A Wonderful Day with Fr Donagh O'Shea
Our first event of the year on Saturday 23 Sept was a day of reflection and meditation with Fr Donagh O’Shea whose theme was ‘Rediscovering a Contemplative Church’. Donagh began by reminding us that when we begin to explore any question we need to be clear where are we looking from. He asked us to imagine that an anonymous author, who had no personal knowledge of your family, was asked to write a biography of your mother. Without personal and intimate knowledge of your mother, there is no way – even after researching all the known facts of her life – that such an author could do her justice. Contemplative knowledge in our lives is akin to the knowledge the author would miss.
Donagh stressed that we need access to contemplative knowledge in our lives and we can create a space for it through the daily practice of meditation. This is what is needed in the world today. To learn more about what Donagh had to say, contact Paul Daly of Éist who recorded the event and the recordings may be ordered and downloaded online or as a CD or USB: Click here and then scroll down the page to find the talk.
Our next Dublin & Environs Meet-Up will take place on Saturday, 21 October 2023 in Balally Parish Centre D16 E032 from10:30 am to12:30 pm. Tea and coffee from 10 am. If we are to grow as a contemplative community in Christian Meditation Ireland we need to avail of regular opportunities to meet like-minded people and share about our experience of the benefits and fruits of meditation. So, please do come along and bring a friend. This is also an ideal opportunity for people who are new to meditation and would like to find out more.
Our guest speaker will be Dr Noel Keating – he will speak about how we metaphor and poetry can enrich our practice and give us insights into the deep fruits of meditation. Poetry can point us towards a truth that resonates with our heart but which can never be adequately described in words. Noel uses contemplative poetry in his online meditation sessions every Thurs and Sunday evening and always offers us a contemplative reflection in our monthly Newsletter.
Click on the image to the left to book your free place – although attendance is free we do ask you to book so we can ensure we have sufficient seating and refreshments for all.
In honour of the 55th anniversary of the death of Thomas Merton, theologian Fr Michael Downey will give talks on the legacy of Thomas Merton on Mon 11, Tues 12 and Wed 13 December 2023 from 7 – 8 p.m. each evening. No need to book for either event but donations will be greatly appreciated.
Our very active Cork region will be holding their next event on Saturday, 18 November in the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart Hall on Western Road, Cork, T12 TN80 from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. The event will comprise two talks interspersed with periods of meditation and an opportunity for Q&A. It will be followed by Mass at 1 pm for those who wish to stay for it. Participants bring their own lunch and the organisers will provide tea, coffee and biscuits. A donation of €10 is suggested.
Don't Miss this Unique Opportunity on 02 Dec
Don’t miss this in-person event with Fr Laurence Freeman OSB on 02 December 2023 in Balally Parish Centre, Cedar Road, Dublin D16 E032. This is a unique opportunity to meet with Fr Laurence and hear him talk about the practice and deep fruits of meditation.
Fr Laurence is making a weekend visit to the contemplative parish of Balally. He will celebrate a contemplative Mass in Bally Parish Centre on Friday evening, 01 December and will open the John Main Room in the Parish Centre immediately afterwards.
He will give two talks on Saturday morning, each followed by Q&A and time for meditation with a coffee break in between. The event will start at 10 a.m. and finish at 13:30. Please book through Eventbrite – that helps us to ensure that we have sufficient seating and refreshments in place. To book your place – and consider making a donation to offset our costs – just click on the image to the right. Thank you!
Contemplative Poem
My Poetry Is Jamming Your Machine
by Malcolm Guite
My poetry is jamming your machine
It broke the photo-copier, I’m to blame,
With pictures copied from a world unseen.
My poem is in the works -I’m on the scene
We free my verse, and I confess my shame,
My poetry is jamming your machine.
Though you berate me with what might have been,
You stop to read the poem, just the same,
And pictures, copied from a world unseen,
Subvert the icons on your mental screen
And open windows with a whispered name;
My poetry is jamming your machine.
For chosen words can change the things they mean
And set the once-familiar world aflame
With pictures copied from a world unseen
The mental props give way, on which you lean
The world you see will never be the same,
My poetry is jamming your machine
With pictures copied from a world unseen.
Noel Keating reflects: It was National Poetry Day in the UK 0n 05 October 2023. Malcom Guite wrote in honour of the day: ‘I thought I’d post this villanelle up in honour of the day; a villanelle is a pastoral or lyrical poem of nineteen lines, with only two rhymes throughout, and some lines repeated. I was once photocopying some poems for a talk when the whole machine ground to a halt, totally jammed. I pulled what poetry I could from its innards and rushed off to give my talk. When I came back the woman in charge of the machine pointed an accusing finger and said “Your poetry is jamming my machine!” I thought that was such a great line that I borrowed it and wrote her this poem for her to make amends.’
I love how the phrase ‘My poetry is jamming your machine’ moves from the literal in the first two verses – where the machine is clearly a reference to the photocopier which had jammed – to the metaphorical in the fourth verse. Because she stopped to read the poem and look at the accompanying images the poet observes that what was ‘copied from a world unseen, subvert the icons on your mental screen and open windows with a whispered name.’ In other words, the poem has impacted her way of seeing – they have gotten under her skin as it were and subverted her normal conditioning. They have opened a portal to a new way of seeing however obliquely – ‘they have opened windows with a whispered name and set the once-familiar world aflame.’ So, he can now say that his poetry is jamming her machine – meaning her personhood; her mental image of who she is has been subtly changed by the poem. ‘The mental props give way, on which you lean – the world you see will never be the same again.’
This is what meditation does for us too. It awakens the heart to who we truly are, it breaks through the defences of the ego and reveals the true-self. It changes our understanding of who we are at the depths of our being. John Main reminds us that ‘One of the difficulties we face in learning to meditate is that it is very difficult for us to imagine that thought is not the highest and essential activity of the human being.’ Thought, he says, ‘is rather like sending out a signal to reality, bouncing it off reality and then interpreting the return signal. But meditation is the way wherein we become one with the reality. There is no mediation, there is no bouncing a signal back from reality and reading it. In meditation we are one with reality.’ And that subverts our normal conditioning so that we begin to see the world in a new way, from the deeper understanding of our true-self.
Many thanks to Mannix Lynch, Maria Gavin, John Ryan and Mary O’Connor who have been in touch with groups all over the country and have updated the lists of weekly meditation groups.
These are now presented as Adobe Acrobat pdf files which can easily be opened and downloaded.
This month we welcome aboard Joe Brophy from Tullamore who has agreed to join the Board of Directors as Company Secretary. Thanks a million Joe!
Someone has also volunteered to help with the maintenance of the website and this Newsletter. Many thanks!
Our next Regional Coordinators meeting will take place on Saturday, 11 November 2023 from 11:00 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. online, via Zoom. The Zoom link will be emailed in advance but please add the date to your diary now. It is hoped all coordinators will attend. Feel free to invite a friend!
WCCM Talks for Weekly Groups
Remember, all the latest talks which WCCM prepares for weekly groups are now available on the web and can be downloaded by anyone who would like to listen or to read them. Just click on the image to the left and you will be brought to the WCCM webpage where the talks and transcripts are stored.
Below some introductory text you will see a list in table form showing all of the talks/CD’s issued for groups since 2005. You can scroll down through the list at your leisure and you can choose to listen to or download any of the CDs by following the instructions below.
In addition you can read and/or download a transcript of the CDs of your choice. The instructions for downloading individual tracks, the entice CD or the whole transcript of each talk can be found by clicking here.
