TRÓCAIRE PAYS TRIBUTE TO SALLY O'NEILL
May 2015
TERESA OF AVILA 500TH BIRTHDAY OF A REMARKABLE SAINT
PAUL CLOGHER ON CINEMA AND PRAYER
Informing, Inspiring, Challenging Today’s Catholic
THE PRAYER ISSUE HOW I PRAY
PERSONAL APPROACHES TO PRAYER
PRAYING IN THE CELTIC MOULD
EXAMINING OUR UNIQUELY IRISH APPROACH TO PRAYER
ST ALPHONSUS
REDEMPTORIST FOUNDER ON PRAYER
PLUS CARMEL WYNNE ON TEACHING RESPONSIBILITY SÉAMUS ENRIGHT ON HELPFUL PRAYER AIDS
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THE PRAYER ISSUE FEATURES 12 HOW I PRAY How four individuals approach prayer By Tríona Doherty
17 PRAYING IN THE IRISH CELTIC MOULD Meeting God the Irish way By John J. Ó Riordáin CSsR
23 ST TERESA OF AVILA Celebrating a saint and teacher By Brendan McConvery CSsR
28 BEYOND THE SCREEN Cinema as an aid to prayer By Paul Clogher
31 ALPHONSUS DE LIGUORI ON PRAYER Steps to bring us closer to God By Dennis J. Billy CSsR
36 I BELIEVE IN THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD Making sense of the afterlife By Thomas G. Casey SJ
OPINION 11 SÉAMUS ENRIGHT CSsR 16 KATY DOBEY 27 CARMEL WYNNE 47 PETER Mc VERRY SJ
REGULARS 04 REALITY BITES 07 POPE MONITOR 08 FEAST OF THE MONTH 09 REFLECTIONS 40 TRÓCAIRE: DEVELOPMENT IN ACTION 42 UNDER THE MICROSCOPE: AIDS TO PRAYER 44 GOD’S WORD
REALITY BITES FR CULLINAN ORDAINED BISHOP OF WATERFORD AND LISMORE WATERFORD
BRINGING CHRIST TO ALL Courtesy of mic.ul.ie
Newly ordained Bishop of Waterford and Lismore Alphonsus Cullinan
MARY AIKENHEAD 4 DECLARED VENERABLE ROME
AHEAD OF HER TIME
“We are called to step out from the doors of the Church to bring Christ to all we meet. This is our mission: to be filled with Christ and to bring Him to others. Christ has no body now but yours and mine.” These were the words of the newly ordained Bishop of Waterford and Lismore Alphonsus Cullinan, whose Episcopal Ordination Mass was celebrated in the Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity, Waterford on Sunday April 12. Born in Lahinch, Co Clare in 1959, Fr Cullinan is a priest of the diocese of Limerick. He was ordained in 1994, and was appointed curate in Saint Munchin’s Parish in Limerick city. His next appointment was as chaplain to the
Regional Hospital in Limerick from 1996 until 2001. Fr Cullinan studied for his doctorate in moral theology in the Alphonsianum in Rome from 2001 until 2004. On his return to Ireland he was appointed chaplain to the Limerick Institute of Technology until 2011, and his most recent appointment was as parish priest of Rathkeale in County Limerick. Speaking at his ordination, Bishop Cullinan highlighted the importance of putting ourselves at the service of others, “especially those most in need in our society: the poor, the sick, the vulnerable, those who feel alienated from God, and those on the margins”.
during a stay with a friend in Dublin in 1808, she decided to devote herself to religious life and was invited by Archbishop Daniel Murray of Dublin to establish a new institute. The Religious Sisters of Charity are known for their work in caring for those in need in Ireland, the UK, Australia, Zambia , California , Nigeria and Malawi. Congregational leader Sr Mary Christian described
Mary Aikenhead as “a woman ahead of her time”. “All around her she saw the plight of people who were poor and suffering. Her great faith and trust in Divine Providence enabled her and the first Religious Sisters of Charity to provide education for poor children, establish medical facilities for those in need of health care, and to visit the sick and poor in their homes,” she said.
Mary Aikenhead
The founder of the Religious Sisters of Charity, Cork woman Mary Aikenhead, has been declared ‘venerable’ by Pope Francis, putting her a step closer to sainthood. Mary Aikenhead founded the congregation in 1815 to serve the poor and suffering people of the time. Born in Cork in 1787, Mary was baptised an Anglican but was later received into the Catholic Church at the age of 15. Becoming aware of the appalling levels of poverty REALITY MAY 2015
The 1958 Centenary of death logo
N E WS
BEHEADED EGYPTIAN CHRISTIANS MADE SAINTS
5
©Tony Rezk
Twenty-one Christians killed in Libya earlier this year by the militias of the Islamic caliphate have been entered into the ranks of the saints. Patriarch of the Coptic Church, Tawadros II, moved immediately to have their names included in the Synaxarium, the martyrology of the Coptic Church. Their feast day will be the eighth day of
the month of Amshir, which corresponds to 15 February in the Gregorian calendar, the day the video of their killing was released by the caliphate. The video clearly showed the men praying and calling on the name of Jesus in Arabic at the moment of their deaths. Particularly clear are the words of Milad Saber, the son of farmers
from a village in central Egypt. Fourteen of the martyrs came from Al-Our and six from other villages in the same region in Egypt, while one, Matthew Ayariga was a native of Ghana. Egyptian president Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi has announced the construction of a church in Minya, the capital of central Egypt, in honour of the martyrs.
CATHOLICS AND MUSLIMS CELEBRATE ANNUNCIATION TOGETHER A joint prayer service was held between French Catholics and Muslims outside Paris on 21 March, to mark the Feast of the Bishop Michel Dubost Annunciation on 25 March. The well-attended two-hour service featured hymns to Mary in French and Arabic, readings of the Annunciation accounts from the Gospel and the Qur’an, and statements by people from both
faiths about the importance of Mary in their lives. The ‘Together with Mary’ service had its origins in a Lebanese tradition, with plans beginning over a year ago, but the initiative took on an added significance in the wake of the Charlie Hedbo killings and subsequent efforts to promote dialogue and understanding. Head of interfaith relations for the French Bishops Conference, Bishop Michel Dubost, and Muslim chairman of Religions for Peace in France, Ghaleb Bencheikh, were among the faith leaders at the event. “This communion between the two religions exists in Lebanon and we wanted to establish it here,” said Bishop Dubost. continued on page 6
REALITY BITES THEOLOGIAN ASKS BISHOPS TO RESTORE MISSAL TRANSLATION AUSTRALIA
SIMPLE, DIRECT PRAYER
Fr Gerard O’Collins, an Australian Jesuit and former professor of theology at the Gregorian University, has issued a heart-felt Fr Gerard O’Collins SJ plea to the Bishops of the English-speaking world to substitute the 1998 translation of the Roman Missal for the present one
introduced in 2011. Recalling that he had taught many of the bishops when they were students in Rome, he commented on the style of the 2010 missal. Observing that its defenders claimed that it was aiming at a solemn or “sacral style”, Fr O’Collins said that such a style was ”something that is alien to the direct and familiar way of speaking to God and about God practised by the psalmists and taught by Jesus. He never encouraged us to say: ‘graciously grant, we pray, that you give us our daily bread’, or ‘may thy will, we pray, O Lord, be done through
your prevenient grace’. He asked us to pray simply and directly to God: ‘thy will be done; give us this day our daily bread’.” Fr O’Collins believes that if both versions are compared, “there should be no debate about the version to choose. Like the Lord’s Prayer and like the Psalms, which fed the prayer life of Jesus, the 1998 translation is straightforward. As an example of genuine English, it is incomparably better than that imposed on English-speaking Catholics in November 2011.”
PRIESTS REBUKED OVER LETTER RESISTING CHANGE ENGLAND
6
SYNOD ON THE FAMILY
A UK cardinal has rebuked the almost 500 priests in England and Wales who signed a letter resisting any change to church teaching at the forthcoming Synod on the Family. Cardinal Vincent Nichols said that discussions between priests and bishops before the October Synod in the Vatican should not be conducted through the media, after the letter was published in the Catholic press in March. Some 461 priests signed the letter which called on the Synod to proclaim the church’s “unchanging moral teaching”
Cardinal Vincent Nichols
and to resist any move toward allowing divorced and remarried people to receive communion. In the letter the priests wrote: “We wish, as
Catholic priests, to re-state our unwavering fidelity to the traditional doctrines regarding marriage and the true meaning of human sexuality, founded on the Word of God and taught by the Church’s Magisterium for two millennia.” In the wake of the letter’s publication, Cardinal Nichols issued a statement saying that every priest was being asked to reflect on the discussions of the Synod, and that their pastoral experience and concern are of “great importance”. However he said the “dialogue between a priest and his bishop is not best conducted through the press”.
CHRISTIANS SHOULD BE AGENTS OF RECONCILIATION BELFAST
PEACE PROJECT
Church leaders in Northern Ireland issued a statement following the recent international conference of the Irish Churches Peace Project, calling on all Christians to be “agents of reconciliation” in their communities. The ‘Faithful Peacebuilding’ conference held in Belfast involved leaders from the Church of Ireland, Catholic, Presbyterian and Methodist churches. The ICPP seeks to promote reconciliation in communities in Northern Ireland and the border region through the churches working together “Against the backdrop of continuing political REALITY MAY 2015
instability, the experience of the Irish Churches Peace Project highlights the contribution of local leadership in rebuilding trust and overcoming remaining obstacles to peace in our society,” said the statement. “Our pastoral experience makes us acutely aware that we cannot afford to be complacent about the enduring impact of division in our society. The threat to social cohesion arising from growing socio-economic inequality is a particular concern, notably in its implications for the younger generations. “The work of peace is central to the Christian call to love of neighbour and as Christians we have a particular responsibility to be agents of
reconciliation in our communities, seeking to bring a message of hope and healing to those who are suffering.”
Courtesy of catholicbishops.ie
Terry Waite and Bishop Donal McKeown share a joke at the conference
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POPE MONITOR KEEPING UP WITH POPE FRANCIS POPE FRANCIS PROCLAIMS HOLY YEAR OF MERCY Celebrating the first vespers for Divine Mercy Sunday on April 11, Pope Francis formally delivered the ‘Bull of Indiction’ or proclamation of the Pope Francis processes into St Peter's Basilica to extraordinary Holy Year of Mercy, which will commence on 8 December celebrate first vespers of 2015. Portions of the document, entitled Misericordiae Vultus (‘The Face Divine Mercy Sunday at the of Mercy’) were read in front of the Holy Door at St Peter’s Basilica. This Vatican door is normally sealed, but is opened at the beginning of a jubilee year. Holy Years are usually held every 25 years; the last one was the jubilee of the year 2000. Extraordinary Holy Years are less frequent, but offer opportunities for spiritual growth, conversion and repentence, and to experience God’s grace through the sacraments. “Why a Jubilee of Mercy today? Simply because the Church, in this time of great historical change, is called to offer more evident signs of God’s presence and closeness … This is a time for the Church to rediscover the meaning of the mission entrusted to her by the Lord on the day of Easter: to be a sign and an instrument of the Father’s mercy,” said Pope Francis in his homily. In the document convoking the year, the pope called for the church to refashion itself as a place of pardon and merciful love, rather than judgement. “The church’s very credibility is seen in how she shows merciful and compassionate love… Perhaps we have long since forgotten how to show and live the way of mercy,” the Pope writes. “It is time to return to the basics and to bear the weaknesses and struggles of our brothers and sisters." The commencement of the Holy Year, 8 December 2015, marks the 50th anniversary of the closing of the Second Vatican Council. The year will close on 20 November 2016, the Feast of Christ the King.
POPE WASHES FEET OF PRISONERS ON HOLY THURSDAY For the second year in succession, Pope Francis visited a prison for the evening Mass of the Lord's Supper on Holy Thursday. The highpoint of that Mass is always the washing of the feet and the Pope washed the feet of twelve prisoners, plus one small baby whose mother cares for him in prison. Pope Francis' sermons are always direct and simple. Speaking spontaneously, he reminded his congregation how in Jesus' time, people's feet would be dirty from wearing sandals on dusty roads and when they visited friends, the first sign of welcome was to wash their feet. Often this was done by a slave; to the apostles' shock and incomprehension, the pope said, Jesus did it himself. He loved people so much that "he became a slave in order to serve us, heal us, cleanse us”. Explaining that is why the church has the priest wash the feet of twelve people, he said everyone must “have the certainty in our hearts, we must be sure that when the Lord washes our foot, he washes away everything, he purifies us, he makes us feel his love once more”. The people whose feet he would wash, he said, would be representing everyone, all 2,100 people in the prison. He said that he, too, needed to be cleansed by the Lord, and asked that all of them pray that “the Lord also wash away my filth so that I become more of your servant, more of a servant in the service of the people, like Jesus was”.
HOMELESS PEOPLE JOINED BY POPE ON SISTINE CHAPEL TOUR
7 A homeless woman walks past a Swiss guard as she enters the Vatican
While enjoying a private visit to the Sistine Chapel, a group of 150 homeless people were surprised by a visit from Pope Francis. The group had just reached the Sistine Chapel during their tour of the Vatican Gardens and Museums when Pope Francis walked in the door to join them. “Welcome. This is everyone's house, this is your home. The doors are always open for all,” he said. Greeting each guest individually, he added: “Pray for me. I'm in need of prayers by people like you. May the Lord protect and help you on the path of life and let you feel his tender, fatherly love.” The group of homeless people, who live around the Vatican, were special guests of the papal almoner Archbishop Konrad Krajewski.
FEAST OF THE MONTH THE VISITATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
Reality Volume 80. No. 4 May 2015 A Redemptorist Publication ISSN 0034-0960 Published by The Irish Redemptorists, 75 Orwell Road, Rathgar, Dublin 6, Republic of Ireland Tel: 00353 (0)1 4922488 Fax: 00353 (0)1 4927999 Web: www.redcoms.org Email: sales@redcoms.org (With permission of C.Ss.R.)
