Marists respond to the four greatest needs of our time
The General Chapter of 2008 identified four of the greatest needs of our time and challenged us to address them.
The needs are: The Thirst for Meaning, The Movement of Peoples, Reconciliation, and Care of the Earth.
Two years on, two communities, Tubbercurry and Belfast, and Sisters Marie O’Reilly and Moira Ryan give us some glimpses into their response to these needs.
Marist Convent Tubbercurry A large portion of the building was a secondary school until 2002. When the community vacates the building next year it will be transformed into affordable housing for those who need it.
In Tubbercurry, the Marist Way of Life is alive and well and our presence there spans 110 years. If the walls could speak, what stories they could tell about our response to the crying needs of people including the 4 selected by the General Chapter.
Today the sisters engage with those thirsting for meaning through their various ministries, especially in Holy Family Primary School, by involvement with pupils, staff, parents, teachers and boards of management. Some community members are involved in parish outreach, often helping families in times of bereavement and/or tragedy.
The Movement of Peoples is obvious in classrooms where children and their families have recently come from countries across the globe. This calls forth a great sense of hospitality to soothe their thirst for belonging and to help them feel welcome and valued.
In a more general way, the Sisters keep themselves informed and aware of the thirst for belonging and the need for healing and reconciliation by reading reports from development agencies such as Trocaire, Concern, Irish Missionary Union and Social Justice Ireland. And as far as possible they involve themselves with advocacy work for both children and their parents. But, perhaps the most effective way the sisters respond to these four great needs of humanity is by their prayer, by bringing forth the life of God in each other and in those whom they serve.
From Tubbercurry in the west, we go to Belfast in the north where four sisters minister. They are Srs. Inez, Frances, Ann and Bernadette. St. Peter’s Cathedral is their parish church.
The Marist mission began in St. Peter’s parish in 1986. At the time the so-called ‘Troubles’ were at their height and life was very difficult for the people of the area. The sisters lived in the Divis Flats complex, a first attempt at the regeneration of the impoverished area of the Divis. Since then life has improved for the people but many social problems remain.
The sisters today are inspired by the words of Const. 20 : At Nazareth Mary is found among the poor and humble. She shared their way of living and was attentive to the needs of her neighbours. Living among the people the sisters try to be aware of the ‘ thirst for meaning’ which has been eroded by the loss of religious practice, consumerism and materialism. They visit the two primary schools, help with the preparation for First Holy Communion and Confirmation and with the pastoral care of the children and the staff. They visit the housebound and bring them Holy Communion. They prepare young couples for the Baptism of their children and visit them in their homes. They share with the people in the liturgical life of the parish, and are especially attentive to the Perpetual Devotion in the Cathedral.
A crying need in the whole of Northern Ireland is Reconciliation. The peace process continues, painfully and with frequent setbacks, due to the sectarianism which is endemic. Many very worthwhile efforts are made by various groups to heal the divisions and to promote friendship and collaboration between the communities. West Belfast is completely segregated from our Protestant neighbours, and there is even a ‘peace wall’ to mark this division. Sr. Myra Niland was very committed to helping the peace movement in Northern Ireland. She worked with the Clonard Reconciliation project until a month before her death on October 27, 2009. The following prayer which the Reconciliation group made their own expresses her yearning for unity and peace:
Lord, Jesus, give us the honesty to recognise and the courage to reject, whatever indifference towards one another, or mutual distrust, or even enmity, lie hidden within us. Enable us to meet one another in you. And let our prayer for the unity of Christians be ever in our hearts and on our lips, unity such as you desire and by the means that you will. (Fr. Paul Couturier, French Ecumenist)
Care of the Earth is a priority for the Belfast community. They try to familiarise themselves with creation theology and spirituality and with ways of conserving our natural resources. They take a full part in the recycling systems of the City Council. With the help of some members of the Vigil choir, they reclaimed a waste area and planted a garden which is faithfully maintained.
L-R Srs. Ann, Inez, Bernadette, Frances
Grosvenor House is a special ministry in St. Peter’s parish which is directed by Sr. Bernadette. It is home to 17 homeless families on a temporary basis. These families come from varied backgrounds, domestic violence, alcohol and drug addiction, intimidation and all types of abuse. As an aid to their work, Sr. Bernadette and her staff network with various organizations i.e. counselling services, addiction teams, support groups and social services. However, Sr. Bernadette says: “I see my role here with a group of lay staff as that of listening, supporting and, above all, respecting the dignity of each person. We work with people who have very poor self-esteem and cannot see how to go forward. Many don’t see that their lives can be turned around. When I reflect on Jesus in the gospels I ask myself: “Why did he reach out to those who were on the margins of society?” For me it had to do with dignity. He reached out in a dignified and respectful way and communicated to them some sense of their own dignity. Surely we are asked to do no less. No. 36 of our Constitutions also points us in this direction:”In the spirit of our founders we shall have a special care for the poor and underprivileged”.
