Our Annual Forum and AGM takes place on Saturday next, 13 May 2023 from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. This is a wonderful opportunity for all who practice meditation in Ireland to come together to reflect on our activities over the past twelve months and to consider how we might animate our community and promote the practice of meditation in new ways, in particular among young people .
Members of the Board will give an account of their stewardship over the past year, the accounts of CMI for 2022 will be considered for adoption and and the Members of Christian Meditation Ireland will appoint directors to the Board. We are always looking for new people who may be able to contribute in some way to the nourishment and flourishing of our community. Please come along to find out more about our work.
Dr Noel Keating will give a reflection entitled: Metanoia: The Contemplative Pathway
We have now added an event booking module to our website. All future events can be booked through Eventbrite by clicking on the word ‘Register’ in the bottom right-hand corner of the image advertising the event. Events are advertised in the homepage and on the Upcoming Events tab under ‘Events’ on the menu bar at the top of each page.
Some events, such as next Saturday’s Annual Forum and AGM are free but advance booking helps us to plan for seating and refreshments.
We hope most people will book online in advance; however, one can just turn up (and pay if there is a charge) but we cannot guarantee refreshments will be available for those who haven’t booked in advance!
Are you interested in meditating with people in prison? Meditatio are offering 3 online sessions to offer information and support. The forums will be led by Mary Devane, Meditatio International Coordinator for Prisons and will be introduced by Laurence Freeman.
Choose which online event suits you best – the first takes place on Tuesday evening, 9 May at 7 p.m. and the second is on Tues morning, 16 May at 8 a.m. There is no cost.
To book your place, please contact Kate on meditatio@wccm.org and she will send you the link.
A Meditatio Webinar looking at meditating with Children and Young People on the autistic spectrum will take place online on 22 June 2023 from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. The webinar will be led by Pierina Landolfi and introduced by Laurence Freeman OSB.
Dr. Pierina Landlofi will talk to us about autism and neuro divergency in her experience as a professional working with children in this field. Laurence Freeman OSB will be looking at how meditation can develop spiritual awareness. There will be a panel of professionals to answer your questions and talk about their experience meditating with children on the autistic spectrum. to find out more and book a place (£20) click here.
Our wonderful and very active Cork Region organised a tremendous event on the last Saturday in April which was very well attended. Many who were new to our meditation community came along as did many others who have not yet linked with a weekly meditation group.
The day was facilitated by Bro Richard Hendrick who gave three short reflections on the contemplative journey, interspersed with periods of silent meditation. Bro Richard reminded us that the practice is about being faithful to the Divine Presence in the present moment with a view to allowing ourselves to be transformed by our practice.
St Teresa of Avila described contemplation as the prayer of calm abiding, as simply resting in awareness of God’s presence. Padre Pio, who described himself as a simple friar who prays, said that in books we read about God but in meditation we meet Him.
Richards very thoughtful reflection spoke of the goal of the Christian journey as Theosis and explored how the practice of meditation can contribute to that goal. He reminded us that the work of theosis is God’s – our job is to turn up and to be faithful to our practice. He spoke helpfully about the difference between kataphatic and apophatic prayer. He addressed the practice of asceticism by the Desert Fathers in the Egyptian desert and summarised the key elements of solitude, fasting and various forms of prayer, including Lectio Divina and contemplation. The day concluded with a celebration of the Eucharist. Richard’s slides may be downloaded from here.
The Fountain by Denise Levertov
Don’t say, don’t say there is no water
To solace the dryness at our hearts.
I have seen
The fountain springing out of the rock wall
And you drinking there. And I too
Before your eyes
Found footholds and climbed
to drink the cool water.
The woman of that place, shading her eyes,
Frowned as she watched—but not because
she grudged the water,
Only because she was waiting
to see we drank our fill and were
refreshed.
Don’t say, don’t say there is no water.
That fountain is there among its scalloped
green and gray stones,
It is still there and always there
with its quiet song and strange power
to spring in us,
up and out through the rock.
.
Noel Keating Reflects: I think the opening line of this poem speaks to our intention in meditation. In sitting down to meditate, our aim is to access the deep well of being so that our spirit is deeply refreshed, albeit we might not come away with an embodied awareness of that. But we have faith that our trip to the well, to the endless fountain, twice each day is cool water for the soul, solace for the dryness of our hearts.
It is a fountain that can spring out of a rock wall anywhere, just as it did for Moses at Horeb as recounted in Exodus (17:6): ‘I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.’ So the poet reminds never to say ‘There is no water’ because the fountain is always available, always there with its quiet song and strange power to spring up in us, out and through the rock, which I imagine to be our hardened hearts.
That is why we meditate. The mantra is our pathway to the footholds and we make the path by repetition of our word, each attentive repetition a step in the right direction. And, the ‘woman of that place’ waits with us ‘to make sure we drink our fill’.
Online Meditation at 7:30 p.m. on every Thursday & Sunday evening, Irish time.
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