MAY 31 The Church of the Visitation in Ein Karem, Israel
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The history of the Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, considering that the story is taken straight from Luke’s Gospel, is unusual. It is not an ancient or universal feast, being of medieval and western origin. It was promoted by St Bonaventure and adopted by the Franciscans in 1263. It became a feast of the worldwide Catholic Church in 1389 but was only adopted by the Orthodox churches in the 19th century. The feast was celebrated on July 2 for over 600 years until Blessed Pope Paul VI moved it to May 31 in 1969 as part of the reform of the church’s liturgical year. He decided it was an appropriate feast for the final day of Mary’s Month of May and also wanted to locate it, for symbolic reasons, between the Feasts of the Annunciation on March 25 and the Nativity of St John the Baptist on June 24. German Catholics and Lutherans continue to celebrate the Feast on July 2 and the Orthodox churches celebrate it on March 30. St John Paul II, preaching on the Feast of the Visitation in 1979, highlights the fact that “the mystery of the Visitation is a mystery of joy. John the Baptist exults with joy in the womb of St Elizabeth; the latter, rejoicing in the joys of motherhood, bursts out into blessings of the Lord; Mary pours forth the Magnificat, a hymn overflowing with messianic joy.” Jesus is the source of that joy and he begins his saving work while still in Mary’s womb. The Visitation is not just a mystery of joy. It is also, to quote Blessed Paul VI, an example of Mary’s “active love”. We see this active love at work in Elizabeth’s house, at Cana and on Calvary. Many of us will have experienced Mary’s active love in our own lives. Mary’s “attitude of humble service and disinterested love for those in need” (St John Paul II) is deeply embedded in St Luke’s account of the Visitation (Luke 1:39-56). I have always been fascinated by Luke’s description of Mary rushing off to visit Elizabeth: “In those days Mary set out with haste to a Judean town in the hill country”. Mary holds nothing back. The church invites us to follow her example. The opening prayer for the Feast of the Visitation highlights the role of the Holy Spirit in Mary’s decision to visit Elizabeth: ‘Almighty ever-living God, who, while the Blessed Virgin Mary was carrying your Son in her womb, inspired her to visit Elizabeth, grant us, we pray, that, faithful to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, we may magnify your greatness with the Virgin Mary at all times.’ Maybe we can make this prayer our own during Mary’s Month of May, especially when we contemplate the mystery of the Visitation as we pray the Rosary, praying that like Mary we will always be open to ‘the promptings of the Holy Spirit’. Séamus Enright CSsR REALITY MAY 2015
Publisher Séamus Enright CSsR Editor of this issue Séamus Enright CSsR editor@redcoms.org Coordinating Editor Tríona Doherty Design & Layout David Mc Namara CSsR Business Manager Paul Copeland sales@redcoms.org Circulation Claire Carmichael ccarmichael@redcoms.org Finance Administrator Veronique Coller vcoller@redcoms.org +353-1-4067272 Administration Michelle McKeon mmckeon@redcoms.org +353-1-4922488 Printed by Turners Printing, Longford Photo Credits Catholic News Service, Shutterstock REALITY SUBSCRIPTIONS Through a promoter (Ireland only) €18 or £15 Annual Subscription by post: Ireland €22 or £18 UK £25 Europe €35 Rest of the world €45 Please send all payments to: Redemptorist Communications, 75 Orwell Road, Rathgar, Dublin 6, Republic of Ireland CORRECTION Brian Conway, the author of The Lure of Seminary (October 2014 issue), would like to add the following copyright citation to his article: With kind permission from Springer Science+Business Media: Review of Religious Research, The Lure of an Irish Catholic Diocesan Seminary, 56, 2014, 487-488, Brian Conway. The author regrets this error. When you have finished with this magazine, please pass it to another reader or recycle it. Thank you.
REFLECTIONS Half an hour’s meditation is essential, except when you are busy. Then a full hour is needed. FRANCIS DE SALES
All great art is a visual form of prayer. SR WENDY BECKETT
It is a wonderful gift when a person prays for you. One of the greatest shelters in your life is the circle of invisible prayer that is gathered around you by your friends here and in the unseen world. JOHN O’DONOHUE
Enclosure is a means to nurturing a life of prayer. It’s a freedom rather than a restriction. SR MONICA LAWLESS
It is good for us to keep some account of our prayers, that we may not unsay them in our practice. MATTHEW HENRY
Prayer is not asking. Prayer is putting oneself in the hands of God, at his disposition, and listening to his voice in the depth of our hearts.
When we lose one blessing, another is often most unexpectedly given in its place. C.S. LEWIS
MOTHER TERESA
I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for that day. ABRAHAM LINCOLN
For me prayer is a surge of the heart, it is a simple look towards Heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy.
I raise up my voice – not so I can shout but so that those without a voice can be heard. We cannot succeed when half of us are held back. MALALA YOUSAFZAI
CHARLES READE
If you aren’t in over your head, how do you know how tall you are? T.S. ELIOT
I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship. LOUISA MAY ALCOTT
There is nothing quite so tragic as a young cynic, because it means the person has gone from knowing nothing to believing nothing. MAYA ANGELOU
The actions of men are the best interpreters of their thoughts. JAMES JOYCE
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR
How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world. ANNE FRANK
What is essential is invisible to the eye.
There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.
ANTOINE DE SAINT-EXUPÉRY
EDITH WHARTON
ST THERESE OF LISIEUX
Sow a thought, and you reap an act; Sow an act, and you reap a habit; Sow a habit, and you reap a character; Sow a character, and you reap a destiny.
O Master, make me chaste, but not yet! ST AUGUSTINE
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Personal Prayer Living in love with God Redemptorist Father John Trenchard is a popular spiritual guide and retreat-giver. Now in Personal Prayer he shares with the reader the richness and depth of his experience and understanding of prayer and its impact. Using true examples, which illustrate the whole spectrum of the challenges we face in our personal prayer lives, Fr John offers clear and simple connections with scripture and meditation ideas which are reflective and inspirational.
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The icon of the Mother of Perpetual Help is probably the best known of all the images of our Blessed Lady.
In this beautiful booklet, Fr George Wadding CSsR leads us into meditation on the various messages contained in the icon of the Mother of Perpetual Help and suggests a simple prayer after each meditation. Read each meditation slowly and in an atmosphere of prayer. You will find yourself drawn closer and closer to the hearts of Jesus and Mary. Redemptorist Communications, 75 Orwell Road, Rathgar, Dublin 6
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EDI TO R I A L UP FRONT SÉAMUS ENRIGHT CSsR
PREPARING A SUNDAY HOMILY
I
enjoy preaching. It was preaching, especially during the celebration of parish missions, and a good sense of community that drew me to the Redemptorists. I only discovered after joining the congregation that these were part of the legacy of St Alphonsus de Liguori. One of Alphonsus’ many achievements was to ‘democratise’ preaching by insisting that the early Redemptorists preach in plain, simple language. The fact that I enjoy preaching does not mean that it is always easy. Preparation can be especially difficult at times. I am writing this on Low Sunday and it took me most of the past week to discover an approach to preaching on today’s Gospel (John 20:19-31). It is a compelling Gospel with its stories of two visits from the Risen Lord after his resurrection. Thomas was absent the first time and present for the second visit. I felt that the congregation here in Mount St Alphonsus, where I am a member of the community, had been sufficiently exposed to preaching about Thomas’ doubt and disbelief. I had preached on the Five Wounds myself in recent years and was not drawn to this approach this time. I continue to be fascinated by the fact that the Risen Lord carried the wounds of Calvary on his body and that these wounds helped his fearful and confused followers to recognise him. As I read the text and pondered it in prayer, my mind began to focus on the absence of Thomas. “Thomas, called the Twin, who was one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.” Why was he missing? Where was he? What was he doing? I began to notice what he had missed because of his absence. Read the Gospel and you’ll see this for yourself. Bill Bausch, an American Catholic priest and
preacher, coined the phrase the ‘Thomas Syndrome’ to describe the ways in which we can absent ourselves from the life of our communities. Bausch highlights the fact that many Catholics are “absent from a knowledge of the faith” and how this diminishes their effectiveness when called to the work of evangelisation. Many believers don’t know enough about their faith to be able to defend it.
I now had the bones for my Low Sunday Homily. The stories of Mary and Thomas reflect back to us aspects of our own lives. Thomas mirrors absence, doubt, disbelief. Mary mirrors presence, perseverance, persistence. The ancient tradition of the church is that both Mary and Thomas remained faithful: Mary preaching the Gospel in Provence in France and Thomas taking the message to Kerala in India
I decided that I would focus on the absence of Thomas in my homily but still lacked a framework. I remember reading The Intellectual Life by Antonin Sertillanges O.P. when I was a young religious. Only one idea from the book has remained with me: a suggestion that we keep a pen and pad near us when we sleep. Fr Sertillanges knew that ideas come to us in sleep and that we are in danger of losing them if we don’t wake sufficiently to jot down the idea. I woke the other night with an idea floating in my mind that I should contrast the present Mary of Magdala with the absent Thomas and that I could lead into the homily with one of my favourite quotations from Pope Gregory VII: “The Holy Bible is like a mirror before our mind’s eye. In it we see our inner face.” My take on the quotation goes as follows: Scripture is like a mirror. We look into it and see our own stories reflected back to us.
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Séamus Enright CSsR Editor
C OVE R STO RY
HOW I 12
REALITY MAY 2015
WPRAY
Prayer Special
IT IS SAID THERE ARE AS MANY WAYS OF PRAYING AS THERE ARE PEOPLE IN THE WORLD. HERE FOUR PEOPLE TALK ABOUT WHAT PRAYER MEANS TO THEM AND HOW THEY APPROACH THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD. BY TRĹONA DOHERTY
How
do you pray? Is there a right or a wrong way of doing it? Should we pray standing up or sitting down, alone or in company, in the church or outdoors in nature, in stillness and silence or with tambourines and songs of praise? And when we do pray, what should we pray about? Questions about how we pray are as old as the church itself. Even the first disciples
weren’t quite sure how to go about things, and approached Jesus to ask him ‘Lord, teach us to pray’ (Luke 11:1). In response, of course, he gave them the words of what we now know as the ‘Our Father’. But Jesus himself often withdrew to quiet places to spend time alone in prayer too. And as we know from the Passion accounts, he was not averse to calling on God in moments of anguish and desperation: ‘Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me’ (Luke 22:42).
Down through the ages the church has focused on different forms of prayer, from communal, vocal prayer to meditation and contemplative prayer. Many Catholics pray the daily Divine Office or have developed their own form of daily devotion. No two people will have the exact same experience of praying; here, four individuals tell us how they approach prayer.
‘THANK GOD’
For
Ann Holly is a teacher from Limerick
me, prayer and faith are inex tric ab ly linke d. My childhood memories are entwined with prayers learned at different stages of my faith journey, the prayers after communion learned for first communion, my grandmother teaching me ‘Lord make me an instrument of your peace’, and the family rosary before bed at home. Prayer was how I communicated with God. However, seven years ago my life threw me an obstacle which proved too great for my faith to surmount. The effect of this obstacle on my faith was revealed when I was called upon to recite a decade of the rosary and halfway through the first ‘Hail Mary’ I found myself completely unable to continue. I could not form the words. I felt humiliated and lost; the prayers which had been a touchstone for my faith could not
help me when I most needed them. From that point onwards I could no longer pray. I attended Mass and frequently attempted prayer but I was unable to gain any solace from traditional prayer. I devised my own method of giving thanks at the end of each day for the goodness I had encountered, but I felt uncertain as to whom I offered this gratitude. I continued my faith struggle until August of last year. I welcomed my firstborn into the world and as I looked at his perfection I found myself repeating, aloud, the words “Thank God”. My experience of his birth filled up my faith cup and has allowed me the freedom of, once again, expressing my faith through prayer. Early one morning when I had returned home after his birth, I
discovered the Redemptorist Mission and Novena Book on my bookshelf. I flicked to the morning prayer and began to recite it aloud, and it felt like coming home. Since then, each morning and night, I recite the prayers from this little book. They are not
I welcomed my firstborn into the world and as I looked at his perfection I found myself repeating, aloud, the words “Thank God” unlike the thanksgivings I offered at the end of each day during my faith struggle but I am now certain to whom I offer my gratitude.
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Prayer Special
A LOVING ENCOUNTER
Patrick Muldoon is from Mullingar and works with the Irish Jesuits on Sacred Space and Communications
Prayer
14
is an essential part of my life. It is through prayer that I enter into a conversation with God. Having a sustained period of prayer each day helps me to live out my Christianity in practice. This is a constant challenge but it is the means by which my faith can become something real and active. As my spiritual life developed I was led to explore more deeply my personal relationship with Jesus and be more open to the presence of the Holy Spirit. I have come to encounter the love of Jesus in a deep and personal way through Eucharistic Adoration. Spending time in adoration gives me peace. I gaze at Jesus, truly present in the Blessed Sacrament and I receive the gift of his unconditional love. I have learned to trust in his providence and the plan that he has for my life. This helps
me to let go of my own struggles and instead focus on living in the present moment with an attitude of gratitude for all I’ve been given. I try to have a simple conversation with the Lord, thanking him for the people he has put in my path, and for the experiences that I’ve lived. Then I listen to the Holy Spirit speaking to me in my heart and ask Mary to accompany me in my walk of faith. My participation in Youth 2000 helped me to deepen my personal faith and use my gifts and talents for active service in the Church, while being part of the Emmanuel Community has helped me to become more rooted in God by having regular times of praise and Eucharistic adoration, which helps me to
reach out in compassion towards others and commit myself to evangelisation. By having a deepened awareness of God’s presence in the various activities of my day I am able to strive better toward the goal of living out the Christian life well. This is a
I try to have a simple conversation with the Lord, thanking him for the people he has put in my path, and for the experiences that I’ve lived prayer I try to renew each day, inviting God to be present in all the encounters I have, in my daily work, in my leisure time, and just in my being.
STILLNESS AMID THE CHAOS
Michelle Ryan is a mother and music teacher from Thurles who specialises in liturgical music
I’d
love to say I pray the rosary every day; I also dream of praying the Divine Office regularly. I wish I could remember to even bless myself when I wake up. I want to pray always, but I seem to forget constantly! Writing these
to know God is hugely important to me. I want them to know Christ, because my own encounter with Christ changed my life. So, on the way to school in the mornings, we try to remember to say our morning offering, and we pray for family, friends, the children’s teachers and Daddy at work. Back at home, I tune into local Mass on the radio to hear the readings and try to catch a line or two for reflection during the day. Some of the most powerful experiences of prayer for me have been during the liturgy of the hours with the Cistercian monks in Roscrea and the Cistercian nuns in Glencairn, and also at an annual charismatic week in Fanore, Co Clare. I have a deep passion for liturgical music: sometimes my prayer is sitting at the piano,
If I want to know God more, I realise that I need to listen for his voice few lines makes me wonder if I pray properly at all. I heard at a retreat once that there are as many ways of praying as there are people on the planet. This gave me great confidence to find my own way of praying. As a 34-year-old married woman, with four children, life is busy! My desire for the children
REALITY MAY 2015
singing my favourite hymns, alone or with others. This form of prayer is very powerful and moving for me. But, more and more, prayer, for me, is about quietness. I’ve learned about Christian meditation and the joy and contentment it can bring to one’s daily life. If I want to know God more, I realise that I need to listen for his voice. I want to be guided by him to live the life he wants me to lead and to do his will. For now, the morning offering, the everyday ascending thoughts of “Help me Lord”; “give me patience”; “make me gentle”; “please sort this problem”; “send money!”, our night prayer and Sunday Mass constitutes my prayer life. I think it’s not enough, but then, in all the madness, I forget about doing more; I trust in our amazing God of love and mercy.
