Out of the Silence, Alleluia will Rise

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Fire on the hill of Slane

At the beginning of our Lenten journey some of us stopped singing Alleluia, from Ash Wednesday until Easter Sunday; in our churches, at least. Lent reminds us of experiences in life that challenge us, I will call them ‘desert experiences’, through which desert areas of our hearts get exposed too. I think one of the reasons why we don’t sing Alleluia is that it is a bit hard to sing Alleluia in the desert or while going through a desert experience. Maybe we need to start with a less demanding, or at least a bit less joyful song. Perhaps in the silence that Lent provides, silence from words we often utter without pondering on their meaning, Alleluia might start to shape and deepen within us.

Yet there may be another reason why we fast from Alleluia. My little computer dictionary provides two meanings for Alleluia. It is “used to express praise or thanks to God”, but is also “used to express relief, welcome, or gratitude”. Are we really ready to sing Alleluia in the desert places, in all those experiences that break our hearts?! We need not only Lent, but more so the Holy Week to do their deep healing work in us before we can express relief and gratitude from within the exiled parts of our life. We need to let the wisdom of the desert to help us befriend the deserts we carry inside; otherwise our praises will be superficial. We need to let the fresh blossoms on the trees to slowly lead the way before our inner desert places are ready to blossom and sing. Alleluia has to rise out of the deep silence of our greatest sadness, only then it will be truly real. 

It takes time for the deepest sadness to be able to sing, time and healing, so perhaps it is good we fast from singing Alleluia for a while. Do you have something that you would call ‘your greatest sadness’? These are the days when we can bring that to Jesus during the liturgies of the Holy Week. I think it is helpful to think what we wish to bring to the Last Supper, into the first experience of the Eucharist, and into the Garden where Jesus asks His friends to pray with Him. It is good to reflect what we wish to bring to the way of the Cross, to the Golgotha where Jesus died and in the grave with Jesus. Then we will know how to wait in the silence of the Holy Saturday in which God seemed silent. Then we will know what in us has to die, so that we may rise with Him already in this life. I think if we approach the Holy Week in this way, our journey through it can be quite healing.

When we are aware of God’s presence on our journey and when we let God take our interior exiled places through the pain of the Good Friday, into the silence of the Holy Saturday, towards the Resurrection, we join our deepest sadness with His, so that He can join His deepest joy with us. Only then will our inner desert be able to exclaim on Easter Sunday the joy that empty grave brings, only then will our deepest sadness sing.

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

Out of the Silence, Alleluia Will Rise

A Journey through Holy Week

Please join us next Tuesday evening in Christ Church Cathedral as we gather ourselves for the sacred journey through Christ’s death towards Resurrection. From 7pm to 9pm, Dr Iva Beranek will lead us in an evening of guided reflection on the mysteries of Holy Week, with space for silence and personal contemplation.

There is no charge for admission, though donations will be gratefully received. Entrance is via the Chapter House, and all are warmly welcome. 

A Mirror of God’s Love

You are invited to a day of rest, reflection and encouragement in the midst of this Lenten season. Led by our Ministry Facilitator, Dr Iva Beranek, A Mirror of God’s Love is a quiet day inspired by the life of St Patrick and appropriately being held on Saturday, 14th March 2015.

The day will begin in St Peter’s Parish Centre, Kiltegan, at 10.30am and will end at 3.30pm. Participants should bring a packed lunch, but coffee and tea will be provided.

To confirm your attendance or enquire further, please contact Canon Stella Durand (059 6473368).

Watching, Waiting & Walking: A Quiet Day

The Dublin & Glendalough Diocesan Committee invite you to a quiet day of reflection led by the Ven Susan Watterson. The Quiet Day will take place on Saturday, 7th March 2015, from 10am to 3pm at The Mageough, Cowper Road, Rathmines.

Soup, tea & coffee will be provided, but participants are encouraged to bring a sandwich or other food to complete their lunch.

Please contact diocesan representative Felix Blennerhassett (mob: 087 214 9400, e: felixblen@eircom.net) to enquire further or to register your attendance. There is no charge for admission, though any donations will be gratefully received.

Finding health in the midst of illness

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drop on the leaf - by Iva B.

