Today in Ireland we celebrate St Brigid’s day, which is also known as the first day of spring. Brigid lived in the 5th century, and from early age was known to care for those in need. The accounts of her life are full of stories where she helps the poor as well as miraculous stories of healing. While some of those may be harder to identify with, they can be a source of inspiration as they highlight her care for people’s physical needs, such as food, as well as for their spiritual wellbeing. 

In Ireland, our winter this year has not been very harsh nor long, so if you are like me it may seem too soon to think of spring. I prefer to enjoy one season before moving onto the next. But there are also winters of another kind, not the winters of snow and frost and trees that are at rest, but winters of old memories, winters that for whatever reason have left our souls deprived of what is life-giving, winters in which we have to overcome one thing after another instead of enjoy living. Those kinds of winters, whether we had a touch of them or they were prolonged, would welcome spring. 

Because of St Brigid’s care for those in need, I recall the beatitudes. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). This is you or me, everyone in fact, when we acknowledge that we need each other, or rather, that we need God. Interior winters have the ability to produce this beatitude within our hearts. This can be our source of compassion and our source of humility, where we learn to love our neighbour as ourselves, in the light of how God loves us. 

“Blessed are the merciful,
    for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
    for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
    for they will be called children of God.”
(Matthew 5:7-9)

St. Brigid was a woman of prayer. Her generosity was nourished through her relationship with God. We can take time to pray with the beatitudes in order to be able to live them more fully. We can take time to offer God our own winters, and winters of those known to us, so that God can heal them. Whether it is out of the concern for the lonely, the refugee, the homeless, our neighbour or even ourselves, our prayer and action are like water poured onto a thirsty plant. They are life-giving, which is a sign of spring. May a new season inhabit where your winter used to dwell, a season of spring which will bring healing to all the areas of your heart, mind and soul in order to make you whole. And may we bring this spring into the world blessing it with God’s goodness.

Happy feast of St Brigid and blessing for the season of Spring!

Iva Beranek
Dr Iva Beranek is the Ministry Facilitator for the CMH: Ireland

Ireland’s first ever Mental Health & Wellbeing Summit took place in Aviva on 14th October. We had a stand on the day, alongside other organisations promoting health and wellbeing from different perspectives, mostly medical and psychological. We were the only organisation coming from a Church background with a spirituality based approach. The room we were in was spacious and well lit, very pleasant and appropriate for the day. We had time both to talk to people who came to our stand, as well as to walk around and learn from others about their work and expertise. 

The day had a variety of talks and workshops, and we were able to attend some. A workshop that stands out for me was about building resilience. It was delivered by Dr. Olivia Hurley who took lessons from elite athletes in sport and showed how they can be applied to every day situations. While we may think that athletes don’t struggle, they in fact often do, as do the rest of us. Resilience is useful no matter who we are.

Dr. Hurley explains that resilience is “the ability to persevere and overcome setbacks”. We will all face difficulties in life from time to time, and knowing how to deal with them will help us not to become too overwhelmed. Having the right tools will help us to cope. One lesson we can learn from athletes is to aim for excellence and not perfection, in other words to have the courage to be imperfect. With a lot of unwritten pressure about seeking perfection, this is a great insight.

It was emphasised many times during the day to seek out support, professional and among friends or family. Olivia Hurley suggested to approach our decisions as ‘active choices’, and not sacrifices, and to view setbacks as opportunities for growth. We probably view athletes as those who make a lot of sacrifices, but Hurley said they see it as making an active choice to achieve their aspirations. This attitude is much more healthy and produces better results. 

We heard about some struggles that people are facing regarding mental health, and learned of ways to become mentally fit and well. We also learned that self-harm is wide-spread among young adults, which we did not know. What we noticed on the day is that language and how we talk about mental health are also important. The terms used by the speakers were about being ‘mentally fit’ and ‘mentally healthy’ instead of ‘strong’, because more positive language in this area helps in maintaining mental health. It also does not create unreasonable demands on people.

This ties in well with what we do in the ministry of healing. We often speak how listening is healing in itself. Yet, in our work we add another dimension, which is God. Parishes around the country that offer prayer ministry respond to this need for people seeking support. In our presence and through our attitude we can mirror to each other that we are accepted and loved, by each other, and by God. Our initiative the Power of Presence seemed particularly relevant to what we heard on the day. We offer it as a workshop or a talk around the country for any age group, starting with teenagers. In our everyday lives, and beneath the turmoil that life sometimes brings, there is a reality of God, welcoming, loving, healing and supporting us, encouraging us to grow. In the Power of Presence we show simple ways how to tune in to God’s presence with us, in order to draw healing, support, and comfort from it. The language of ‘excellence’ resonates well with spirituality and perhaps becoming mentally fit is what we would call growing more into our true selves. 

Iva Beranek
Dr Iva Beranek is the Ministry Facilitator for the CMH: Ireland