EACH DAY IN THE HEART OF GOD
I
Anna McNevin is a primary school teacher from Co Meath
like to start and end my day with a consecration to Mary. It really helps me to put each day where it belongs, in the heart of God. I find doing this and repeating “Jesus I trust in you” when coming across any difficulty throughout the day keep all my worries and cares in perspective. I remember that God is in control and he is amazing! One of the pillars of the Emmanuel Community is adoration. Any time I get in front of the Blessed Sacrament is truly precious. It is a time when I can properly listen to God's voice in scripture and in my heart. It is a blessed time of closeness with the Lord. If I have been praying for guidance or struggling with a problem it is often during adoration I will begin to see the way to go. I
always leave adoration feeling renewed and reinvigorated for my walk with God. No matter how tired I was entering adoration I leave buzzing full of energy ready to take on the world. I also enjoy praising with brothers and sisters in community. Praise alters my attitude to one of gratefulness to God instead of one of constant moaning for things I need (which I can sometimes get caught up in). It is powerful to pray together thanking God for all the wonders he has given us. At this time we are united in our dependence on God and that is liberating. Through the scripture shared by brothers and sisters God speaks to us. He reassures, guides, strengthens and heals.
Repeating “Jesus I trust in you” when coming across any difficulty throughout the day keep all my worries and cares in perspective
Tríona Doherty is a journalist with the Advertiser newspaper group and is a regular contributor to Reality.
SEEK A NEW DIRECTION
EXPLORE RELIGIOUs SISTERS OF CHA RIT Y
The Love of Christ urges us on – as Sisters of Charity we continue to live a journey of loving service in the Spirit of our Foundress Mary Aikenhead who spent her life in love serving ‘God’s nobility the suffering poor’. The rest of your life is starting now – Is God inviting you to share in this same journey of loving service as a Sister of Charity, as a friend of Mary Aikenhead or as volunteer in one of our services?
Take the first step and contact Sr. Rita Wynne on 086 343 4448 or email ritawynnersc@eircom.net
You can also get more information on our website www.religioussistersofcharity.ie
COMMENT THE WAY I SEE IT KATY DOBEY
¿CÓMO ESTÁS?
TACKLING A NEW LANGUAGE IS FAR FROM CHILD’S PLAY
16
In January, I started learning Spanish. Apart from a brief sojourn with my own ignorance while on holidays in Spain a few years ago, I have never needed to nor sought to learn this language before. However, the idea came into my head over Christmas and I was curious and enthusiastic enough to start an evening course in the new year. It was a practical step in what is a far-fetched ambition to one day see some of South America and to be able to converse and communicate in the local language. It all sounded easy in January, but five months on, it seems like a lifetime’s worth of ambition. My own language learning methods have been mixed and maybe they gave me a false (yet remarkably inspiring) sense of confidence when I began my latest effort to learn a new language. I was lucky to pick up German easily as a child. It has taken me five months to learn some basic sentences and vocabulary in Spanish, whereas I was a fluent German-speaker after five months of living in Germany at the age of seven. I guess the linguists must be right when they say language acquisition comes easier to children! I guess they’re also right when they recommend immersion for language education. But just because I am short on time on both of these counts doesn’t mean I am going to stop now. REALITY MAY 2015
that their teacher speaks perfect English after all.
I was lucky to be able to lure my Dad into the language learning game too. He agreed to join me at the classes and together we spent 10 one-and-a-half hour sessions describing ourselves. We listed simple facts: physical descriptions of ourselves, hobbies, work life, health, food and families. Off the top of my head, I can only remember a handful of these now. I learnt the usual skills. I can ask for directions, but have no confidence in understanding a native speaker’s (or even my fellow students’) response. However, with two of us learning together, we can practise together and remind each other of what the other has forgotten. So far it is working well, much better than had I started out alone, but even still it is a far cry from the total immersion tactic I see every day in the Gaelscoil where I work. In our school, we follow a policy of tumoideachas, which means that the children are totally
immersed in the Irish language for the first one and a half years of their education. That means that for all of junior infants and for the first term of senior infants, the children do no English lessons. They learn the alphabet, their reading and their writing, as well as all their other subjects, through Irish alone. Although the junior infants come to school with little to no Irish language skills, it is through this process of immersion that they gradually pick up their second (or sometimes third) language. Although the junior infants constantly speak to me in English, the fact that I only ever answer in Irish leads them to the conclusion that I don’t speak English, encouraging them to make the effort to use as much of the second language as possible. It is always with great awe and excitement that the children begin English lessons in January of senior Infants. They are totally shocked
In this year’s junior infants class, there is one child who has been brought up with Spanish and English by his English-speaking father and Spanish-speaking mother. His language skills are excellent and he has been unfazed by the addition of an Irishspeaking teacher. In the last few weeks, I have been disassembling the illusion that I only speak Irish, as I have been practising my broken Spanish on him each day at lunch time. Every day, he needs help opening his juice box and every day I rack my brains thinking of some appropriate Spanish questions to ask or phrases to say in this brief window of opportunity, where I have his total attention, while I remove the straw from its packet and pierce the carton. Each day I am startled by my lack of knowledge! No matter how many lists of vocabulary I learn, how many adverbs, determiners, verbs and conjunctions, I can never think of innovative ways to use them when faced with this real, live Spanishspeaking child. It appears I still have a lot of work to do. Hopefully, it will be a long journey. Although the course has now finished, I hope I can keep myself motivated enough to keep it up, as it will surely take many years to eventually reach my ambition.
Prayer Special
PRAYING IN THE IRISH CELTIC MOULD
E XAMINING OUR UNIQUELY IRISH APPROACH TO PRAYER AND SPIRITUALITY 17
BY JOHN J. Ó RIORDÁIN CSsR
Some
years ago while I was living in Dundalk the railway platform got a facelift. It turned out lovely, if one may so describe a railway station. The brickwork under my feet was so neat and so tidily laid down that I couldn’t but admire it just for its own sake. Time passed until one day in late spring or early summer I was surprised by joy on finding that previously displaced flower beds had left traces that asserted themselves through every crevice in the brickwork, and provided a colourful, geometrically arranged platform of miniature blossoms of which no brick-layer had ever dreamt. Having an ongoing interest in Irish/Celtic spirituality I felt
that what had happened to the platform had a parallel in the story of our Celtic/Irish spiritual tradition. After generations of neglect during persecution and famine the Irish church needed a facelift, and it got it at the Synod of Thurles in 1850. The assembled bishops, and it was only bishops at that time, undertook a thorough reform of church life that set the pattern for Irish Catholicism until the Second Vatican Council over a century later. The goal of the synod was to bring the Irish church into conformity with Roman practice. Thus, immemorial Irish/ Celtic traditions, such as stations, patterns and pilgrimages were severely criticised or banned
entirely. It was evident to the synod that some religious events had degenerated into opportunities for drunkenness, sexual excesses and tribal feuding that all too frequently resulted in grief, bloodshed and loss of life. Th e re fo r m m ov em ent was a resounding success, so much so that it took three or four generations to realise that Thurles had thrown out the proverbial baby with the bathwater. Old ways of prayer that had nourished the roots of the faith since the days of St Patrick had somehow been discarded in favour of new formulations that were Christian and Catholic in content but culturally discordant. The language change from Irish
to English, together with the imagery and wordiness of the new prayers, did little for the faithful. Irish prayer usually took the form of a tête-à-tête, or the chanting of a verse or two into the ear of the Almighty. This was a far cry from the turgid sentences of the newly emerging devotional literature. The comment of Fr Walter Conway, parish priest of Glenamaddy at the turn of the 20th century, is apposite: “The prayers and the religious poems which our ancestors composed and used to repeat, have been given up… pieces which came from the heart of the person who composed them and went straight from the heart of the person who said them to the
Prayer Special
The Celtic/Irish, being a totally rural people, met their God not in the closet nor ‘in a temple made by hands’ but under the canopy of heaven from where they addressed the Rí na nUal, the king of the universe ear of God. And what have we in their place? Ráiméis!” However, like the abolition of the Dundalk flower beds, all was
not lost. Since the 1960s some old expressions of faith and practice have reasserted themselves. Patterns and pilgrimages, for
Available from Redemptorist Communications
Brigid of Ireland
This booklet gives a refreshing new view of our second patron saint. St Brigid of Kildare was a woman before her time in early Christian Ireland. Her faith and energy speaks so much to the ecological and environmental concerns of our time. John J. Ó Ríordáin writes in a simple and affectionate way about this saint. The booklet also provides some reflections about, and prayers to Brigid. Available from Redemptorist Communications www.redcoms.org sales@redcoms.org 00353-1-4922 488 More from this author, go to www.redcoms.org/shop
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example, are being revived in a number of parishes throughout the country and their patrons are not always among the churchgoing population. Whether this phenomenon is indicative of a twilight or dawn remains to be seen; in either instance it would be perilous to neglect it. GOD INTOXICATION John Macquarrie, the Anglican theologian, described the Celtic peoples as “God intoxicated”; and Ernest Renan, the French philosopher, said that the Celts were endowed with “profound feeling and adorable delicacy” in their religious instincts. My life as a parish missioner has given me a unique opportunity to observe the validity of these observations. Standing in O’Connell Avenue in Limerick the evening before the pope’s visit to the city in 1979 I asked a woman why she was going to spend the whole night in the racecourse awaiting the pope’s arrival. ‘’Tis for God I’m doing it,” she replied cheerily. When a neighbour of mine
in Sliabh Luachra was chided for going to such trouble and expense in preparing for the stations she said in a matter of fact manner: “Isn’t God coming to the house!” This is the God intoxication of which Macquarrie speaks. It is the foundation of Irish/Celtic prayer. The heart of all prayer is being in relationship with the divine, with that which we call God. How and where one enters such a realm will vary. Moses prayed with uplifted hands. Jesus ‘in the days of his self-emptying’ found prayer space in the hills, in the synagogue, in the temple at Jerusalem; and presumably before all that, at the Virgin Mother’s knee. In the Christian tradition Anthony the Abbot found God in the vast wasteland of the Egyptian desert. In her childhood Thérèse of Lisieux found her trysting place with the Lord in a little secret nook on the inside of her bed. The Celtic/Irish, being a totally rural people, met their God not in the closet nor ‘in a temple made by hands’ but under
the canopy of heaven from where they addressed the Rí na nUal, the king of the universe. Peig Sayers looked out from her Blasket Island home and addressed the Creator in her own wonderful way: Praise and gratitude to you, Holy Father, Who created the skies and heaven first And after that created the big wet sea And the heaps of fish in it swimming closely. On another occasion addressing Mount Eagle, a familiar landmark on the horizon she prayed, “O Mount Eagle, isn’t it the stately, noble shape you have today on you! It gives me peace of mind to be looking
at your brow without mist.” Neither the grinding poverty of the island nor the tragic loss of her son diverted her from divine wonder: “Great as was my sorrow and heart torment, God of Glory and His Blessed Mother helped me. I was often standing here studying the works of the Creator and tasting his royal sweetness in my heart. Everything he created was a consolation to me, even unto the grief itself; it would make me think deeper.” In a lecture given by the late John Moriarty, at the Galway Pastoral Centre, he expanded on the notion of wonder-prayer in the Irish/Celtic tradition. “I’m thinking,” he said, “of an old woman in the old days in her dark clothes and her apron, and somewhere in the depths of her
Available from Redemptorist Communications
St Columban
Missionary Extraordinaire by John J. Ó Ríordáin C.Ss.R. Loss of Memory can affect nations as well as individuals. Through the publication of his attractive booklets Fr John J. Ó Ríordáin, CSsR nourishes the ‘nation’s memory’, his latest contribution being St Columban, missionary extraordinaire Ireland’s greatest missionary. Columban made such an impact on Continental Europe in the 6th century that he is still remembered there with admiration and wonder. He died at Bobbio near Milan in 615 AD, and next year, his 1400th anniversary, is being celebrated widely on the Continent. We are invited to celebrate at home too; not only for personal reasons but also for the sake of national health! Ó Ríordáin’s booklet is well within people’s reading range; and at €3 it is probably within their financial range as well. Available from Redemptorist Communications www.redcoms.org sales@redcoms.org 00353-1-4922 488
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pocket are the rosary beads. And the rosary beads are about fifteen mysteries: five joyful, five sorrowful, five glorious; and every mystery is a new wonder. And she has the fifteen mysteries in the depth of her pocket; and she can pull them out and all the light of the world is there in her hand. She doesn’t need electricity because she has fifteen mysteries; she has in her hands fifteen astonishments; and that is all the light she wants in the long nights after Samhain.” EVERYDAY PRAYER For the Irish man or woman reared in the countryside there is scarcely a more depressing symbol of rural poverty than a piece of cut-away bog. Looking at such an unproductive patch Patrick Kavanagh notes the presence of so many tiny but ever so colourful bog-land flowers and exclaims: That beautiful, beautiful, beautiful God Was breathing his love by a cut-away bog. Patrick Kavanagh, The One
In the Irish/Celtic tradition such insights are not the preserve of the poets though their expressions may be more memorable. People in their everyday lives pray a great deal more than they realise. They talk to God about all aspects of life – home and family, jobs, romance, health, exams, the lot. They express thanks, wonder, love, and at times are not beyond having a tiff with the Lord of Glory or one of the saints, especially a favourite saint of whom they might have expected more. Some examples from my experience on parish missions will explain. A woman in Limerick city was in the process of telling me about a recent disappointment. She noticed me glance up at a picture of the Sacred Heart on the kitchen wall and coldly interjected, “I’m not talking to him.” “Why?” I inquired. “Did ye have a row?” “We did,” said she. “I asked him to do something for me and he didn’t do it, so I decided to cool him off.” “Well,” said I in a pacifying mood, “I suppose it
19
Prayer Special
was only a lover’s tiff.” “Ah sure that’s all,” she replied as she resumed her story and once again the kitchen temperature rose to normal. In another house in the same city, I found all the holy pictures facing the wall. “Are ye painting?” said I in my innocence. “Not talking to them!” came the
CONTEMPLATING THE MYSTERIES In the Early Irish Church the monastic spirituality focused on Word and Sacrament, Bible and Eucharist. Aspirant monks became literate through familiarity with the psalms and thus things remained for a thousand years. Then during
Climbing Croagh Patrick barefooted, doing the rounds at the holy well, fasting, exercising the above mentioned hospitality, are all part of the religious culture
20
swift reply. I was learning. What had condemned the array of saints to the dog house in this instance I cannot now recall, but I gathered that the situation was not irretrievable. Mention of the saints calls for a brief word on the Drogheda woman who lived alone, that is, according to her parish priest. Armed with this detail I boldly went in and said by way of greeting, “So you’re living alone!” “Alone?” said she, “Not at all; haven’t I himself (Sacred Heart) and herself (Mother of Perpetual Help) and all of these (her favourite saints). Alone! Never a dull moment.”
