REFLECTIONS ON AN ECUMENICAL DAY IN BALLYVALOO, WEXFORD

By Jim Thompson

In our parish newsletter for 12th October, I noticed an  invitation to all parishioners to an Ecumenical Quiet Day. The theme for the day was “Responding Ecumenically to the Challenges of Today.” I believe strongly that the challenges of today must not be looked at in isolation but as communities working together. The fact that the quiet day was to be in Ballyvaloo - that oasis of oneness  with nature - was an added bonus for me.

Arriving in Ballyvaloo we received a great welcome along with the customary “cup of tea”. We gathered in the convent chapel that was turned for the day into a community room. In this circular space everyone had a sense of belonging and being valued.

Canon Trevor Sargent and  Fr James Murphy welcomed everyone again. Canon Trevor began his talk by reminding us of the prophet Amos telling us that God does not want us to be content with empty worship but that he wants us to respond to the needs of the people. He went on to expand on our mission. Today we must respond ecumenically to our great challenges. What is the greatest need and challenge of our world today? Mary Robinson gives us her answer. For her the greatest threat the world faces today is Climate Change. Philip Alston UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights, reminds us that global heating impacts us all on basics like the availability of food, water and housing, and access to democracy and the rule of law.

How  are we to respond?  Canon Trevor outlined three ways. We can respond on the individual level and on the government level, but a third and essential way is by the action taken by the local community and parish. These local groups can be inspired and transformed by reflection and knowledge, and by the  good practice and example of other community groups. Communities make this third way  transformative  and enjoyable. He pointed to the role of the parish  to care for the greatest needs in our local area by forming connections with other  groups working on the same issues. For example, Eco congregations and Tidy Towns. These groups can give us great guidance (see www.ecocongregation.com)  He named four ways ahead for our local parish:

1)      Spiritual: naming the needs of our planet in our prayers

2)      Practical: planning and cooperation between parishes and other faith communities; projects: e.g. education, planting. No two communities are the same so various projects would emerge.

3)      Making connections with non-faith communities in our area

4)      Making global connections with groups like Trocaire, Oxfam, and Tearfund, a project set up by the Irish Inter Church Meeting

By responding ecumenically to the challenges of today, Canon Trevor concluded, we are enabled to live better and to ensure that life is possible in the future.

During our  lunch break we had time to enjoy the beauty and inspiration of Ballyvaloo.

In the afternoon, our reflections were led by Fr. James Murphy.  He picked the theme that we are now celebrating a Jubilee Year .  He reminded us that we all celebrate birthdays and anniversaries, be they silver, golden or diamond.  Every twenty five years the Church celebrates and calls it a Jubilee year - a  time for us to remember the past, celebrate the present, and look forward to the future. The theme for this year’s celebrations is that we are all 'Pilgrims of Hope'. He then looked at our celebrations from five aspects.

1 Blessing, 2 Reconciliation, 3 Sharing, 4 Thanksgiving, and 5 Renewal. 

Fr James spoke about how God has blessed each of us and has anointed us to bring the good news to the poor. The kindness of the Lord is everlasting (Psalm 103) and we are invited  to show the same kindness. Fr James called our attention to the Letter that Pope Leo and Pope Francis wrote to us “Dilexi Te” We are asked us to share and to raise our voices on behalf of the poor in the world. Francis and Leo remind us that that those who do not love their brother or sister whom they see, cannot love God whom they cannot see. In all of creation, especially in the poor, we can hear the word of  God.

Our appreciation of the earth and our care for the poor is a “prerequisite of faith, not a consequence of it.” In other words we come together for worship on Sunday as a result of our everyday worship in how we live our daily life, thankful for all we have. Call to renewal and repentance involves a change of mind, an about turn, a change in direction not only in mind but also in heart.

Fr James ended with a quote that he liked from T.S. Eliot:  “We shall not cease from exploration. And the end of all our exploring. Will be to arrive where we started. And  know the place for the first time.”

Ten years ago Pope Francis challenged us to respond to the greatest challenge the world was facing. He invited each of us to care for our earth in his encyclical Laudato Si’. What a gift to leave to future generations.

Ireland responded. The people in the Leinster Province with their three bishops came together in the Dolmen Hotel in Carlow. Together with experts on climate change they reflected on what action needed to be urgently taken. The fruit of the meeting was that Laudato Si’ groups were set up in some parishes  Ten years later we leave Ballyvaloo with hope that one day we will see a Laudato Si’ group or similar care for the earth groups  in more parishes. We can respond to the greatest challenge of our beautiful planet today by acting together as a caring community.