On Friday, 6 January 2023, Fr Laurence celebrated a Contemplative Mass at Balally Parish Centre with Frs Jim Caffrey and Dermot Lane. The deeply contemplative experience was very well attended and all participated in a Lectio Divina of the Gospel Reading.
Afterwards, Fr Laurence blessed the new Meditation Room at the Parish Centre which is now being decorated by Cinzia, a member of the Parish Pastoral Council.
Events at Balally Parish Centre
The following events will take place over the coming weeks – all are welcome:
Fri. 10 Feb 2023 7- 8:30 pm Sat 11 Feb 2023 10-11:30 am
Rev Richard Carter will speak about his book ‘The City Is my Monastery‘.
Fri. 03 March 2023 7-8:30 pm
Dr Noel Keating will speak to the theme ‘Meditation Awakens the Heart‘
Desert Tuesdays continue every Tuesday at Balally beginning at 10 a.m. closing with a contemplative Mass at 7:30 p.m.
Other Dates to Remember
Our Regional Coordinators will meet in Balally on Saturday, 18 February 2023 from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Fr Dermot Lane will give a talk after which we will reflect on the state of our Christian Meditation Community in Ireland. This will be our first in-person gathering of our Regional Coordinators for some years. Each may bring a second person as they wish. A light lunch will be provided.
Our next Dublin & Environs Meet Up will take place in Balally on Saturday, 04 March 2023 from 11 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. All groups within travelling distance are invited to send as many representatives as they can. Caroline Stratton will be our speaker for this event.
Our Annual Forum and AGM will take place in Balally on Saturday 13 May 2023 from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. followed by a light lunch. All meditators from all parts of the country are invited to attend. Dr Noel Keating will open the meeting with a reflection on the John Main Prayer.
Our next Annual Retreat Day will take place on Saturday 23 September 2023 in Balally Parish Church. The speaker will be Fr. Donagh O’Shea. Further details will follow in due course.
New WCCM Online Series for Young Meditators Aged 16 - 45
More and more people in our society are beginning to understand that both our personal problems and those we face as a society are ultimately of a spiritual nature. If we want to know who we truly are, then we have to make contact with our own centre. Young meditators are invited to join a free online series of workshops – Fully alive: Making contact with our own centre – starting February 11th, introducing meditation as a way to find our own centre.
This series will be led by meditators sharing their first-hand accounts of meditation with respect to the theme covered. The series will touch on important topics of one’s personal growth, such as vulnerability, life purpose, the environment, and the balance between action and contemplation.The series consists of 8 sessions, running from February through October 2023. Each session will focus on a different aspect of meditation, with a general introduction to what meditation is, its benefits, meditation and mindfulness, and the balance between action and contemplation, among other themes. Each session will be led by a meditator who will share his / her first-hand accounts of meditation with respect to the theme covered. To find out more, click here. If you know anyone who may benefit from this series, please make sure to share this link with them.
Bear In Mind by John Martin
A bear is chasing me through a meadow
and I’m running as fast as I can but
he’s gaining on me—it seems
he’s always gaining on me.
I’m running and running but also
thinking I should just
turn around and say,
“Stop it! Stop chasing me. We both
know you aren’t going to catch me.
All you can ever do is chase me. So,
think about it—why bother?”
The bear does stop,
and he sits on his haunches and thinks,
or seems to think. And then
the bear says to me,
“I have to chase you, you know
that. Or you should. And, sure,
we both know I’ll never catch you.
So, why not give us both a break and
just stop thinking about me?”
But, with that said, he gets back on four feet,
sticks his long pink tongue out, licks down
both sides of his snout. Then he sighs, looks
behind himself, then at me and says, “Okay,
ready when you are.”
“Bear In Mind” by John Martin from Hold This.
© Concrete Wolf Press, 2017.
Reflection on the Poem
I love the imaginative simplicity and creativity of this poem. It opens with a dream-like quality where the poet is being chased and the bear is constantly gaining on him but yet never enough to catch him! And in a moment of inspiration the poet realises he should just stop and tell the bear to go away. Otherwise this pointless chase will continue indefinitely and both of them will get ever more exhausted!
And the bear too realises this essential truth but reflects back to the poet that he, the poet, is the instigator. He is the one doing whose incessant thinking is causing the problem. So it is the poet who needs to give them both a break by ceasing to think about the bear! The clue is also in the title of the poem ‘Bear in Mind’. I love that double entendre because this truth the bear has just uttered is what the poet needs to bear in mind! And, cease to bear the bear in mind.
And the third funny, yet sad, verse tells us a great deal about human nature. The bear sighs, looks behind himself, then at the poet and says, “Okay, ready when you are”. And that is so like the way we respond to many insights – we continue as before as if we had never glimpsed the truth! We return our attention back to our distractions, away from that which we are seeking.
May our meditation break this habit for us. May is help us to keep our attention on what matters most so that it becomes not merely a reality but the reality that guides how we live our lives. May our meditation keep our hearts open always to God’s presence and guide us to love like Him.
(Noel Keating)
Online Meditation at 7:30 p.m. on every Thursday & Sunday evening, Irish time.
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