REALITY MAY 2015
the religious disputes of the 16th century Protestants focused on the Bible and Catholics on the Eucharist. During the following centuries of trouble, and in the absence of church services, Catholic people resorted to the Rosary as the great prayer; and so it remained until more settled times. The choice was excellent because the Rosary could be prayed individually or as a community act; and in theological terms it offered a summary of the chief Christian mysteries. With encouragement from the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s and the rise of the Charismatic Movement soon afterwards, many Irish Catholics began to enrich their spirituality by personal reflection on the Bible, especially the New Testament. Since the days of St Patrick, the Irish/Celtic people have the profoundest reverence for the Holy Trinity as evident from the oral tradition and the surviving corpus of popular prayers. The
direct and familiar language frequently used in such prayers to the Heavenly Father does not emanate from any sense of having a ‘right’ to so address that which we call God. Rather it stems from the warm trusting relationship such as Jesus had when he prayed, “Our Father who art in heaven”. More often than not in the Catholic Irish/Celtic tradition Jesus is called the Sacred Heart. Under that title he is worshipped as Lord, Saviour, Redeemer. As early as the seventh century, Blathmac, the poet from the Carrickmacross area of Co Monaghan, laments the sufferings and death of “Jesus, darling son of the virgin”, and issues an invitation: Come to me, loving Mary, That I may keen with you your very dear one... The poet goes on to say that it is only right for him to grieve because all nature is in distress over the death of Christ: Tame beasts, wild beasts, birds Had compassion on the son of the living God; And every beast that the ocean covers They all keened him. Devotion to the Crucified Christ was always a moving and significant feature of Redemptorist parish missions. The sermon on the Passion of Christ and the Way of the Cross had a strong appeal, especially to men. The warmth of devotion to Christ and Mary and the saints has a practical outreach to people in need. Prior to the coming of St Patrick and for centuries after
his arrival, the Irish legal system (the Brehon Law) placed weighty influence on hospitality. And while hospitality was good in itself, in the Christian tradition it was doubly beneficial because the guest was always seen as Christ in disguise. In prayer as well as in outreach Irish/Celts involved body and soul: climbing Croagh Patrick barefooted, doing the rounds at the holy well, fasting, exercising the above mentioned hospitality, are all part of the religious culture. On the other hand sitting still for hours in the lotus position does not come easily to the Irish Celt. Patience, too, ‘waiting on the Lord’, never comes easy. On that matter a prayerful woman in Carrickmacross was pestering Padre Pio with an urgent request that had to be granted before a certain date. One morning when time and her patience were running out she caught hold of Padre Pio’s little novena book, flung it on the floor and said, “You’re useless, you’re no good, you’re not worth praying to, I’m only talking to the wall to be addressing the likes of you!” Relieved after that outburst she went off about her daily business. It so happened that before lunchtime on that very day her request was granted. Speaking to a neighbour in the afternoon she remarked, “Do you know what Mary, it doesn’t do one bit of harm to give out to them sometimes!” Celtic/Irish prayer indeed.
Fr John J. Ó Riordáin CSsR is a preacher and writer, with a special interest in the history of Christianity in Ireland and of his native Sliabh Luachra
The Spirituality of St Patrick is a fountain of nourishment based on the writings of the man himself. The booklet presented here is not just ‘a good read.’ It is the Rule of Life that gave Patrick meaning in success and adversity – something upon which the reader is invited to reflect, to ponder, to revisit and to live by.
by John J. Ó Ríordáin C.Ss.R.
Besides including “Patrick’s Profession of Faith” and “Sayings of St Patrick,” part 5 of the publication is a ready resource for Patrician hymns in English and Irish, notably Hail Glorious St Patrick, Dochas Linn Naomh Pádraig, and Mrs Alexander’s classic rendition of St Patrick’s Breastplate. Ecumenically the booklet contributes to “the new season of reconciliation that is defrosting the divisions that have scarred our island and pushed believers apart.”
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Available from Redemptorist Communications Tel: +353 1 4922 488 Web: www.redcoms.org Email: sales@redcoms.org Prayer and reflections for moments of the day & moments in life! Popular collection of prayers and meditations collected by Redemptorist Fr John J. Ó Ríordáin. This is the booklet to have in your pocket or handbag for any moment in the day or to use as a basis for your own prayer life.
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F E AT U R E
ST TERESA OF AVILA CELEBRATING THE 500TH BIRTHDAY OF A REMARKABLE WOMAN BY BRENDAN McCONVERY CSsR
23
This is the one portrait of Teresa that is probably the most true to her appearance. It is a copy of an original painting of her in 1576 at the age of 61
This
year we celebrate the 500th birthday of one of the most remarkable women in the Catholic tradition. Her name was Teresa Sánchez de Cepeda y Ahumada, better known to history as St Teresa of Avila. Her grandfather was a convert from Judaism. Teresa’s parents were devout Catholics. When she was seven, she and her brother Roderigo
were so impressed by stories of the martyrs that they decided to run away from home in search of martyrdom. Their plan was foiled when an uncle found them wandering in the countryside and brought them home! It was an early instance of Teresa’s imagination and daring. Tragedy struck the family when she was 12. Her mother died and she was sent to school in the Augustinian convent at Avila.
IN THE CONVENT OF THE INCARNATION 1535-1562 When she was 20, Teresa entered the Carmelite Convent of the Incarnation. It was a large community of more than 140 nuns. The Carmelite rule had been intended for a small group of hermits living on Mount Carmel in the Holy Land during the time of the Crusades. The community of the
F E AT U R E
Incarnation followed a relaxed (‘mitigated’) form of the rule. When Teresa entered, her father provided her with a dowry, a regular income that ensured she would always have a well-furnished private room in the convent and a lay-sister as a kind of lady’s maid. The main activity of the sisters was singing the daily divine offices. Although the sisters were devout ladies, convent life at the time gave them very little instruction about how to pray in a more contemplative way.
man and introduced her to a popular book that would become a classic of spirituality. It was called The Third Spiritual Alphabet by the Franciscan Francisco de Osuna, who lived from 1492-1540. As the title suggests, it is a spiritual book for beginners. It opens with the assertion that friendship and communion with God are possible and available to everyone and that “this friendship is not remote but surer and more intimate than ever existed between brothers or between a mother and her child”. It outlines the way in which a person of good will could develop a form of quiet contemplative prayer or meditation. Teresa had spent 18 years of her life struggling to pray. She admitted that at times she even shook the hour-glass, the primitive form of clock at the time, to make the sand run faster! She now found that her life of prayer was advancing by leaps and bounds. Rediscovering the value of contemplative prayer led her to a realisation that the original Carmelite rule was intended for communities of men and women for whom contemplative prayer would be a priority. Returning to such an understanding of the rule was impossible in the large comfortable and easy-going monastery of the Incarnation.
Teresa had spent 18 years of her life struggling to pray. She admitted that at times she even shook the hour-glass, the primitive form of clock at the time, to make the sand run faster! 24
Teresa’s 20 years in the Incarnation were difficult ones. For much of it, she was plagued by ill-health and spent a lot of time outside the monastery at the homes of relatives and friends convalescing. Some of her health problems may have been psychological in origin. When Teresa was in her forties, she was undergoing something of a conversion experience. Her uncle, Don Pedro, was a pious
QUOTES FROM ST TERESA •Be gentle to all and stern with yourself. •I know the power obedience has of making things easy which seem impossible. •It is here, my daughters, that love is to be found – not hidden away in corners but in the midst of occasions of sin. And believe me, although we may more often fail and commit small lapses, our gain will be incomparably the greater. •To reach something good it is very useful to have gone astray, and thus acquire experience. •There is a time for fasting and a time for pheasant. REALITY MAY 2015
St Peter of Alcantara
THE REFORM 1562-1582 In 1562, Teresa with a few companions established a new small community, the Monastery of St Joseph, in Avila. Their aim was to live the Carmelite life in all its primitive strictness – with strict separation from the world in order to achieve the ancient hermetical ideal of its founders. The new community was poor and was obliged to support itself by its own work and the alms of the faithful. They also adopted the strict abstinence from meat of the original rule and placed a new emphasis on the practise of mental prayer, devoting two hours daily to it. Teresa was assisted in the reform by a number of outstanding spiritual teachers, who were among the leading figures of Spain’s religious ‘golden age’. First among them was St Peter of Alcantara (1499-1562), a Franciscan, who was deeply involved in the reform movement of his own order. The best known of Teresa’s associates was probably a young Carmelite friar, Juan de Yepes Alvarez (1542-1591), better known as St John of the Cross. Still in his twenties, John’s ambition was to do for the male Carmelites what Teresa was doing for the women. Both Teresa and John met with stiff opposition, especially from the members of their own order who followed the ‘mitigated’ or relaxed observance and who had little sympathy for what they regarded as the
St John of the Cross
divisive tactics of the reform. They had also to carefully avoid any conflict with the Inquisition. Words like ‘reform’ were easily open to a Protestant interpretation. Luther had initiated the Reformation in 1517 when Teresa was only two years of age. Her vivid descriptions of her mystical experiences in prayer put her at risk of being associated with a group known as the alumbrados (the enlightened ones) who were suspected of mingling Jewish mystical theory with Christian practice. Despite her desire to lead a contemplative life in the solitude of a small community, Teresa nevertheless founded 17 convents of the Carmelite reform, travelling throughout Spain to do so. WRITER AND MYSTIC Although she had little formal education and no theological formation, Teresa is one of the greatest teachers on prayer in the Christian tradition. This was acknowledged in 1970, when, along with Catherine of Siena, she was declared a Doctor of the Church. They were the first women to be given this status. Central to Teresa’s writing is her attempt to make sense of her own profound encounter with the divine in prayer. Teresa was serious about prayer. It was a deepening of her prayer life that led her to realise the seriousness of the project of religious life as a life totally
dedicated to God. Apart from some brief poems and letters, Teresa wrote three major works on prayer and an account of the foundation of her convents. The most interesting is her autobiography, Life Written by Herself. It was begun in 1564 and written in snatches over the next three years. It is a lively book. Teresa is an intelligent woman, now in her late forties, who is trying to make sense of a life of prayer that has been deepening profoundly over the years. Teresa is easily distracted, or better perhaps, she sees more profound ramifications in things that she has begun to say and tries to pursue them. Central to the Life is the homely image of watering a garden. The garden represents the
soul and it will produce flowers and fruits only if it is watered. There are four ways of watering a garden. You can fill your wateringcan and do it by hand. This is hard work. It represents the first stage of prayer when the person praying has to do a good deal of work – reading a passage from a book, driving away distractions, trying to concentrate on the subject of meditation and making an effort to pray for graces. Watering the garden by means of a water-wheel was common in Spain: a large wheel would draw water from the well and spread it around the garden. The water wheel saves a lot of work but it is still rather noisy. It represents a person making progress in prayer: less effort is required but there is still an amount of work involved.
The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa by Bernini, Basilica of Santa Maria della Vittoria, Rome
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FE AT U R E
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The Interior Castle was pass through seven stages or ‘mansions’ (a written around 1577 about reference to John’s Gospel – ‘in my Father’s five years before Teresa’s house, there are many mansions’). The first death. Central to it is the three are the stages in which a person learns image of a castle Teresa to pray actively, going through the stages of had once seen in a vision. meditation. In the final stages, as the journey She describes how she saw though the last four mansions continues, “a most beautiful crystal God takes more and more of the initiative globe, made in the shape of a for leading the person onwards to meeting castle, and containing seven him at the centre. mansions, in the seventh and Teresa died on 15 October, 1582. She had innermost of which was the an unerring instinct in taking the search for King of Glory, in the greatest God as a real challenge open to everyone. splendour, illumining and She was a humorous and lively woman with Two nuns hold a box with the iconic cane of St Teresa of Avila beautifying them all. The great common sense, yet also someone nearer one got to the centre, who took the search for God with utmost the stronger was the light; seriousness. The third way is to make irrigation channels outside the palace limits everything was Fr Brendan McConvery CSsR is author of The Redemptorists in so that the water runs through the garden, foul, dark and infested with toads, vipers and Ireland, 1851–2011, published by The Columba Press. eliminating the trips to the well. Teresa other venomous creatures.” Outside of the regards this as the beginnings of mystical castle wall there is sin. As a person begins to prayer in which the water of grace comes make progress in the journey of prayer, they more directly to the person without their having to exert too much effort. The best way of all, of course, to water the garden is POPE’S TRIBUTE TO “TIRELESS regular and generous rainfall. Rain will water COMMUNICATOR OF THE GOSPEL” a garden evenly and unfailingly. For Teresa, this represents the highest stage in prayer To mark the 500th anniversary of the birth of St Teresa of when God takes a more direct role and the Avila, Pope Francis wrote a letter to Fr Saverio Cannistra, Holy Spirit takes over. prepositor general of the Order of Discalced Brothers of JOURNEYING TOWARDS GOD The Way of Perfection is a guidebook for beginners. It was probably intended for young women entering the community and was begun just after she finished the Life. It uses the metaphor of a journey for progress in the spiritual life. The first stages of the journey move through methodical meditation involving the imagination, reasoning and prayer. Gradually, the process becomes simpler as there is less need for imagination and the person learns to be at ease in God’s presence and can keep focused by a simple prayer or thought. The journey will eventually bring a person to profound union with God. Taking that journey in faith may bring you through darkness and desert but you will eventually arrive if you continue faithful. REALITY MAY 2015
the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel, to give thanks for the charism of this “remarkable woman”. “How much we continue to benefit from the witness of her consecration, born directly of her encounter with Christ, her experience of prayer, as a continual dialogue with God, and her community life, rooted in the maternity of the Church! “St Teresa was above all a teacher of prayer. The discovery of Christ's humanity was central to her experience. Moved by the desire to share this personal experience with others, she describes it in a lively and simple way, accessible to all, as consisting simply in 'a relationship of friendship … with Whom we know loves us’. “Starting from her encounter with Jesus, St Teresa lived ‘another life’; she transformed herself into a tireless communicator of the Gospel. Keen to serve the Church, and faced with the great problems of her time, she did not limit herself to being an observer of the situations surrounding her … As she did during her times, St Teresa opens up new horizons to us today; she calls us to a great enterprise, to look upon the world through Christ's eyes, to seek what He seeks and to love what He loves”. “The Saint of Avila reminded her sisters above all of the virtue of humility, which is neither outward neglect nor inner timidness of the soul; instead, it involves each person being aware of their own possibilities and of what God can achieve in us.”
