Past pupils revived

RTE’s Lorcan Murray, past pupil of Crescent College Comprehensive SJ, was Master of Ceremonies at the Sacred Heart College SJ and Crescent Past Pupils Union celebration dinner in the college on Saturday 6 March, 2010. It was an evening of celebration and thanksgiving for the sesquicentenary year, which is now closed. The occasion also marked the launch of the Union website (www.crescentpast.com) by the acting President, Ms Helen Kelly-Holmes. The Headmaster, Mr. Nicky Cuddihy, toasted the Jesuit community, where he acknowledged the huge debt owed by both colleges to the order in general and to the community in particular. Pictured here, left to right, are former headmasters Dermot Cowhey, Pat O’Connell, Todd Morrissey SJ, Liam O’Connell SJ, and Dermot Murray SJ. Read more »

Light in the dark rooms of grief

Messenger Publications hosted the launch of Mary Brady’s book Time Without You: Moving through the Rooms of Grief, on 21 January, in Manresa Jesuit Centre for Spirituality, Clontarf. Myles O’Reilly SJ, chaplain for the Bethany Bereavement Support Group, launched the book. Interspersed throughout the text are images of Mary’s own artwork:  pencil drawings, oils, charcoals, sculptures and embroidery, as well as diary entries and poetry. The MJP team worked closely with the author to capture a record of her journey through grief and how she tried to make sense of the loss of her husband. According to MJP Manager Triona McKee, “Mary’s soul-bearing honesty in sharing her most testing moments is done in the hope that it would offer a glimmer of light and encouragement to those struggling through the confusion and pain of bereavement.” Available through www.messenger.ie , €8.99.

Unmissable: BBC on Caravaggio

Last November, AMDG Update reported the activity of a TV crew in Leeson Street preparing a documentary on the house’s Caravaggio painting, The Taking of Christ, which was a major art find in the early 1990s. The programme, entitled ‘Private life of an Easter masterpiece’, appeared on BBC 2 on Holy Saturday, and it deserved every superlative in the book. It told a gripping story with an art that concealed deep scholarship, looking at both the planning and execution of the painting, and the extraordinary ups and downs of its subsequent history, from Cardinal Mattei’s generous payment of the artist in 1602 to its disposal at a minor auction in Edinburgh for eight guineas in 1921 – when it was described not as a Caravaggio but “after Honthorst”.

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Sex, Grace and Trinity

Edmond Grace SJ took part in what has been called a ‘Catholic sex’ debate in the Trinity College Philosophical Society. Among the speakers was Senator David Norris, and the session was chaired by Dervla Browne S.C. (both pictured here with Edmond). Both Dervla Browne and Edmond are former law lecturers at the National College of Ireland. The motion – ‘that teaching of the Catholic church on sexual matters is in accord with reason and fact.’ It was – predictably – defeated. Attached is a copy of Edmond’s speech. Read more »

The Crescent at 150

Crescent College Comprehensive S.J.  first opened its doors on 10th March, 1859, one hundred and fifty yeras ago. Early Jesuit schools existed in Limerick between 1565 and 1773. David Woulfe S.J., a native of Limerick, who came as the Pope’s envoy to Ireland in 1561, set up the first such school. His cousin, a Jesuit scholastic, Edmund Daniel (alias O’Donnell) aided him in running the school. William Goode, an English Jesuit also worked there, and we know about the school from letters written by Goode, which still exist.  The major celebrations of the jubilee will culminate with a visit to CCC by Fr. General on Sept 11th.  For a picture of the past, and of the planned jubilee events, read more: Read more »

Todd talks

Book-launches lead to book talks. Todd Morrissey followed his launch in Milltown with a talk on “the Jesuits in China” to the Irish/Chinese Cultural Society at the United Arts Club. About 35 were present. It went well and there were many questions. On the 2 March he spoke to the Milltown Parish Society on “William Martin Murphy Re-Visited”.  His new book on John Sullivan, “Where Two Traditions Meet”, will be launched in Gardiner Street at 7.30 p.m. on 23 April.

Short notices

• Rugby updates: Coláiste Iognáid (pictured here) beat Marist College, Athlone, 23-11 in the semi-final of the Conanught Cup. Clongowes JCT, tipped as favourites, lost to St Michael’s 14-15.  Belvedere SCT lost to Blackrock 12-16.
• On 4 March Pat Coyle, Manager of the Jesuit Communication Centre, will be speaking on ‘Addiction in the family’ as part of a week of Lenten talks in Borrisokane/Aglish parish.
• On Saturday, 14 March, the Ballymun Gospel Choir will give a concert in St Ann’s church, Dawson Street. Doors open at 7.30pm and the concert will start at 8.00.
• Michael O’Sullivan SJ chaired the Dublin launch of the Spiritual Capital Research Centre, which aims to raise awareness of spiritual capital and the resources in Christian spirituality and the academic study of such spirituality for engaging diverse challenges in contemporary social life in a positively transformative manner.  The Centre team is now seeking sponsorship for its work.
• Every year the Jesuit Parish of Farm Street in London holds a special Mass on 31 July, and invites all those alumni of Jesuit schools, colleges and universities across the globe who are in London on that day. Following the Mass, there is a reception in Mount Street Gardens beside the Church - a great chance for alumni to meet with fellow alums as well as old school friends. In 2008 close to 500 people attended, and there is room for more.
• Galway City Mayor, Padraig Conneely, officially launched the Jes Transition Year Bank project on Thur 26 Feb. A group of Transition Year students worked with Noreen Conway of AIB Bank to come up with their own school bank where they will learn the skills of lending and managing money.
• World renowned Benedictine monk Laurence Freeman OSB will give a talk to young adults on Christian meditation in the tradition of John Main OSB, a Benedictine who presented a way of meditating through the practice of a prayer-phrase. Slí Eile are co-running the event, which will take place in Gardiner Street Church on Friday 13 March at 8.00pm. For more details, contact Padraig Swan.

