19/05/2020 - Ireland

 Marist Ministry Tubbercurry - 950 years to five Continents

 As Ireland experiences the difficulties associated with Covid-19,
there is also the difficulty of finding candidates for religious and priestly life.
The reflections of one Irish Sister led her beyond the boundaries of Ireland
to the meaning of belonging to the wider Congregation,
or "holding the Whole" as our Congregational Leader puts it.

Sr Mary Richardson writes:

Our Marist Community gathered for Liturgy to celebrate the Feast of the Good Shepherd. We prayed for vocations and also thanked God for the Sisters in formation. We acknowledged that the calling forth of vocations to the priesthood and Religious Life is going through a desert period here in Ireland.

As I reflected on this my mind wandered around the present gathered community and I was amazed at the rich harvest of ministry surrounding me. A quick calculation revealed that we represented 950 years of Marist Ministry to five Continents! Alleluia! Asia posed a problem as I could name no Irish Sister who worked there.  However, two voices chorused that they had taught some of the Sisters who began ministry in the Philippines.

Here on this special feast were gathered Sisters who had dedicated the Springtime of their lives to serve in distant lands and at home - Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, the Philippines, Nigeria, West Africa, Brazil, Mexico, Europe, United Kingdom. Ministries were varied but always the needs of the poor and marginalised were central to our response whether in Education, Health and Social Care, Retreat and Chaplaincy work, Justice and Peace and Care of Mother Earth. Gr4pe was here...

Many Sisters here held Leadership roles at General, Provincial, and Community levels and also as Head Teachers in both Primary and Secondary schools as well as Sisters’ Formation and developing many Marist Laity groups in the area. The music ministry – training choirs and orchestra and the provision of an organist for the parish church – lasted here for over 100 years. Sisters still sing in the parish choir and occasionally replace as organist.

The long summer holidays involved plenty of maintenance, gardening and hospitality at our past pupils’ reunions. Many Sisters went to Germany to the American Army bases to prepare children and parents for the Sacraments, while others went to the General House in Rome to help out during their break. Others helped during the busy pilgrimage season in Walsingham, at the orphanage in Nympsfield and the school in Fulham.

The vision of our Founder was to make the whole world Marist. After this reflection, as we face the future with hope, I think he would agree that we fought the good fight and ran the race.

The words of the poet Alfred Lord Tennyson in the poem Morte d`Arthur are encouraging;

“The old order changeth yielding place to new
And God fulfils himself in many ways”

1. May altar
2. Sr Elsie – one of the three from Belfast who – with Srs Georgina and Augusta – got a “Cead mile Failte” (warm welcome) to Tubbercurry when they relocated as their small house afforded no 2-metre distancing to comply with Covid-19 Rules.
3. Srs Rita, Anne McCormack, Margaret Mulligan,  Kathleen Regan, Mary Richardson
4. Sr Catherine Jordan admiring her spring planting.
5. Sr Eileen Finneran on her 90th Birthday surrounded by Srs Leo, Angela, Catherine, Rita, Mary Brennan and Anne. Eileen has Alzheimer’s and is in the loving care of St Attracta’s Nursing Home. She taught in the Primary school and was a wonderful parish worker. Each month Sr Anne on the piano accompanies a sing song for the patients and staff. Sr Leo performs her solo on violin and occasionally dances a hornpipe as she plays.
6. Jubilee trio, (right to left) Sr Kathleen Regan - 60^th and Srs Margaret M and Mary R - 50^th.
7. Sr Georgina, from Belfast Elsie
8. Sr Kathleen Gilligan cooking.
9. Sunset on our Marist convent home  
10. At choir Sr Anne at organ with Srs. Margaret, Brendan, Mary Brennan and Catherine J.
11. Enjoying the April sunshine, Srs Angela, Brendan, Anne, Augusta and Francis.
12. Leisure time for Sr Catherine J.

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