CHRISTIAN PARENTING CARMEL WYNNE
SOME THINGS DON’T CHANGE
HOW DO WE TEACH OUR CHILDREN RESPONSIBILITY? At one time there was a widespread belief that age brings wisdom. The assumption was that the older we get the more we know. This is no longer the case. In our modern world children of all ages have access to a world of information that few parents and even fewer grandparents know how to source. Mum and dad may have a good level of competence in using smart phones, computers and iPads. Curious children frequently learn about all the capabilities of these technical devices because they have no fear of pressing buttons. In many families it’s the children who have the knowledge to teach adults how to use smart technology. Techno-savvy young people seem to find it easy to keep up to date with technology that is constantly changing. Younger people grow up with the expectation that they will need to adapt to change. They are motivated to keep abreast of global changes. Older people have the benefits of having experienced how life changes. They also have the wisdom to recognise that it is important that some things never really change. Language can change. The fear of unwittingly using words that give offence limits our freedom to be outspoken. Modern technology has given new meanings to words such as text, twitter and tweet. Political correctness has also had an impact on the way we use language. It was with great delight that I found on Facebook an outspoken post written with the clear unambiguous prescriptive
language that we once used freely. In his school newsletter a New Zealand school principal named John Tapene featured the advice of a judge who regularly dealt with young people in the 1950s. Posted on Facebook it immediately went viral. “Always we hear the cry from teenagers, ‘what can we do, where can we go?’ “My answer is this; Go home, mow the lawn, wash the windows, learn to cook, build a raft, get a job, visit the sick, study your lessons and after you’re finished read a book. Your town does not owe you recreational facilities and your parents do not owe you fun. “The world does not owe you a living, you owe the world something. You owe it your time, energy and talent so that no one will be at war, in sickness and lonely again. In other words grow up, stop being a cry baby, get out of your dream world and develop a backbone, not a wishbone. “Start behaving like a responsible person. You are important and you are needed. It’s too late to sit
around and wait for somebody to do something someday. Someday is now and that somebody is you.” It’s hardly surprising that comments on the feature were varied. Some parents really liked the article and planned to print it out and post it on their refrigerator. Others disapproved; their complaint was that it was far too harsh. They believed it smacked of old-school authoritarian attitudes that society has left behind. Calling someone a cry baby is politically incorrect and some would consider it offensive. But the powerful message behind the suggestions for teenagers holds a cross-generational appeal. Despite the prescriptive language of Judge Phillip B. Gilliam of Denver, Colorado, the popular message is seen as a wake-up call for young people to act responsibly. It’s also a wake-up call for loving parents who have a role to play in training children to feel good about taking on responsibility for their own wellbeing. Children who are
given responsibility for chores learn that by helping with tasks they can do, they make a contribution to the well-being of the family. Having a job to do allows a child to feel important and needed. This builds self-esteem, a sense of selfworth and the self-belief that one is competent. Is it possible that irresponsible teenagers who expect their parents or society to provide recreational facilities have missed out on this life lesson? Knowing the pressure teens are under to study and get homework assignments completed, some parents unwittingly deprive children of important learning experiences. When they take on full responsibility for meals, chores and travel arrangements it allows the young person to fully focus on their own needs and wants. Encouraging them to devote their energies to study is important but not as important as giving them the opportunity to develop a sense of responsibility. One thing that will never change is that children can only learn to become responsible adults if they are given responsibility. To encourage children to do chores is important for society as well as family life. The important message of John F. Kennedy who said, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country” will never change.
Carmel Wynne is a life and work skills coach and lives in Dublin. For more information, visit www.carmelwynne.org
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Prayer Special
BEYOND THE SCREEN
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CAN CINEMA OFFER US A SPACE FOR PRAYER AND REFLECTION? BY PAUL CLOGHER
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the New Testament Jesus speaks of himself through images, sometimes unexpected. He is the vine, the good shepherd, and the bread, to name but a few examples. It seems that from its earliest forms Christianity has expressed itself through images. Likewise, images are a fundamental aspect of all human life. We speak and write through images. They help us make sense of what seems remote, invisible, and mysterious. Enter any church and you are sure to be surrounded by images. Some, like the Stations of the Cross, even take the form of a drama. Images are essential to Christian prayer. In the mind and before our eyes, they help us, even point us, on our journey into God.
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PRAYER IN CINEMA Since the birth of cinema in the late 19th century, themes and stories drawn from the Christian tradition have fascinated and inspired filmmakers. Many of the earliest films, for example, were biblical stories, often re-told in a reverential manner with title cards containing biblical quotations or titles such as ‘the annunciation’, ‘the crowning with thorns’, and so on. Early film artists were keen to mimic or recreate the feeling of worship or prayer. While directing The King of Kings (1927) Cecil B. DeMille even held daily Christian services on set, seemingly in order to create an aura of sanctity. These tactics, however, seem like gimmicks, one
might say, purposefully placed to gain favour with audiences and churches alike. Cinematic history is equally full of heroes, saints, and no small amount of villains who pray. Carl Dreyer’s The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) focuses on the saint’s prayerful demeanour in the face of death. Other depictions seem less depth-filled. Bing Crosby in Going My Way (1944) plays the ‘cool’ priest character type that depicts spirituality only superficially as a vehicle for the crooner’s own stardom. A more meaningful approach might be Dead Man Walking (1995), which ends with Sr Helen Prejean praying with the family of a murdered teenager, having attempted both to save the teenager’s killer
a thorny area, meant only for academics and film theorists, but, on reflection, it is an essential question for Christianity, especially for its relationship with popular culture. Cinema, some have argued, has eclipsed, in some cases replaced, religion as a bearer of meaning. At the same time, filmmakers remain fascinated by Christianity and what one might describe as spirituality generally. While filmmakers sometimes offer fantastic, sentimental, kitsch, and even offensive depictions of prayer and Christian faith, can cinema offer a style of filmmaking and storytelling that is itself prayerful? A film such as The Exorcist (1973) illustrates how prayer becomes a tool for horror and sensationalism. Of Gods and Men, contrastingly, with its slow pacing and contemplative style, alongside its focus on the prayer lives of the characters, suggests that cinema is capable of much more than passive entertainment or voyeurism.
integrate the human desire for meaning, for God perhaps, into their film style. Tarkovsky, a Russian filmmaker heavily influenced by his native Orthodox tradition, understood cinema as a prayerful medium.
While filmmakers sometimes offer fantastic, sentimental, kitsch, and even offensive depictions of prayer and Christian faith, can cinema offer a style of filmmaking and storytelling that is itself prayerful?
Of Gods And Men
from the death penalty and convince him of the need for redemption. Moving in their own way, too, are the scenes in Of Gods and Men (2010) where the Trappist monks share a Eucharistic meal as the horror of the Algerian civil war rips asunder the harmony of their community and threatens their lives. Indeed, this film opens with a quote from Psalm 82: “I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High. But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes” (Ps 82: 6-7). Cinema is an important medium of religious and prayerful themes. But a bigger question for Christian audiences might be how cinema itself operates prayerfully. This might seem
PRAYERFUL CINEMA A glance at the work of two filmmakers, from contrasting religious and cultural backgrounds, might shed light on cinema’s prayerful dynamics. Pier Paolo Pasolini and Andrei Tarkovsky are two of the most acclaimed filmmakers of the 20th century. Both deal with themes of prayer and The King of Kings
As a form of creativity, it mirrors the creative work of God. In his biopic Andrei Rublev (1966) he explores the life of the eponymous iconographer credited with creating the famous 15th century icon Trinity. He focuses not so much on the artist’s work but the murky, dark world of Rublev’s Russia from which his iconography emerged. Tarkvosky’s Russia is a metaphor for the world. We are touched by darkness in many forms but equally capable of creativity, imagination and beauty. This tells us something about prayer. Human life is broken but communication, imagination and creativity are aspects of life that bring us closer to God. Just as the
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Prayer Special
Of Gods And Men
The Passion of Joan of Arc
Andrei Rublev
The Gospel according to Saint Matthew
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great prayers of the Christian tradition are moments of creative, artistic and literary achievement so the art of cinema with its capacity to picture both the beauty and darkness of our world becomes a possible medium of prayerfulness itself. Pasolini, contrastingly, was a controversial figure in Italian society. A Marxist and declared unbeliever, one of his masterpieces remains The Gospel according to Saint Matthew (1964). The late Chicago Sun Times film critic Roger Ebert in a 2004 review described it as one of the “most effective films on a religious theme” he had seen. Because, in his own words, “it was made by a nonbeliever who did not preach, glorify, underline, sentimentalise or romanticise his famous story, but tried his best to simply record it”, The Gospel according to Saint Matthew takes the form of a cinematic meditation on the Gospel story. From the beginning its tone is slow, almost ritualistic, and reflective. Much of this has to do with Pasolini’s film style. He uses amateur actors, on-location settings, and black and white photography. Adding to the meditative tone, his musical choice is eclectic and innovative, mingling Odetta’s Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child with Bach’s Saint Matthew Passion and the Congolese Missa Luba. Like the chanting of the Gospel narrative, Pasolini depicts episodes from Matthew REALITY MAY 2015
with restraint, even reverence. His figures and composition draw on the art of El Greco and the great masters of the renaissance. At the same time, his scenery and locations are deliberately contemporary with little adjustment made to create a biblical ‘feel’. The effect is prayerful yet open to viewers of any persuasion. BEYOND THE SCREEN Type the name Fra Angelico into any search engine and somewhere amidst the results you will find images of the artist’s work from the monastery of San Marco, Florence dating from the 15th century. Some of these pictures may have begun life as frescoes on the walls of cells where the monks withdrew to meditate and pray. The painted walls focused the mind on the Christian story and created a space for contemplation and reflection. The Durham theologian Gerard Loughlin in a perhaps provocatively titled, yet insightful, book Alien Sex: The Body and Desire in Cinema and Theology (2004) compares cinema to the painted cells of the monks. In the darkness of the theatre there is space to compose oneself, reflect on the world, and perhaps encounter something of God. The films of Pasolini and Tarkovsky suggest that cinema, in spite of the commercialism and sensationalism that often accompanies the art, can itself be a prayerful medium, a
place of reflection and contemplation. While Christianity sometimes favours the word, images are never far away. In the metaphors of scripture, the pictures in our homes and churches, and the image of Eucharist itself, prayer thrives through imagination, creativity, and our desire for God. The Christian vision of creation reminds us that while our world is broken, it is innately good. Our capacity to create moments of beauty, insight and reflection through arts such as cinema serve, from this perspective, as a potent reminder of our connection to God. As Tarkovsky’s film concludes, the bleakness of the landscape and the seemingly cynical world of 15th century Russia threaten to overpower us in hopelessness. Then, in the final five minutes, the film dissolves into a montage of Rublev’s icons. We see, at first, only small details but as the camera pulls away, they emerge in their fullness. What Tarkovsky might be suggesting is that in the darkness of our world there are always glimpses of light, of God, and the human capacity for beauty through art might itself be a prayer, a glimpse of that which lies beyond all images.
Paul Clogher teaches religious studies at the Waterford Institute of Technology. He has a special interest in film and theology
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ALPHONSUS DE LIGUORI ON PRAYER THE FOUNDER OF THE REDEMPTORISTS WISHED TO MAKE THE CHURCH’S SPIRITUAL TRADITION MORE ACCESSIBLE, AND TO ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO DEVELOP A MORE INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD. BY DENNIS J. BILLY CSsR
In
his own day, Alphonsus de Liguori (1696-1787) had the reputation of being a great spiritual master and an exceptional moral-pastoral theologian. He was familiar with the intricacies of the church’s mystical tradition and had personal experiences that would place him in the company of the greatest of Christian mystics.
At the same time, he also had a shrewd sense of the spiritual needs of the faithful and an instinctive capacity to identify what did and did not work. This unique combination of “mystic visionary “and “pastoral handyman” enabled him to unleash in the environs of 18th-century Naples a popular spirituality that would extend far and wide and have
a deep impact on the Catholic imagination for centuries to come. Teaching people how to pray was always a central concern of this popular spirituality. When doing so, his deepest desire was to show them how they could converse continually and familiarly with God.
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BACKGROUND Alphonsus recognised the classical distinctions between oratio (ie vocal prayer), meditatio (ie meditation or mental prayer), and contemplatio (contemplation). To capture the various nuances between these fundamental “types”, he generally followed the teaching of Teresa of Avila, making only some slight adjustments for his pressing pastoral concerns.
For Alphonsus, all of us live our lives beneath this dark, blanketed sky. Because of our feeble natural powers, however, we are unable to see through it or beyond it. Such is the human condition. Some things are simply beyond our natural capacities – and the divine light is one of them. Because of certain stories that have been revealed to us, however, some of us believe in the realm of divine light beyond the darkened sky. Others do not. Prayer is our attempt to communicate with that light beyond the pale of darkness above us. We must remember that, for Alphonsus, our belief in this upper realm of light and our attempts to communicate with it are themselves gifts of divine grace. Left to ourselves, we would care little about what exists beyond the blanketed sky above us and would make little, if any, effort to communicate with God.
converse with God intimately as with a friend and may even receive certain divine inspirations, but these are a far cry from actually experiencing the divine light itself. All during this time, faith and God’s grace alone sustain us and enable us to pray as we do. We yearn for the divine light and hope one day to see it. That special gift, however, is something that God alone dispenses as he sees fit. And then one day everything changes. Out of nowhere a tiny pinhole opens up in the blanketed sky above us and a thin ray of light begins to shine through it. This tiny pinhole is not our doing, but God’s – and it is for only certain people to behold. Why God has chosen this particular point in time to reveal himself to this particular person or persons remains hidden in the depths of his infinite wisdom. Those who can see this thinnest
For Alphonsus, all of us live our lives beneath this dark, blanketed sky. Because of our feeble natural powers, however, we are unable to see through it or beyond it
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A good metaphor for understanding Alphonsus’ approach to prayer would be to envision a world with a sky that was blanketed by a dark, impermeable substance. Above that extensive cloud-like covering was the realm of divine light. Below it was the visible world as we know it. This “divine light” is not Augustine’s “illuminating light” that allows us to know with certitude the things around us, or Aquinas’ “sanctifying grace” that brings about the gradual transformation of our moral and spiritual lives, but the experiential knowledge of God himself, the essential characteristic of the mystical state. REALITY MAY 2015
Those of us who believe, however, find ourselves drawn to that realm of divine light we have heard of but never seen. We raise our heads to the darkened sky above and begin to pray. Prayer, for Alphonsus, is simply raising our hearts and minds to God. Most of us begin by simply talking to what lies beyond the blanketed sky above us (vocal prayer). As time goes on, we find ourselves thinking more and more about the realm of divine light and trying to imagine what it could possibly be like (mental prayer). In time, our will and emotions get involved and we find ourselves pouring out our hearts to God with affectionate expressions of love and devotion (affective prayer). Further along, we become so comfortable “keeping company with God” in this way that we simply sit in silence beneath the darkened canopy above it and gaze upon the obscure secrets it withholds from us (acquired recollection). All of these forms of prayer go on without ever experiencing the divine light itself. We
of rays are irresistibly drawn to it. They can continue talking to the divine light, thinking about it, and expressing their love for it as before, but now they have been given the unique opportunity to directly experience it. And so they turn their eyes toward it and peer into its penetrating glare. As they do so, the divine light fills their intellects (infused contemplation) and then spills out over into their wills (the prayer of quiet). From there, it fills their internal senses, especially the memory and the imagination (the prayer of union) and then their external senses (spiritual betrothal). Finally, it pulls them out of themselves and lifts them up through the pinhole in the blanketed sky and into the realm of divine light (spiritual marriage). Their union with the divine light is so intense that it is difficult for them to discern the difference between God’s will and their own. They have not become the divine light but are permeated by it.