The Lusaka-Dublin connection

The Jesuit parish of Matero in Lusaka, Zambia, has just received more than €5,000 euro from the Star of the Sea Parish in Sandymount Dublin. The funds raised over Christmas will, amongst other things, help in the running of a Feeding Programme for orphans and vulnerable children. The two parishes formally twinned last November as the Sandymount Matero Friendship Programme. Fr Leonard Chiti SJ, a native of Zambia who has been studying in the Manresa Centre for Spirituality in Dublin, is one of the link people in the project. The Jesuit Mission Office in Dublin has also helped to start a computer school in Matero parish where short computer courses and secretarial services are provided to local people. (School in Matero pictured here.)

Memories of Father Tom

Nine days after his 94th birthday Tom McMahon died peacefully on Saturday 24 January in Cherryfield, which he never tired of praising for the happiness and hope he enjoyed there. Not all his memories died with him. Apart from innumerable poems about his friends and enthusiasms, he has left a video clip (now on YouTube – also viewable on Jesuit.ie) taken from the DVD about the closing of the Sacred Heart Church in Limerick, and an interview about his life, made three years ago, which you can read below. His Limerick friends came in strength to his funeral, and he would have loved the sound of Cecilian voices filling the Milltown chapel. 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.

Death of Avery Dulles, SJ

Tributes from around the world have been paid to the late Avery Dulles SJ, one of the world’s most renowned Jesuits and a Cardinal since 2001. He died at 9am on Friday Dec 12th, aged 90. Son of John Foster Dulles, Eisenhower’s Secretary of State after whom Dulles Airport in Washington is named, Cardinal Dulles converted to Catholicism in 1940 and became a Jesuit in 1946. He was the most distinguished theologian the Church in the United States has produced, and he was the first American theologian to be named a Cardinal of the Catholic Church. Read more on his theology and on his links with the Irish Province. Read more »

Short notices

• An Inter-Institutional Centre for Spirituality and Social Transformation has been launched in Waterford Institute of Technology, through the participation (pictured here) of Michael O’Sullivan SJ (Milltown Institute), Sister Bernadette Flanagan (All Hallows) and Michael Howlett (Waterford IT).
• The current Irish Catholic reports how ChurchServices.tv, part of CatholicIreland.net, is broadcasting Masses live to a growing audience, including some beleaguered Christians in Kenya. The site is an offshoot of Sacred Space, “The fire that lights other fires”.
• On 20 December, 3 to 5 p.m., girls and boys (with parent/adult supervision) are invited to join the Manresa Team, together with Mr. Paul McGuire (Belgrove Junior Boys School, Clontarf), for an afternoon of carol singing and reflection on the meaning of Christmas, followed by a little party at Manresa, 426 Clontarf Road.
• Noelle Fitzpatrick and Padraig Swan of Sli Eile Jesuit Centre for Young Adults were interviewed on Tuesday Dec 16th, on the Mooney Goes Wild programme on RTE Radio One. They spoke about their weekend pilgrimage in the Midlands without food or money and you can listen to the interview here.

Short notices

• The Milltown professorial staff has made one lasting impact on the life of Dublin in the Father Simpson Water-polo Cup, commemorating Paddy Simpson’s huge ministry to swimmers and water polo players at the Half-Moon and elsewhere. We picture three Jesuit alumni in contention: Kenny Wong from Riverview, Jim Stitt from Clongowes, and Keith Lynch from Belvedere.
• Fr. Michael Kelly SJ will speak on HIV, Food Security and Nutrition in the Royal Irish Academy,19 Dawson St. on Wednesday, Nov. 26th at 18.00. Michael will also share his African missionary story in “Conversations about Africa” in Gardiner St community on Tuesday 2nd December 2008 at 7pm. All are welcome.
• This year’s Colours rugby match between UCD and Trinity featured ten Jesuit almuni. Four were playing for UCD and six for Trinity, who won 20-18.
• On each Tuesday of Advent – 2, 9, 16 and 23 December – Manresa will be offering short periods of guided prayer (7.30-9.00pm) on the theme ‘Put Christ back into Christmas’. These evenings will be directed by Fr. Ciary Quirke, S.J., of the Manresa Team. There will an opportunity for a chat afterwards over a cup of tea. No booking required: just come along. Contribution is discretionary. For more details see www.manresa.ie.
• Sli Eile will launch their Galway outreach on Thursday 27 November at 7.00pm in 6 Ely Place, Galway. All are welcome. Meanwhile in Dublin they are holding an evening discussion at Boston College, Tuesday 25th Nov, 7.30pm on “Living with HIV/Aids – challenging the myths and providing a real understanding”. This is to mark World Aids Day. 
• Gardiner Street will run mini-retreats on three Advent Tuesdays: reflecting on the Christmas story: through paintings (Eileen Kane on 2 December); through carols (Donal Neary SJ on 9th); through the Gospel (Brendan Comerford on 16th); after the 11 a.m. Mass for about an hour.
• On 3rd December Fr Gerry O’Hanlon SJ will preach at the feast-day Mass in St Francis Xavier’s, Gardiner Street.
• The El Salvador Martyrs will be commemorated in Ballymun at the 7 p.m. Mass in the Virgin Mary Church, Shangan Road, on Sunday 30 November.