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CHOOSING THE ROAD LESS TRAVELLED
IN SPITE OF CHANGING, AND OFTEN NEGATIVE, ATTITUDES TO THE CHURCH, THERE ARE PEOPLE COMMITTING THEIR LIVES TO FOLLOWING GOD IN THE RELIGIOUS LIFE
BY JOHN SCALLY
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The noted Patrick Kavanagh scholar Sr Una Agnew captures the way the church in general, and religious in particular, are now portrayed: “The derision with which the word ‘nun’…has been spoken on Irish television has cut to the heart of many who have put their lives on the line for values that are foundational to human flourishing.”
In the face of such hostility, it is difficult to escape feelings of diminished energy and even demoralisation. Like a hidden grief that rises to grab the heart, many ordained people are occasionally ambushed by painful emotions, particularly as there has been such negative media coverage of the church in general, and religious in particular, for such a sustained period.
Many today experience the sentiment of Robert Frost in his poem Lodged:
The rain to the wind said, ‘You push and I’ll pelt.’ They so smote the garden bed That the flowers actually knelt. And lay lodged – though not dead. I know how the flowers felt.
Nonetheless, there are still people committing their lives to following God. A recent example is Sr Eileen O’Connell. Originally from Ballincollig in Cork, she became a Dominican Sister through a series of steps rather than through a dramatic experience.
“The story of my becoming a Dominican is quite a tangled tapestry. I’ll pick a few tiny threads from that tapestry – becoming a Dominican happened almost in a series of moments of greater clarity. While I was on pilgrimage in the Holy Land, I had a very sudden and very strong sense that God was calling me to something more, but without a clue what that more was.
“So I took the advice of my good friend Fr Billy and began to say yes to things that seemed reasonable and practical and possibly of God, to see if that might throw light on what God had in mind for me. Not too much later, I had another moment of clarity and knew that I needed to learn about Dominican Sisters. From my first meeting, and with each subsequent meeting, more clarity came.
“My two-year novitiate was a time of many questions and much searching but also a time when I found more clarity and certainty. To make profession was a natural next step once I knew that it was where God wanted me to be. The years since have been a mixture of graces and blessings and wonderful experiences and of challenges and difficulties too but, ultimately, I think I’d say it comes down to trust and love.”
TRUST
It is evident that Sr Eileen has a strong faith. “I trust in my strong sense of God’s call. I trust that God needs me just the way I am, and I trust that God is leading me where God wants me. And I’m sustained by love – the love of my family and friends, the love of my Dominican sisters – and I’m carried by knowing God’s immense love for me.
“The strongest thread, the one that runs right through it always, is God’s love for me – as I am – and my response to that love. My yes, my response to God’s call, is a response to the one who is love… and I respond, as best I can, in love. And because I truly know how much God loves each of us, I want my life to preach that love to others, I want my life to let others know that they are loved
Sr Eileen at her Final Profession
Photo: Anne Lonergan
Sr Eileen receives a blessing from her cousin Fr Derry Murphy SAC, with her cousin Anne Lonergan
madly by God – just as they are.” Last December, Sr Eileen was finally professed on what she recalls as a very special day. “On that day, I was not at all nervous (uncharacteristically) and was really excited and full of joy and happiness. It was the best of days. Thank God, the Covid situation at that time made it possible for some of my family and some friends, and also others of the Dominican family, to be there.
“On the day after it, in texts to people who sent good wishes, I wrote: For me, it was a gorgeously joyful and happy and exciting and gratitude-filled day, one entirely infused with the ‘rightness’ and joy of this moment of ultimate commitment and self offering to God. And it was fun too! I’m still beaming, and yesterday’s Mass was filled with thanksgivings for all God’s blessings. Today’s will be the same. Thanks be to God.”
Sr Eileen is part of an increasingly rare species: ‘the young nun’. Does it concern her that she is entering religious life when the age profile of religious is older? “Some sisters with
whom I connect speak of ‘young nuns’ as unicorns … yes, we are rare, but we are not mythical!”
THE CALL
In the Church of Ireland, too, people are continuing to offer themselves for ordination. Last September, Rev Philip McKinley was ordained by Bishop Pat Storey. The service took place in St Brigid’s Cathedral, Kildare, and the preacher was Philip’s father and rector of Whitechurch, Dublin, Canon Horace McKinley.
Philip brings a lot of life experience to his new role. “I was born and raised in Whitechurch Parish and more recently I attended Holy Trinity Rathmines, both of which are located in the United Dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough. I have served with a variety of projects and committees within the local and national church. I am married to Julie, who works for the National Bible Society of Ireland and we have four children aged 16 to 3 – Cameron, Izzy, Eva and Tami. I am deeply inspired by the loving breadth and width of Christ’s embrace on the cross, which enfolds all of humanity,” says Philip.
Despite “a fair few” clergy in his family tree, he did not rush into the decision to get ordained. “Ultimately it was the death of
Philip is ordained by Bishop Pat Storey
three ordained friends, Church of Ireland and Methodist, within a short space of time, that really got me thinking more deeply about a call that I had struggled for some time to shake off,” he reflects.
INTERCULTURAL
Philip has a national profile as a singer/ songwriter and cofounder of the Discovery Gospel Choir, an intercultural ensemble that reflects the cultural and ethnic diversity in Ireland.
“I went to Uganda in 2001, and you had the Lord’s Resistance Army, which was a Christian fundamentalist military group, and I met many refugees that were affected by that. Literally as soon as I came back, I started studying theology in Trinity College in Dublin, and I got involved on my first day in a homework club for unaccompanied minors who are here without their parents as refugees. The first student I was assigned in this St Vincent de Paul homework club was a Ugandan refugee who was fleeing the Lord’s Resistance Army. So as a young student, the global became the local, and twice a week, I was meeting this young student for homework grinds. Out of that homework club came the kernel of the group that formed the Discovery Gospel Choir. It’s grown and grown and grown, and has lots of different dimensions. The Discovery Gospel Choir is an intercultural choir for a new Ireland.”
Philip’s membership of his choir would serve him well during his ordination. In keeping with COVID-19 guidelines there was no congregational singing, and music was provided by an organist. During the service, several pieces were sung by a small group from the Discovery Gospel Choir. An Irish version of the Lord’s Prayer was also sung by a Japanese member of the choir. Memorably, members of the congregation were invited to do the Jerusalema dance in the cathedral grounds!
Philip has worked extensively in faith-based reconciliation and social initiatives for the Irish Council of Churches. He feels enriched because of his ecumenical contacts.
“I have worked across Christian denominations through the Irish Council of Churches, so this has been my heart’s work for about 20 years. I managed to connect with an incredible peace activist in West Belfast from a very famous street called Falls Road, Fr Martin McGill.
“He spoke at the funeral of a journalist who was murdered in Northern Ireland. Her name was Lyra McKee. She was just 29 years old. All the politicians – Theresa May, then the British prime minister, and all the Northern Irish politicians and Irish politicians – all gathered in the front row. The Northern Irish political institutions at the time had not been functioning. Fr Martin asked: ‘Why in God’s name does it take the death of a young woman to bring you politicians together?’ It got a standing ovation, and these famous words went worldwide, and it broke a deadlock; and, lo and behold, the politicians got back dialoguing together,” recalls Philip.
“It showed that things can happen when we bring people together and try to forge a better future; and helping to build a better future is what I hope my life as a priest will be.”
A native of Roscommon, John Scally lectures in Theology in Trinity College Dublin.
Philip and friends dance the Jerusalema after his ordination