ALPHONSUS’ TEACHING ON PRAYER The above metaphor depicts how the various grades of prayer function in the life of the believer. Alphonsus borrows these distinctions from Teresa of Avila and distributes them across the purgative (vocal, mental, affective, acquired recollection), the illuminative (infused contemplation and the prayer of quiet), and the unitive (the prayer of union, spiritual betrothal, and spiritual marriage) ways. Doing so helps us to understand the difference between “faith knowledge” and “mystical knowledge” and shows us the thin line of demarcation between the ascetical and mystical lives. It also helps us to understand why Alphonsus spent so much time teaching people the earlier grades of prayer (ie vocal prayer, meditation, affective prayer, and acquired recollection). These forms of prayer are, in fact, the only ones that can actually be taught. The mystical grades of prayer depend entirely on God and cannot be prepared for or even expected in this life. For this very reason, Alphonsus, the great “Doctor of Prayer”, devoted his time and energy to providing the poor and marginalised with those tools that would best help them to nurture an intimate friendship with God. An important concern during Alphonsus’ day was the degree of accessibility of “mystical” states of Teresa of Avila’s spiritual doctrine, that is, whether they were meant only for a select few or for a larger segment of the faithful. Alphonsus’ pastoral strategy to preach the Good News of plentiful redemption to the poor and most abandoned led him to offer a nuanced response to this question. On the one hand, he focused his efforts on those grades of prayer that were usually associated with the ascetical life (ie vocal prayer, meditation, affective prayer, and acquired recollection). These kinds of prayer were the bread and butter of the spiritual life, and he made no apologies for the insistence with which he urged the faithful to take advantage of these indispensable means of salvation. Although Alphonsus drew a clear distinction between meditation and contemplation, he also recognised that the
ascetical and mystical states shared much in common and were sometimes mingled with each other in the concrete circumstances of a person’s life. For this reason, he understood that there was a contemplative dimension to these earlier grades of prayer, and he was very clear that the full benefits of such prayers could be reaped only if they took place against a backdrop of solitude. When seen in this light, Alphonsus’ focus on the earlier grades of prayer can be understood as his intense desire to get as many people as possible off to a good start in the spiritual life. Once the proper foundation was laid, he felt sure that God’s grace would supply all that was necessary for a person to experience the liberating movement of the Spirit that would eventually lead to the beatific vision itself. For Alphonsus, whether or not a person had mystical experiences in the present life was a moot point. He was primarily concerned with a person’s eternal destiny, not with whether he or she was ready to breathe the rarified air of spiritual marriage. Even so, he insisted that confessors and spiritual directors be capable of guiding those who demonstrated signs of genuine mystical experience. Alphonsus wanted the members of his Congregation to be prepared for every conceivable situation. Regardless of where people were in the spiritual life, he wanted his Redemptorist confreres to meet them where they were and then offer them a little bit more. In implementing his pastoral aims, Alphonsus was a great populariser and synthesiser. His doctrine of prayer is actually very simple. “Everyone receives sufficient grace to pray.” “He who prays is certainly saved.” “God wishes us to speak to him with confidence and familiarity.” “Mental prayer is morally necessary for salvation.” These simple phrases represent the hallmark of his teaching and could be easily remembered by those who came to him. They also point to the main characteristics of his spiritual doctrine. Alphonsian prayer is honest, humble, passionate, eclectic, practical, spontaneous, continual, popular, devotional, and petitionary. Above all, it is simple and
childlike. In Alphonsus’ mind, not everyone might experience the heights of mystical prayer, at least in this life. All, however, are called to a life of prayer, one which will provide them with the means of salvation and which will enable them to talk to God as one friend to another. For him, mental prayer is the one grade of prayer that fosters this type of relationship the most in the lives of the faithful. It is meant for everyone,
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not a select few, and for this reason is the centrepiece of his teaching on prayer. INTIMACY WITH GOD: ALPHONSUS’ APPROACH TO MENTAL PRAYER In his book, Intimacy and the Hungers of the Heart, Pat Collins C.M. asserts that intimacy consists of two basic ingredients: loving attention and self-disclosure. Being attentive to someone in a loving way frees that person up and enables him or her to reveal personal aspects of his or her life. The more loving attention we give to someone, the more likely will that person feel free to open his or her
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When we bring our needs to God and ask him for help, we are revealing to him our fragile humanity and inviting him to strengthen us and make us whole
34 life to us. The less such attention someone receives, the less likely will he or she be willing to share on a personal level. Although Alphonsus was not explicitly aware of this particular understanding of intimacy, he seems to have had an intuitive knowledge of it, at least with respect to his understanding of the manner of making mental prayer. God manifests his loving attention to us through the solitude of heart that permeates our prayer and serves as a backdrop against which our active meditation takes place. Through this solitude, we sense God’s presence in the silence surrounding our prayer. Through it, we are reminded that God holds us in being from one moment to the next and attends to us lovingly by actively listening to our heartfelt prayers. As we prepare ourselves for mental prayer, we rest in silence and eventually tell God that we believe in his presence and are in need of his mercy and guidance. These prayers set the stage for the deepening levels of intimacy found in the main part of the meditation. The body proper of Alphonsus’ approach to REALITY MAY 2015
mental prayer begins with the meditation, a discursive reflection on the meaning for our lives of a particular aspect of the faith. This meditation often uses a brief passage from Scripture or a book of spiritual reading for its formal point of departure. This step in Alphonsus’ approach to mental prayer has us relating to God on the level of thought. While these thoughts can be profound, they normally represent a relatively low level of intimacy. It is usually very easy for friends to share on the level of thought. There is little risk involved, and they do so without making themselves vulnerable to one another. After this brief period of reflection, Alphonsus encourages us to share our feelings and affections with the Lord. This part of his approach represents a deeper level of intimacy. Moving from the head to the heart, we draw closer to the inner sanctum of our souls. By sharing our innermost feelings with the Lord, we open our hearts to him and invite him to look at us as we really are. Sharing our feelings with a friend marks a deeper stage in the intimacy. The more
personal the feelings we share with God, the closer our relationship with him becomes. There is yet another level of intimacy that Alphonsus encourages us to seek – sharing our needs with the Lord. When we ask someone for something, we not only reveal our needs to him or her, but we also make ourselves vulnerable. We are revealing our weaknesses and, to a certain extent, even making ourselves dependent on him or her. By bringing our needs to the Lord, Alphonsus is asking us to move into a more intimate relationship with the divine. He asks us to recognise how much we depend on God and must rely on him. When we bring our needs to God and ask him for help, we are revealing to him our fragile humanity and inviting him to strengthen us and make us whole. Still, there is yet an even deeper level of intimacy to which Alphonsus calls us, through his manner of making mental prayer. A person’s greatest revelation of self comes through action. As Alphonsus guides us along the various steps of his approach to mental prayer, he reminds us that we fully
disclose ourselves to God only when we manifest our faith and trust in him through specific actions. We make resolutions in mental prayer not simply in an attempt to better our lives, but to manifest to the Lord the depths of our love. We manifest love for God through concrete actions that flow from deep within our hearts and manifest to God our deepest disclosure of self. As we move through the various steps of Alphonsus’ approach to mental prayer, we advance through increasing degrees of intimacy with the Lord. As we go through the levels of thought and feeling to those of need and action, we gradually find that we are revealing ourselves to God in deeper and deeper ways. Through it all, God’s loving attention manifests itself to us through his silent presence that forms the continuing backdrop to our prayer and that we sense deep within our hearts. As we conclude our meditation, we return to the silence with which we began, thanking God for the
guidance he has given us and asking him to help us to carry out our resolutions and to give us the grace to remain faithful. What begins in silence also ends in silence. Because of the way we have shared with the Lord, however, the later silence is deeper and more penetrating. Our increasing intimacy with the divine allows us to rest in God’s presence and for him to rest in ours. Alphonsus’ manner of making mental prayer allows that to happen. It is about nothing more (and nothing less) than loving attention and self-disclosure.
forms that would be most useful to the greatest number of people. His decision to focus his teaching on the earlier grades of prayer stems from the recognition that they could be easily taught and were also the surest way of providing the faithful with a firm spiritual foundation. These practical concerns did not lead to a watering down of the church’s spiritual tradition, but to its further development and widespread diffusion. He fashioned a teaching on prayer that would help as many people as possible foster an intimate relationship with God.
MAKING PRAYER ACCESSIBLE Alphonsus’ doctrine of prayer was greatly influenced by his pastoral motivations. His desire to touch the poor and marginalised of society with the liberating message of Christ led him to do everything in his power to make the riches of the church’s spiritual tradition as accessible as possible. To do so, he searched the tradition for those prayer
Fr Dennis J. Billy CSsR taught for more than 20 years at the Alphonsian Academy of Rome’s Pontifical Lateran University. He now holds the John Cardinal Krol Chair of Moral Theology at St Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania and also serves as the Karl Rahner Professor of Catholic Theology at the Graduate Theological Foundation in Mishawaka, Indiana.
Breaking the Word... May 2015 Please pray for the Redemptorist teams who will preach the Word and for God’s People who will hear the Word proclaimed this month in: KANTURK, CO. CORK 2nd - 12th May 2015 Novena preached by Denis Luddy CSsR., Laurence Gallagher CSsR and Ms. Niamh O’ Neill
HANDSWORTH NOVENA 9th – 20th May 2015 Novena preached by Derek Meskell CSsR and Clement MacManuis CSsR
FOXROCK, CO. DUBLIN 16th -26th May 2015 Novena preached by Laurence Gallagher CSsR and Michael Dempsey CSsR
HORESWOOD, CO. WEXFORD 9th – 14th May 2015 Mission preacherd by Brian Nolan CSsR, Seamus Enright CSsR and Ms. Sarah Smyth
ST. GERARD’S PARISH,ANTRIM RD, BELFAST 11th – 19th May 2015 Novena preached by Ciaran O Callaghan CSsR and John Hanna CSsR
PRIORSWOOD, DUBLIN 17 16th -26th May 2015 Novena preached by Johnny Doherty CSsR and Ms. Sarah Smyth
GREENLOUGH PARISH,BALLYMENA 7th – 15th May 2015 Novena preached by Johnny Doherty CSsR and Brendan Keane CSsR
MARIANELLA, DUBLIN 6 15th – 23rd May 2015 Novena preached by Denis Luddy CSsR and Ms. Niamh O’ Neill
The details above are accurate at time of printing. If you have any views, comments or even criticisms about Redemptorist preaching, I would love to hear from you. If you are interested in a mission or novena in your parish, please contact me for further information. And please keep all Redemptorist preachers in your prayers!
Brian Nolan CSsR, Mission Team Co-Ordinator Email: brian.nolan@redemptorists.ie Tel: +353 21 4358800 The Redemptorist National Mission team is fully booked for 2015. We now have limited availabilty for Lent of 2016.
Prayer Special
I BELIEVE IN THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD IT IS NOT ENOUGH TO HAVE A VAGUE SENSE OF THE AFTERLIFE; WE MUST REFLECT ON WHAT IS MEANT BY THE PROMISE OF THE RESURRECTION AND LIFE EVERLASTING. BY THOMAS G. CASEY SJ
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number of years ago I walked around the Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris, which is one of the most visited graveyards in the world. There are many famous figures buried there: Frédéric Chopin for instance. Although Chopin’s heart was returned to his native Poland, his body was placed in this large Parisian cemetery. Bunches of fresh flowers surround the enormous tombstone, and perched on top, looking distraught, is the statue of a woman representing the muse of music. Oscar Wilde’s tomb, which took the best part of a year to sculpt, is also located in this graveyard. Less ornate than Chopin’s and Wilde’s, but hugely popular, the tombstone of Jim Morrison, singer with the Doors, attracts hordes of tourists. Why do people spend so much money (Oscar Wilde’s tomb cost over £2,000, and that was more than 100 years ago) and put so much effort into decorating the tombs of friends and relatives? Surely they wouldn’t do this if they believed that their cherished ones had simply disintegrated, turned into dust, and become food for worms? They dare to believe these loved ones are still alive in a way they cannot quite grasp; they hope that death hasn’t had the last word. And why is it that when people visit graveyards, they often speak quietly in their hearts with their buried relatives? Because they REALITY MAY 2015
believe these relatives have not definitively died. Despite the fact that people often feel a connection with family and friends who have died, they nevertheless remain with a vague sense of an afterlife. It is not something upon which they reflect. However, it is vital to give thought to the life after death, and to realise that God, who gives us life in the first place, has the power to bring every human body back to life once again. Our physical death is not the end of our human existence. During Mass we pray in the longer Creed (the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed), “I look forward to the Resurrection of the dead”; while in the shorter Creed (the Apostles’ Creed) we pray instead, “I believe in….the Resurrection of the body”. What is the difference between these two wordings? In terms of meaning, there is hardly any difference. When we say “dead”, we are referring to the fact that the body is now without the soul, which was inseparable from it during life. Because the soul is no longer present, it is the body that is dead. As for the soul, it never dies and so does not need to be resurrected. Therefore, when we speak about the Resurrection of the dead, we are in reality speaking about the Resurrection of the body. The Resurrection of the body is a source of great hope. But why should our bodies be resurrected
in the first place? When we pause to reflect, we realise that when we do good things, we use our bodies: whether it is a matter of speaking, acting, even thinking (for example we use the atoms, molecules, etc, of the brain to think). It is appropriate, then, that our bodies should be rewarded and glorified for the part they play in our good deeds. When we do wrong, we also use our bodies, and so it is fitting as well that our bodies should be punished for the part they play in our wrongdoing. DEATH Spending time in a graveyard confronts us with our own mortality. It reminds us of the brevity of life, and the fact that, with each passing day, death gets closer. The character Pozzo expresses it graphically in Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot: “they give birth astride of a grave, the light gleams an instant, then it’s night once more.” Although we do not like to think about it, a particular day will arrive (one of the seven days of the week – there are no other possibilities) that will be our last day on earth. Jesus clearly tells us to stay vigilant “because you do not know the day or the hour” (Matthew 25:13). When that day arrives, we won’t be able to bring any possessions with us, a truth that is difficult for us to grasp. So much so that certain cultures, such as that of the ancient Egyptians, placed jewellery, furniture and even food in the burial tombs of their loved ones, in the (mistaken) assumption that these provisions would be necessary beyond the grave. The truth is that the only baggage we will bring with us is the baggage of love. Everything we do for the love of God we will be able to carry with us, and we will discover that this baggage is infinitely light and a delight to carry. The fact that life on earth is incredibly brief compared to eternity does not mean that this life is without importance. On the contrary, life on earth is of enormous value, precisely because the way we live our lives here and now is pivotal for how and where we will spend eternity. Even more: just one instant of life here on earth can make an eternal difference, because by virtue
of one moment of immense love we can win eternity. PARTICULAR JUDGMENT People who have had near-death experiences often highlight the fact that their whole lives flash before them at that fateful moment. Immediately after death, each person experiences a particular judgment, and presumably it has some similarities with near-death experiences: perhaps in an instant, all the good and evil a person has ever done suddenly becomes present. During our earthly lives we are so taken up with everything from eating to sleeping to holding down jobs that few of us (except the mystics and saints) have any real inkling of God’s greatness and of the awfulness of sin. But in that moment, everything becomes glaringly evident, and even the silly little lies we carelessly told appear so horrible that we ourselves want to be purified before we dare to enter the presence of God. Thank God there are saints among us, souls