And there is also light glimmering through the darkness in Grosvenor House. “We get a lot of joy from our families, celebrating happy events with them like the birth of babies, baptisms, birthdays etc. I feel that it is in the sharing of what we have and who we are with those less fortunate, that we find God and enable others to find meaning in life. Despite the challenges that we meet we thrust forward with a belief and a deep desire to carry out the mission that has been confided to us, namely to do the work of Mary.”
Obviously, this ministry in Grosvenor House is a major effort to respond to the four major needs presented by General Chapter 2008. Helping the guests in this house to find meaning in life; to have a sense of belonging; to experience healing and reconciliation ; to care for the earth – all these values are there.
Sr. Marie O’Reilly, a chaplain at CastleknockCommunity College, describes how she would help her students develop skills 
in conflict resolution.
Working with the statement:” In the midst of a divided world the thirst for healing calls forth our spirit of Reconciliation”, she develops the following module on Peer Mediation to be used with second level students.
Strategy: Develop skills in conflict resolution
Module on Peer Mediation with second level students
The features of this programme are the gaining and displaying of an understanding of conflict resolution skills and the process of peer mediation.
Aims
- Provide students with an opportunity to learn skills, procedures and attitudes that are required to resolve conflicts constructively in their lives and to promote reconciliation and healing.
- Provide students with a safe environment in which to reflect on how they handle emotion and to identify their conflict management zone.
- To help students to recognise, through participation, the value of reflective listening and working with and acknowledging the perceived reality of others.
- To equip students for their role as Senior Mentors to our First Year students.
The key skills that students develop through this programme are:
- Reflective listening skills
- Rapport building skills
- Problem solving skills
- Critical and creative thinking
- Working with others
Learning Outcome of the Programme
- Connect with the emotional realities of those in conflict
- Listen with respect to different viewpoints and summarise and evaluate the merits of disputants’ different perspective.
- Set up peer mediation role plays focusing on interpersonal conflicts in small groups.
- Analyse conflict situations and offer resolutions.
“You can’t shake hands with a clenched fist” (Indiara Ghandi)
Sr. Moira Ryan writes poetically about meaning in our own lives
The Thirst for Meaning calls forth the spirit of Hope
In a world where noise drowns out the hungers for meaning
There is a thirst that God alone can satisfy-
I thank God for the environment in which I grew up-
God had a big part in our lives
and people’s language laced with references to him:
‘God save all here!’
‘God rest his soul!’
‘God speed you!’
Unlike winning the Lotto-
Meaning doesn’t come in a lump sum!
But like peace Yeats speaks of,
‘dropping slow’ but surely,
If you are open!
The Thirst for Belonging calls forth our spirit of Hospitality
“O to have a little house......
A house of my own, out of the wind’s and the rain’s way”.
These lines by poet, Padraig Colum, describe more than the need for shelter-
They suggest the deep down yearning to belong-
To be part of a family, a community, a nation, to have an address, a home.
This need calls forth our spirit of Hospitality. Maybe it challenges us to examine our Christian and human values-
What about our country’s reputation as the “Land of a Thousand Welcomes”
I connect with this need for Belonging in my associations
With two very different groups of people-
The first, Newcomers from East European countries whom I help with English-
The second ‘Oldcomers’- older people who have returned to their home areas
From various parts of the UK, as well as UK nationals who have bought
old cottages, remodelled them and are settling happily into the community.
We meet this latter group in our Active Retired Association.
To describe them, one can leave out the word ‘Retired’. ‘Active’ alone applies!
They are ‘into’ beekeeping, aerobics, aquatics, farming, dancing, Art, etc. etc.
By their positive attitude to ageism, and their appreciation of a simple lifestyle,
They challenge us to be grateful for the good and inexpensive things of life-
Listening to the stories of coping with hard times, and seeing
How these people have grown through it all-
One rejoices in God’s care for all his people – the O.T. Exiles who sang:
“We go out, we go out, full of tears, carrying our seeds.
We come back, we come back, full of joy, carrying our sheaves”-
And all immigrants – the young Irish of the 40s and 50s
And the young Eastern Europeans and newcomers in 2010.
Since both newcomers and ‘oldcomers’ contribute greatly to our lives-
We receive more than we give from the ‘strangers’ in our midst.
