A New SpIRE has Emerged

Spirituality is the pulse of life and needs to be nourished. Two important figures enabling this in Ireland today are Dr. Michael O’Sullivan SJ and Dr. Bernadette Flanagan PVBM. They are the founding members of SpIRE an Institute for Research and Education, in the field of spirituality. This initiative was launched in Milltown Park, Dublin, this summer and includes much Mercy involvement. Sarah MacDonald is a reporter from The Tablet and her review of the evening can be seen by clicking here.

Central to spirituality studies is an MA programme in Applied Christian Spirituality. Some of past students are seen in the photographs below:

Liz Fletcher rsm with Denis Nolan

Aine Campbell rsm and Dara Westby

Carmel Keane (niece of Angelus Keane rsm in Stella Maria, Galway), Rita McAuley, James Finlay and Bernadette Flanagan

Michael O’Sullivan speaking at the foundational evening for SpIRE

The MA programme in Applied Christian Spirituality has been suspended because of the closure of All Hallows College, where it had been offered. Now, plans for its return are in place, in the site of Milltown Park, in 2016. It will be under the auspices of Waterford University. As part of Mercy support for the new venture, Scholasticah Nganda rsm and Marie Louise White rsm, representing our Congregational Leadership Team were present at the opening of SpIRE.

Scholasticah Nganda rsm and Marie Louise White rsm

The guest speaker was Dr James Finlay, author of The Palace of Nowhere. He spoke of his time as a novice under the care of Thomas Merton. At first, Jim was so much in awe of the great man that he was tongue-tied. However, Merton invited him to share on his practical experience in the monastery where Jim’s job was to care for the pigs. Merton showed so much interest in the individual piglets that Jim came to be at his ease, learning a great deal from a master of contemplative life.

During the talk, Jim shared two memorable images. He asked us to imagine that one morning we awaken to find we have been left a mansion. The only difficulty is that no key comes with the legacy. Instead, we find ourselves living in an outhouse beside the mansion. When visitors come to call, we can only show them the house from outside. The second image was of actually living in the mansion but thinking and living as though we are living in an outhouse. Both of these potent images caused many questions to arise in relation to our relationship with God.

Do we access this wondrous relationship to which we are entitled? Are we aware of the gifts we receive in every moment of our lives? Questions like these are some of the food that is shared in abundance through the MA programme and all of the events organised through SpIRE.

Dr. James Finlay speaking to the Assembly

The following day was a feast of spirituality shared by Jim Finlay and dedicated to the honour the centenary of Thomas Merton’s birth. The overall question being explored was how it is possible to live a more contemplative way of life. Jim presented the act of contemplation as that of paying close attention and observing closely. When this is sustained, it begins to spread and, over time, brings about transformation. The first key to becoming more contemplative is to “find your practice and practise it.” Any meditative practice “when habitually entered into takes you to the deeper place…which leads to encounter with the God who sustains me.” The second is to “find your teaching and follow it,” while the third is to “find your community and enter it.” To hear Jim Finlay’s consoling and sonorous voice, the four CD’s from this inspiring day can be purchased from Eist.

Suzanne Ryder rsm
Western Province