The truth is that the only baggage we will bring with us is the baggage of love. Everything we do for the love of God we will be able to carry with us, and we will discover that this baggage is infinitely light and a delight to carry who, directly after death, are ready to come before God’s presence. There are also a tiny number who die immediately after baptism. Then there are those who make an act of perfect contrition before death; perfect because it comes from the heart (and isn’t just lip-service), is out of sorrow for having offended God (rather than rooted in self-interest), and entails a horror of sin and a resolute decision to renounce all sins and to live in such a way that death itself would be preferable to committing another sin. Such perfect contrition purifies. PURGATORY But many of us may just need to go to Purgatory. The Belfast-born C.S. Lewis admitted so much
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Prayer Special
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The real heaven is such an experience of bliss and delight that all our happiness in this world will appear fake and counterfeit by comparison as he mourned over his wife’s death. Writing in A Grief Observed, he remarked that she “was a splendid thing, a soul straight, bright, and tempered like a sword. But not a perfected saint. A sinful woman married to a sinful man; two of God’s patients not yet cured. I know there are not only tears to be dried but stains to be scoured.” God’s dream is to utterly transform us, and if this process of transformation is not realised during this life, Purgatory provides us with the opportunity to make it complete. In his book Prayer: Letters to Malcolm, C.S. Lewis writes: “Our souls demand Purgatory, don’t they? Would it not break the heart if God said to us, ‘It is true, my son, that your breath smells and your rags drip with mud and slime, but we are charitable here and no one will upbraid you REALITY MAY 2015
with these things, nor draw away from you. Enter into the joy’? Should we not reply, ‘With submission, sir, and if there is no objection, I’d rather be cleaned first.’ ‘It may hurt, you know’ – ‘Even so, sir.’” Two things are worth noting in this imaginary dialogue. First, it is the soul itself that pleads to go to Purgatory, because it sees (all too clearly) how indispensable this is. Second, the soul says that it would “rather be cleaned first”. This implies that someone else must cleanse us: we cannot do the cleansing ourselves. Since we are no longer on earth, we can no longer be granted merit for any words and deeds of ours, because the time for these is past. We are totally reliant on God, and on the prayers of those still alive. It’s worth noting too how gracious it is of God to give us on earth the privilege of speeding up
the liberation of souls from purgatory through our sacrifices and prayers. By doing so, we not only free these souls; we also give God the joy of welcoming them into his heavenly embrace much more quickly. HEAVEN Listening to the everyday comments people make about heaven, it is striking that many picture it either as somewhat worse than earth (for example the experience of singing boring hymns forever) or as rather better (enjoying days of full sunshine and gorging on all one’s favourite desserts). In these images something changes: our present experience either deteriorates or improves. But these images miss out on what is essential about heaven. Paradise does not entail a change from life on
earth; it involves a complete transformation. Change means enjoying a bigger quantity of the things we liked on earth; transformation means a quantum leap, a total shift of horizons. The real heaven is such an experience of bliss and delight that all our happiness in this world will appear fake and counterfeit by comparison. What distinguishes the inhabitants of heaven is love; whereas hell is characterised by hatred. If we want to prepare ourselves well for heaven, we must love as much as we can and eliminate hatred from our lives. We can test whether we are loving persons by checking whether we follow the Ten Commandments and whether we fulfil with generosity the duties God has placed before us in our lives (the temptation for a devout married woman might be to spend long hours in prayer and little time with her husband, whereas a priest might be tempted to give all his time to pressing apostolic needs at the expense of prayer). HELL Hell is not a word that we are fond of hearing; yet it is a word that must be spoken. Many older people associate hell with fire and brimstone sermons from the past. However, hell actually makes most sense in the context of love, and not against the background of fear. It is clear from Paul’s First Letter to Timothy that God “wants all people to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4). But because God is love, he has also given us the amazing gift of freedom. God does not want to force our hand. God gives us the freedom to choose the eternal future we want. We can use our freedom to accept the invitation to love, or we can use our freedom in the opposite way, by rejecting love. A God devoid of love might have created puppets or robots to manipulate as he wanted. But our God is a God of love, and he has given us such astonishing freedom that we are even free to make our lives into a hellish experience that begins now and continues in the hereafter. If there is anyone in hell – and we do not know for sure – perhaps the worst punishment is the realisation that God is infinite love. Nothing tortures a hatefilled person more than one who loves. In this life, hateful people can kill those who love, but
ultimately love never dies, because it is the only thing that truly lasts. Who knows, the most awful torment of the damned may well be the sinking sense that they can only hate, and the accompanying awareness that their hatred will never extinguish God’s love. THE LAST JUDGMENT Just before the Last Judgment, “all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out – those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned” (John 5:28-29). Bodies will be recomposed and reunited with souls. The Last Judgment will be like a final examination. The material for this final exam will be the following items from the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, nothing more and nothing less: feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, sheltering the homeless, visiting the sick, visiting the imprisoned, burying the dead, counselling the doubtful, instructing the ignorant, admonishing sinners, consoling the afflicted, pardoning offences, patiently putting up with difficult people, praying for the living and the dead. Each evening, it makes sense to prayerfully look back on the day, asking ourselves if we have practised one or more of these works of mercy. FINAL REFLECTIONS Belief in the Resurrection of the body is an article of faith. Why? Because it is not enough to have a vague sense of the hereafter. The Creed makes our faith in the Resurrection clear. It spells out this crucial belief, because that’s what we need to do. We need to hold onto this belief in the Resurrection with all our hearts. It shows us our goal and our destination. Having a worthwhile goal makes a huge difference. The following story illustrates this point: long ago, toward the end of the 12th century, a man was travelling through France. He came across three young apprentices to a stone-cutter using long wooden sticks or levers to move enormous cut stones up a ramp. Turning to the first apprentice, the man asked, “What are you doing?” The apprentice replied with an annoyed
expression, “Can’t you see? I’m moving these stones up the ramp”. He then asked the second apprentice, who seemed a little more animated, “What are you doing?” The second apprentice replied with a shrug of his shoulder, “I’m just building a wall”. The man was really taken with the radiant smile he noticed on the third apprentice’s face, and he asked him, “What about you, what are you doing?” The apprentice beamed, “I’m building a cathedral”. If you see yourself as simply moving a stone from one place to another, you won’t get a lot of satisfaction. But if you have a great goal like heaven before your eyes, it makes an enormous difference: you will experience fulfilment and happiness, even now. The Resurrection of the body assures us that even though one day we may be buried in a grave, we won’t stay there. Each of us is intended for heaven. Is there an easy way to get to Paradise? From the testimonies of countless holy men and women, it is clear that the easiest way to get to heaven is with the help of Mary. Jesus came down to us through Mary, and Jesus would like us to come to him through her. Mary is the gate to heaven. No wonder we always conclude the Haily Mary prayer with this request: “pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death, Amen.” That most underrated of men, St Joseph, also plays an important role. Tradition has it that Joseph died in the arms of Jesus and of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Therefore, it is fitting to conclude this article with a prayer to St Joseph, the patron saint of the dying: O Blessed Joseph, you breathed your last breath in the arms of Jesus and Mary. Obtain for me this grace, O holy Joseph, that I may breathe forth my soul in praise, saying in spirit, if I am unable to do so in words: “Jesus, Mary and Joseph, I give you my heart and my soul. Amen.” Fr Thomas G. Casey SJ is an Irish Jesuit priest and director of the Diploma in Philosophy and the Arts at St Patrick’s College, Maynooth.
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DEVELOPMENT IN ACTION RETIREMENT OF LEADING TRÓCAIRE WORKER SALLY O’NEILL
President
of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins, recently marked the retirement of leading human rights advocate and Trócaire worker Sally O’Neill with a lunch in Áras an Uachtaráin. The event, which took place on 26 March, honoured her contribution to overseas development and human rights over almost four decades. Sally O’Neill, who has been at the heart of Trócaire’s overseas work for 37 years, formally stepped down in early April. She was working as Trócaire’s head of region for Latin America, based in Honduras.
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ON THE FRONTLINE Throughout her career, Sally, who comes from Dungannon, Co Tyrone, has worked on the frontline during some of the most significant global humanitarian crises. Within weeks of joining Trócaire in 1978, three bitter civil wars broke out in El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua. Sally led delegations of politicians
American region in the following years. In 1982, Sally and Michael D. Higgins, who was a TD at the time, visited El Salvador to investigate reports of a massacre in the village of El Mozote. They were initially refused entry into the country but were eventually granted access. They uncovered evidence of a massacre of civilians and their report from El Mozote made its way onto the pages of the international media, including the New York Times and Washington Post. Sally also worked in Ethiopia during the famine in the mid1980s and played a central role in Trócaire’s response to the famine in Somalia in the early 1990s, establishing its programme in Gedo which still operates today. During her time as deputy director and head of Trócaire’s International Department, Sally took overall charge of Trócaire’s work in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. In her current post, Sally O'Neill of Trócaire with President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins and First Lady Sabina Higgins at Áras an Uachtaráin she oversees Trócaire’s work in REALITY MAY 2015
and bishops to Central America, so they could see the suffering, translating for Archbishop Oscar Romero six weeks before he was murdered. She oversaw humanitarian aid to more than two million refugees in the Central
Central America across Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. Sally was appointed by the President of Ireland as a member of the High Level Panel for the Presidential Distinguished Service Award for the Irish Abroad in 2012 and will continue in this role after her retirement. She will also continue to work in a voluntary capacity as a facilitator with prisoners in Honduras who have been wrongfully convicted, and migrants in transit. Sally studied nutrition and home economics in Belfast, and has a Masters degree in Communications and Development Studies from Dublin City University and a Doctorate in Social Sciences. She was awarded the Hugh O´Flaherty Humanitarian Award in 2011. COMPASSION AND SOLIDARITY On her retirement, executive director of Trócaire, Éamonn Meehan, said: “Sally O’Neill has had a truly remarkable career in overseas development and human rights. Through her belief in the dignity of all people, she has empowered so many to overcome the worst cases of poverty and injustice. “Through her vision and commitment, Sally built the foundations of Trócaire, so that it could become the organisation it is today. I am convinced that this vision will continue to inspire the organisation into the future.” Chairman of Trócaire, Bishop William Crean, said: “During 37 years, Sally O'Neill has given outstanding service to Trócaire. Her work has been characterised by passion and compassion, by a deep sense of justice, by taking the option for the poor, by solidarity and by always challenging the structures of poverty and injustice. “She has inspired Trócaire to be what it is and her legacy will continue to inspire and renew the organisation in the years to come. “On behalf of the trustees of Trócaire and the Irish Episcopal Conference, I express our profound gratitude to Sally and wish her every blessing for the future.”
For more information on Trócaire’s work, see trocaire.org
Sally O'Neill showing Digna a picture of herself on the Trócaire box. Photo: David Stephenson
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Sally O'Neill of Trócaire surveys damage after Hurricane Mitch in 1997
Former President Mary Robinson pictured with Trócaire's first director, Brian McKeown, and Sally O'Neill while visiting Trócaire projects during her official visit to Somalia in 1993
Prayer Special
AIDS TO PRAYER BY SÉAMUS ENRIGHT CSsR
The 42
Redemptorists have a long tradition of writing and publishing. This goes back to our founder, St Alphonsus de Ligouri, who wrote extensively in the fields of moral and pastoral theology, prayer and spirituality, and religious and priestly life. According to St John Paul II the writings of St Alphonsus were “inspired by the people” and “focussed always and only on what would be of benefit to the people”. One of the things that Alphonsus discovered early on in his ministry among the poor and the marginalised – the people to whom he devoted his life – was that people need help with prayer. It was not enough to encourage people to pray but it was necessary to provide them with practical assistance. The necessity of regular prayer, including mental prayer, was at the heart of St Alphonsus’ spiritual wisdom and, unlike many of his contemporaries, he believed that everybody was capable of this. With this in mind, he published Visits to the Most Holy Sacrament and to Most Holy Mary in 1745. This little work began life as a way of introducing the young men who were entering the recently founded Redemptorists to a life of prayer. A lay friend of St Alphonsus persuaded him to develop and publish the work and offered to subsidise its publication. The Visits, as it came to be known, went through at least 2,000 editions in a variety of languages and continues to be published.
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Human sensibilities and theological perspectives change and many people no longer find The Visits helpful. It was for this reason that Redemptorist Communications invited Fr Richard Tobin, a Redemptorist colleague, to write Visits to the Blessed Sacrament for the 21st Century. It has been one of our most successful publishing ventures and is probably the best-selling prayer book in Ireland in recent years. I meet people all over the country as I celebrate parish missions who have found Fr Tobin’s book hugely helpful in nourishing their lives of prayer. Some use it when they go to their local church to spend time praying before the Blessed Sacrament. Others use it at home as part of their night prayer. One lady keeps it in her handbag for use when she has a few quiet minutes. A gentleman keeps it in the glove compartment of his car. I recently met a lady who suffers greatly and uses it in the middle of long nights of sleeplessness; she goes to www.novena.ie and makes her visit to the Blessed Sacrament online. I have no hesitation in recommending Visits to the Blessed Sacrament for the 21st Century. Pope Pius IX gave the original Icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help to the Redemptorists in 1866 and asked us to promote devotion to Mary under this title. The Icon is in our Redemptorist Church of Sant’Alfonso in Rome. The first copy of the Icon arrived in Ireland in December 1867 and is venerated
in Mount St Alphonsus in Limerick. There are shrines in all Redemptorist churches. Redemptorists throughout the world will be celebrating a Year of Our Lady of Perpetual Help from 27 June 2015 to 27 June 2016. You will hear more about how we plan to celebrate this Jubilee Year over the coming months. As part of our commitment to spreading devotion to Our Lady of Perpetual Help and as a way of helping people appreciate the depth of meaning in the Icon, Redemptorist Communications invited Fr George Wadding, another Redemptorist colleague, to write Mother of Perpetual Help: Reflections on an Icon. My own visits to the Shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Help here in Limerick have been enriched by George’s booklet, both by his explanations of the Icon and his selection of prayers. Catholics at the time of St Alphonsus were not encouraged to read the Bible. Interestingly, St Alphonsus’ Visits to the Blessed Sacrament are full of scriptural quotations and references. In this way he helped plant the Word of God in his readers’ hearts. Redemptorist preachers today encourage people to read the Bible, especially the Gospels, and people often ask us to suggest helpful books. With the needs of such people in mind two Redemptorist biblical scholars, with considerable experience of teaching and preaching, have written
All books are available from REDEMPTORIST COMMUNICATIONS 75 Orwell Road, Rathgar, Dublin 6 To order: Call: 00353 (1) 492 2488 Visit: www.redcoms.org Email: sales@redcoms.org
€3.00/ £2.50* A6 120 page booklet
SUMMER
books for Redemptorist Communications. Fr Brendan McConvery has written How to Read the Bible: A Manual for Beginners and for Those who have Forgotten How, and has teamed up with Fr Ciarán O’Callaghan to
write The Three Faces of Christ: Reading the Sunday Gospels with the Liturgical Year. These b o oks are available from Redemptorist Communications and from your local Redemptorist Community.
