will be launched on Wednesday 11 May,6pm in The Theatre, Jesuit Conference Centre, Milltown Pk., Sandford Rd., Ranelagh, Dublin 6.  The book will be launchd by Marianne O’Connor, Director of CORI.  All welcome. RSVP 01 6767491 or manager@messenger.ie
• Dr Rebecca Nye, Cambridge Theological Federation, is the keynote speaker at a conference organised by The Spiritiual Capital Ireland Centre, a partnership between Waterford Institute of Technology and All Hallows College Dublin. Her talk is entitled ‘The Spirit of the Child- An exploration of Children’s Spirituality: Interdisciplinary Perspectives’. The conference takes place in the Waterford Institute of Technology, College Campus, from 12-14 May. For further information contact Michael O’Sullivan SJ, 01 8520717, or email: mosullivan@allhallows.ie.
• If you want a start in Ignatian spirituality, contact www.ignatianspirituality.com where the Loyola Press, Chicago, USA, offers a good introduction with material originally shaped by Irish Jesuit Brian Grogan.

A pastor in the Greg

Irish Jesuit Gerry Whelan, who teaches pastoral theology and fundamental theology in the Gregorian University, Rome, is coordinating a series of public lectures for the centenary of Mother Teresa’s birth, focussing on the effects of her “dark night of the soul”. Mother Teresa came to accept this as a grace of experiencing solidarity with poor people’s sense of abandonment, and of recognizing that Christ is still being crucified in the poor today. In his own contribution Gerry draws on his experience of being pastor of a slum parish in Nairobi, Kenya, and shows the relevance of Mother Teresa’s radical spiritual solidarity with the poor for the kind of “preferential option for the poor” spoken of by liberation theologians. Read more.

Lent as desert

A flute playing, Irish speaking, Church of Ireland minister from the Protestant heartland of East Belfast is the interviewee on Lenten Voices for the fourth week of Lent. Rev Gary Hastings is rector of St Nicholas’ Church in Galway, where he lives with his wife, a Catholic, and two grown-up children. As well as working closely with the neighbouring Augustinian church on courses and liturgies, Gary will often be found in his local pub playing traditional Irish music. He is a renowned musician, with many recordings to his name. In conversation with Pat Coyle of the JCC he speaks about the symbolism of ‘desert’ in Lent, his ecumenical work, and the challenges of being a Christian in Ireland today. Lenten voices is a joint venture of the JCC and Brian O’Leary SJ, the Province Delegate for Ecumenism. Listen here.

Rwanda: light and dark

Gerry Clarke SJ faces problems of  darkness at Gihembe refugee camp, where there is no electricity supply and therefore no possibility of doing homework after six in the evening. But a friendly agency has donated ‘headlamps’ to the Jesuit Refugee Service and the children can continue their work.  The lamps are rechargeable and as thirty children study away at their desks in the ‘bibliothèque de nuit’, other pupils are pedalling a bicycle recharger to get another 40 hours out of their lamps. Unfortunately all of this has come to a temporary stop.  Security at the camp for JRS staff deteriorated and all programmes have been suspended “jusqu’à nouvel ordre” -  a sad moment for these children, their parents and supervisors. It seems that the forces of darkness hold sway, for the time being, at Gihembe. However, JRS programmes continue as normal in its Kibuye camp.

Plato in Ballymun

J.U.S.T., the Jesuit University Support and Training Project in Ballymun, run cultural programmes in addition to their work with undergraduates.   Director Kevin O’Higgins SJ launched a course of Philosophy for Beginners, hoping that he might interest a dozen students.  In the event 25 people attended the first session, and with a whetted appetite have continued to explore Plato’s “Republic” over the last two weeks.  They are reviving an august tradition, as the first non-university philosophical society in Ireland since a group that flourished round 1700 and included Bishop Berkeley and Narcissus Marsh of Marsh’s Library. Proficiat! Details from  www.justballymun.org

The leader within

Fifteen people completed the first Arrupe Leadership Progamme in Ireland, having spent six weekends over six months, examining leadership from a faith-based and Ignatian perspective. The course which took place in Manresa Jesuit Centre for Spirituality from Sept ’1o to March ’11, was directed by Paddy Carberry SJ and Mike Drennan SJ. Their input, along with selected films and documentaries, formed the basis for individual and group reflection as the participants, from all walks of life, acknowledged and developed their own leadership potential. According to Paddy Carberry: “Leadership in the Ignatian tradition is about service, and respect for each individual as having a unique role to play in God’s plan for our world. So the programme aims to form leaders who are anchored in solid values, generous in service and courageous in making decisions”.

What makes a school Jesuit?

Australian Jesuit Richard Leonard was back in Ireland in late March to give three workshops. On Friday 25 March, he led teachers from the Jesuit colleges in exploring what it is that makes a school Jesuit. He spent the following day with members of the Boards of Management from the Le Chéile Schools Trust, working on the question ‘what makes a school Catholic?’ Richard’s third workshop was with R.E. teachers from Le Cheile Trust schools. It was called ‘Camera, Lights, Action’ and was based on his book ‘Movies that Matter’, in which he analyses modern media and youth culture and responds to it from a positive, Christian perspective. During his stay Richard did a number of interviews with Pat Coyle of the JCC, both for local radio and for RNN. Listen to him on ‘what makes a school Catholic’ here.

A question of faith

‘What does it mean to be a person of faith?’ was the question explored by well known Christian author Margaret Silf, in a talk attended by over three hundred people in Gardiner St Church, Friday 25 March. Silf’s books have the strong Ignatian theme of finding God in everyday life and she has  studied spiritual companionship with the Jesuits in Britain. She now works full-time in retreat-giving and hosting workshops and days of reflection. In her address, ‘A Question of Faith’ she argued that there is “an ideological struggle for the hearts and minds of post-modern and even ‘post-church’ men and women.”   And having noted the  desire amongst people of all faiths for certainty and security, she asserted that in contrast, the Christian gospel is about “mystery and risk.” Read the report of her talk from www.catholicireland.net, below. Read more »

JRS news is good news…

The news was good when Jan O’Sullivan TD, Minister of State, Dept of Foreign Affairs and Trade launched the Progress Report on  the Limerick City and Council Integration Plan, in the Hunt Museum, Limerick,  Friday, 25 March. Eugene Quinn, Director of the Jesuit Refugee Service is Joint Chairperson of the Limerick Integration Working group who produced this first annual report and he said that strong progress had been made in all of the areas identified as priorities for helping refugees become fully part of Irish society and their local communities. Even better, he added, in areas such as sports, the arts, interfaith co-ooperation and social inclusion projects, many activities were implemented and completed successfully during last year. “We are now in a strong position to build on the progress made in 2010, and make sure we realise our vision for integration in the next two years.”

Eric Cantillon R.I.P.

Eric Cantillon SJ was 86 when he died on 2 April. He was a quiet Corkonian with the air of a countryman, loved by his parishioners in Staplestown where he has been a curate for 32 years, happiest when he had a dog to walk with him, remembered warmly by Mungret alumni, especially the swimmers and athletes – he had trained them in Mungret and Belvedere with startling and untrumpeted success. The memory that unfailingly brought the light to his eyes was of a morning on Lough Currane when he fished the Comeragh river, swollen with fresh rain, where it enters the lake. He was held skilfully in position by boatman Jack O’Sullivan. They packed it in at lunch time with sixteen salmon in the boat – all taken on the one fly, tied by Eric. He landed every fish that rose to the fly, then gave them all away.