€14.95/ £11.95*
A6 48 page booklet
20x20 cm 392 page book
* denotes that packaging and postage are extra
ST DOMINIC’S
5th - 10th July - €400 (5 day) Vision of God in and through Poetry. Paul Murray OP
14th - 20th June - €465 Individually Guided Retreat Sr. Peggy Cronin
Starts 22nd 10am and finishes 26th at Lunch
21st - 27th June - €440 “The Light Shines in the Darkness & the Darkness did not overcome it” John 1:5 Michael Drennan SJ 28th June - 3rd July - €420 (5 day)Heartfulness: Transformation in Christ (Follow up from Introductory Retreat on Centering Prayer)
Fionnula Quinn OP
22nd -26th July - €385 “So that my own joy may be in you and your joy may be complete”. (John 15:11) Mindfulness and Healing Martina Lehane Sheehan 2nd - 6th August - €385 Starts 2nd at 6pm and finishes on the 6th at Lunch
Prayer for All Seasons: Reflections on the Psalms Fr. Benedict Hegarty OP
20x20 cm 80 page book
€3.00/ £2.50*
Ennismore Retreat Centre
7th - 13th June - €440 “Nothing can come between us and the love of Christ” Romans 8:35 Fr. Stephen Cummins OP
€7.50/ £6.50*
Ennismore Retreat Centre is set in 30 acres of wood, field and garden overlooking Lough Mahon on the River Lee. It’s the ideal place for some time-out, reflection and prayer. Newly refurbished Meditation Room now available for booking Applicants for Spiritual Accompaniment Course, (2015-2017) being taken now For ongoing programmes please contact the Secretary or visit our website Tel: 021-4502520 Fax: 021-4502712 E-mail:ennismore@eircom.net www.ennismore.ie
GOD’S WORD THIS MONTH DEEPLY CONNECTED In today’s Gospel Jesus says, “I am the vine, you are the branches.” The Bible often presents Israel FIFTH SUNDAY as a vine and God as the OF EASTER planter or vinedresser. But when Jesus uses this image he is saying something about himself (the vine) in relationship with the Father (the vinedresser) and in relationship with his followers (the branches). Only when the vinedresser, the vine and the branches are in a harmonious relationship is fruit produced. If Jesus is the vine, then his Father is clearly the vinedresser, for it is God who directs Jesus and his work. Jesus describes himself as a vine that is “true” or “authentic”. He is such a vine because he comes from the Father and is in relationship with the Father. God, the vinedresser, removes fruitless branches from the vine, but prunes fruitful ones so they can bear even more fruit. Vine branches that stay connected to the vine thrive and bear grapes. Those that are
disconnected dry up, bear no fruit and end up in the vinedresser’s fire. Jesus uses this vivid language to make a dramatic point about choice. We can choose to be in relationship with Jesus (the branches connected to the vine) or we can choose
to reject such a relationship (the fruitless, withered branches). The choice is ours.
LOVE, ONLY LOVE To d a y ’s r e a d i n g MAY continues from where we left off last Sunday. You will recall how Jesus called himself the “true SIXTH SUNDAY vine” and his disciples OF EASTER the “branches”. That text ended with Jesus talking about his disciples “abiding” in him or being connected to him. Today’s text picks up on that idea and develops it. For Jesus, the only way in which the disciples can “abide” in him or be in relationship with him is by living out the love that he and the Father share. If they can live out that love, then they also can share in Jesus’ joy. Jesus sets out what he means by such love. It is to love others in the way that Jesus has loved the disciples. Pay particular attention to verse 13. This is the clearest statement
in the Gospel about what it means to love as Jesus does. Greek ideas about friendship understood death for one’s friends as a noble ideal. Jesus has already hinted that his death for his disciples is the sign of his love. He implied this when he called himself the “good shepherd” who lays down his life, and when he washed their feet. The Greek word for ‘friend’ (phílos) and the verb ‘to love’ (philéō) are connected in meaning. When Jesus calls his disciples “friends”, he is saying that he loves them. In simple terms, to be Jesus’ friend is to be loved by him and to love him. When he washed their feet he used the language of master and servant. That language is now transformed – he calls his disciples “friends”. They are his friends because he has told them everything about God. He has kept nothing back. Not only that, he has invited them to join in the intimacy of his relationship with the Father.
The language of friendship is now suddenly replaced by the language of choice or, as theologians sometimes call it, ‘election’. It is Jesus who has chosen or elected the disciples. It is Jesus who has chosen or elected each of us. Jesus’ choice of the disciples is one whereby he sends them out to bear lasting fruit by loving as he does. Today’s text ends with Jesus, once again, commanding his followers to love one another according to his way of loving.
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Today’s Readings Acts 9:26–31; Ps 21; 1 Jn 3:18–24; John 15:1–8
Today’s Readings Acts 10:25–26, 34–35, 44–48; Ps 97; 1 Jn 4:7–10; John 15:9–17
SHARE THE GOOD NEWS Mark’s Gospel highlights MAY the absolute failure of Jesus’ disciples to understand anything about who he was or E TH FEAST OF N O SI what he was trying EN ASC to do. Those who left everything to follow him quickly left everything to get away from him. The people who followed him like sheep ran like racehorses when danger came near. Jesus dies alone, crucified as a criminal, while those who pledged their lives to him swear furiously that they do not know him. Then the story takes an unexpected twist: the dead Jesus begins to appear and, bit by bit, his amazed disciples begin to realise that the Lord has risen and that he is present with them – death and failure have not had the last word. Today’s Gospel comes from the very end of Mark’s account. The disciples are gathered together, discussing all that has happened, the rumours they have heard about Jesus being back from the grave. We can imagine
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their disbelief and bewilderment. All kinds of thoughts are running through their heads. Could all this really be true, they wonder. Suddenly, Jesus appears. They see him with their own eyes and they know it is true. Jesus tells them that they must go out to the whole world and tell the Good News they have heard: that Jesus is risen and that God loves his people. Their mission won’t be easy, but they will have God’s strength to go with them. Mark’s Gospel, which is often called the Gospel of failure, ends on a note of hope: Jesus ascends to the Father. The weak and frightened disciples become courageous apostles, and set off with confidence to continue the work Jesus began. Many people in our society are crying out to hear some piece of Good News today. This feast is an opportunity for us to renew our commitment to the Lord, and to share the story that we have heard.
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Today’s Readings Acts 1:1–11; Ps 46; Eph 4:1–13; Mark 16:15–20
IT COULD BE YOU! Today’s first reading tells a most dramatic story. The disciples are huddled together behind locked PENTECOST doors, wondering what SUNDAY to do, where to go, how to continue. Suddenly, the building trembles, there’s a deafening roar, and the Holy Spirit descends upon them in tongues of fire. They begin to speak in foreign languages and to proclaim Christ’s message to those who would not otherwise hear it. Luke gives a list of these languages – which represent the whole of the known world at that time. His message is clear: Christ did not come for one select group, but for everyone, for God has the whole world in his hands. The Holy Spirit transforms the disciples completely. Their fear and cowardice give
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way to courage and conviction. They become their best selves, realising their full potential. From this point onwards, they throw caution to the wind and refuse to live behind locked doors and closed lips. They emerge instead from the back streets of Jerusalem and proclaim to the whole world their faith in a crucified Christ. Like the disciples, we have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit. Let us pray today that, like them, we will be courageous and committed, always ready to proclaim Christ wherever his voice needs to be heard.
Today’s Readings Acts 2:1–11; Ps 103; Gal 5:16–25; John 15:26–27, 16:12–15
God’s Word continues on page 46
THE REALITY CROSSWORD NUMBER 4, MAY 2015
SOLUTIONS CROSSWORD No. 2 ACROSS: Across: 1. Sulked, 5. Guyana, 10. Gordian, 11. Falcons, 12. Aria, 13. Rehab, 15. Elba, 17. Row, 19. Agency, 21. Vessel, 22. Caravan, 23. Remark, 25. Tuareg, 28. Sin, 30. Vine, 31. Gloat, 32. Amen, 35. Vatican, 36. Sabbath, 37. Cranes, 38. Allies. DOWN: 2. Ukraine, 3. Knit, 4. Danger, 5. Guffaw, 6. Yelp, 7. Noodles, 8. Iguana, 9. Israel, 14. Horatio, 16. Accra, 18. Venus, 20. Yak, 21. Vat, 23. Revive, 24. Munster, 26. Rampage, 27. Gandhi, 28. Slings, 29. Nausea, 33. Scan, 34. Abel.
Winner of Crossword No. 2
Anne O’Callaghan, Co.Clare
ACROSS 1. Got something from someone without payment. (6) 5. The teachings of Jesus and the apostles. (6) 10. Morally wrong, dirty. (7) 11. Long pins for cooking. (7) 12. The part of speech that names people, places or things. (4) 13. Blacksmith's block. (5) 15. Part of a church on the east end. (4) 17. The interval between things. (3) 19. You can get hoist by your own one of these. (6) 21. Price demanded for release of a captive. (6) 22. Tooth for cutting or gnawing. (7) 23. Yellow fruit. (6) 25. Burrowing Australian mammal. (6) 28. Talk rhythmically to the beat of music. (3) 30. Den of a beast. (4) 31. A man-made waterway. (5) 32. City of the Taj Mahal. (4) 35. Formally put an end to something. (7) 36. A word formed by rearranging the letters of another. (7) 37. A secret or disguised way or writing. (6) 38. Mount where Noah's Ark came to rest. (6)
DOWN 2. A description of an event or experience. (7) 3. Great delight. (4) 4. Eating the principal meal of the day. (6) 5. Idle talk about the affairs of others. (6) 6. Cook food by slow simmering. (4) 7. Frees someone from an obligation to which others are subject. (7) 8. The Brassica rapa. (6) 9. Regard highly or favourably. (6) 14. City with the highest crime rate per capita in the world!! (7) 16. Salty water. (5) 18. Old brother of Moses. (5) 20. The hereditary material in humans. (3) 21. A line of seats in a theatre. (3) 23. Song narrating a story in short stanzas. (6) 24. The capital and largest city of Kenya. (7) 26. Stereotypical Irish word derived from 'by God.' (7) 27. Body wound or shock caused by sudden physical injury. (6) 28. Thin slice of bacon for frying. (6) 29. A hat and a canal. (6) 33. Desire, want. (4) 34. A narrative or legend of heroic exploits. (4)
GOD’S WORD THIS MONTH continued from page 45
AS IT WAS IN THE BEGINNING The first Sunday after Pentecost has always MAY been known as Trinity Sunday. On this day the church celebrates that which is the essence of the Christian faith and which sets Christianity apart from all other religions, namely our DAY TRINITY SUN belief in the Most Holy Trinity. We Christians believe that God is a unity of three divine persons (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) and that God the Son and God the Holy Spirit have exactly the same nature as God the Father. At its most basic, this doctrine asserts the essentially complex and mysterious nature of God. Our liturgy is full of references to the Trinity: we bless ourselves at the beginning and end of our prayer, we are baptised in the name of the Trinity, absolved in the name of the Trinity, and at the end of Mass, we are sent out in peace in the name of the Trinity. Yet it is hard to define the Trinity in words, so great is the mystery. An early theologian called John of Damascus wrote that instead of wrecking our brains with questions for which there are no answers, we should “think of the Father as a spring of life, of the Son as the river flowing from that sea, and of the Holy Spirit as the sea. Think of the Father as a root, of the Son as a branch, and of the Holy Spirit as the fruit, for such is God, three in One.” Today’s feast is a good opportunity to thank God for revealing himself to us and to give glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
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Entry Form for Crossword No.4, May 2015 Name: Address:
Today’s Readings
Telephone:
Dt 4:32–34, 39–40; Ps 32; Rom 8: 14–17; Matthew 28:16–20 All entries must reach us by May 31, 2015 One €35 prize is offered for the first correct solutions opened. The Editor’s decision on all matters concerning this competition will be final. Do not include correspondence on any other subject with your entry which should be addressed to: Reality Crossword No. 2, Redemptorist Communications, 75 Orwell Rd., Rathgar, Dublin 6
REALITY CHECK PETER McVERRY SJ
ONE COUNTRY, TWO WORLDS
FEEDING INTO THE CYCLE OF DEPRIVATION The following are the results of a survey of the 64 children in the junior and senior infants classes in an urban deprived neighbourhood (which shall remain nameless) in Ireland. •62 lived in lone parent families (97%) •The parent(s) of 61 of the children were unemployed (95%) •27 of the children lived in families with a history of criminality (42%) •35 of the children lived in families with a history of addiction (55%) •11 of the children lived in families with a history of domestic abuse (17%) •3 of the children lived in what was considered a “stable home” (4.5%) •The parents of 60 of the children had not completed second level education (94%) •The parents of 48 of the children had mental health issues (75%) •44 of the children were considered to be “at risk” (69%) •36 of the children showed emotional or behavioural disturbance (56%) •12 of the children required speech and language therapy (19%) How many of these children will end up in prison? How many will end up addicted? How many will complete second level education? How many will go on to have children
who will continue the cycle of deprivation? It does not require a degree in sociology to answer these questions. Such a community is unsustainable. It is also probably irreversible – who is going to want to come and live and bring up their children there? Such a community can only self-destruct and in the process do considerable damage to the rest of society. Despite some very committed teachers, who choose to stay and make a difference against all the odds, the local school will have a large percentage of pupils who lack motivation, who carry in the schoolbags on their back, not just their few schoolbooks but a host of personal and family problems that weigh them down, and which accompany them everywhere they go. Parents who have higher ambitions for their children may wish to send them to a school outside the locality but unless they are in employment they may not be able to afford to do so. Such a neighbourhood gets a reputation as a troubled and troublesome neighbourhood and for those who live there it may be impossible to get an interview, never mind a job.
to make a half-decent life for themselves. Their role models are local drug dealers who drive flash cars, wear expensive jewellery and go on foreign holidays four times a year. That they might be shot dead before they are 30 years of age, or be in jail for a long time, does not deter a teenager in the slightest. Who is to blame? Certainly politicians must share a large proportion of the blame. Such communities do not arise by accident; they result from a failure of planning. Over the past 50 years, communities in many urban areas have been allowed to develop with a high concentration of low income families, without adequate services or facilities, leading to neighbourhoods characterised as deprived, with higher crime levels, school drop-out rates and drug misuse. The real heroes in our society are those parents in such neighbourhoods who struggle to bring up their children, to keep them in education and out of trouble. Some parents I know will not allow their children out of the house, for fear of the negative peer group they might interact with, or for fear that they might be offered drugs.
And so the cycle continues: ambitions remain limited and opportunities even more limited. Young people there do not need career guidance – they know clearly that their options are to grow up in unemployment and poverty, or to rob or deal drugs
Under the Planning and D e v el o p m ent Ac t 2000, developers were obliged to allocate 20% of all residential development to social or affordable housing. This was one of the best policy decisions of the last few decades. It would
have ensured a huge increase in the supply of social housing, but more importantly, it would have created a social mix within housing developments, and prevented such deprived communities from developing in the future. But under pressure from developers and builders, who saw this as a threat to their profits, the Government caved in. During the Celtic Tiger years, instead of 20%, only 3.5% of residential output was allocated, under this Act, to social or affordable housing. But we, the public, must also take part of the blame. People buying their own house do not want social tenants living close by. During the Celtic Tiger years, they did not even want people in “affordable housing” beside them, even though such people were in employment but just not earning enough to allow them to obtain a mortgage for the overpriced houses available in the market. Many people do not want “them” to integrate with “us” – a form of racism, based not on colour but on social class. But our refusal to integrate creates neighbourhoods of deprivation which not only come back to haunt us today, but will continue to haunt our children, our grandchildren and future generations.
If you agree, disagree or just want to add your own thoughts to our comment pieces, email: editor@redcoms.org or write to: The Editor, Redemptorist Communications, 75 Orwell Road, Rathgar, Dublin 6
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