We are just at the start of the New Year, which can be a good time to examine what our hopes for the coming year are, and what we learned or gained in the past year. Every ending is a new beginning, so now we have a chance of a new beginning. In Genesis we read “in the beginning God created heaven and earth”; so we can be sure that God is present in our beginnings too. Think now for a moment, what hope have you for this year? Is there a situation where you need to ask God for help and healing?

“Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light.” (Genesis 1:3) When we invite God into our reality, when we become aware of His presence with us, light appears. It is good to remind ourselves that we do not go on this journey into a new year alone, Jesus accompanies us.

Recently we celebrated the Baptism of the Lord, when Jesus was baptised by John the Baptist. With our baptism we claimed our belonging to a community of faith, and perhaps Jesus with His baptism affirms that He is one of us; in a way whatever He is doing, it is to show us that He came to bring us life, and a new beginning. In the Gospel of Mark we read: “And just as [Jesus] was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased’.” (Mark 1:10-11) 

Jesus mirrors to us who we are as well. Each one of us is a beloved of God. It is much easier to embark on this journey of life knowing God is on our side. Maybe you have been crying out to God about a situation in your life, asking healing, asking help, maybe you are finding it hard at the moment. If you have, I hope that the words of Jean Vanier will bring you some encouragement, perhaps even some hope: 

In order “to be cured one needs to be rid of one’s disease. 
But to be healed one needs to learn how to live well with it. 
Healing has to do with finding health in the midst of illness. 
Healing has to do with finding wholeness, inner beauty, unity and peace.” 
(Jean Vanier)

I wish you a wellspring of God’s goodness to accompany you this year.

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

Communicating Your Vocation in a Changing World

Facilitated by Bishop Richard Henderson and hosted by The Church of Ireland Theological Insitute, this ‘mini-retreat’ is intended for those involved in lay ministry in the Church of Ireland. This includes diocesan and parish readers, lay pastoral assistants and prayer ministers.

Designed to allow those who exercise an authorised lay ministry an opportunity to reflect on their vocation amidst a changing world, this retreat will offer time and space for biblical reflection, discussion and prayer.

The retreat begins Friday, 20 February 2015 at 7pm and ends Saturday, 21 February at 2pm and costs €50/£40 per person for residential guests and €25/£20 for non-residential.

All bookings should be made through the Church of Ireland Theological Institute. To reserve your place, please email David Brown, Coordinator of Lay Training, at davidbrown@theologicalinsitute.ie.  Reservations must be received by 12 noon Tuesday, 16 February 2015.

 

Advent poem

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Pink-flower, creative commons

time is drawing near
when darkness shall be pierced by a new dawn
so there will be stars all over the sky
even in the darkest nights

Then, when heaven will meet the earth
time will go in reverse
not to back or forth
but within,
and eternity will be soaked into the 
pores of the earth’s skin.
It will shine from the centre of the globe for
God will be born
in the cradle of frailty and love

Yes, this humble epiphany
happened in Palestine two thousand years ago,
but now, the eternity is knocking again
from within your heart
wanting to be born like a flower
out of the depths of
your darkest nights

time is drawing near,
in fact it is almost here
when light of the dawn will crown each day
and heaven will sing us a love-song
as sun colours the sky every morning,
every night

Then, in the chambers of our heart
we will find a diamond
long forgotten and lost
not a diamond from the ring,
but the one that holds the essence
of who we are

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

Silence can be healing

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pottery-class-by-jen-steinmetz

“As the deer longs for running streams,
so my soul is longing for you my God”
(Psalm 42:1) 

Recently I was in America, in Chicago, and a group of us went for a pottery class for my friend’s bachelorette party, which is like a hen party, just a little different. I realised there is something quite insightful that we can learn from making pottery. I will try to illustrate it. We had the wheel in front of us and we were each given a piece of clay. The first thing we needed to learn was to ‘centre’ the clay onto the wheel.  Centring the clay means that clay will not detach and fall off the wheel, in other words it ensures that we can mould the clay after it is centred. 

The process of doing that goes something like this: you put the clay into the centre of the wheel, pour some water over it so that it is moist and then you spill the wheel and use specific movements to press the clay down and then different movements to lift it up, and you alternate between these two movements. Through the whole process you need to keep adding water because the clay needs to be moist when you work with it. This is not as easy as it sounds, especially when you are just a beginner, even though it is a lot of fun. Eventually, after a few minutes, when you press the clay down again it should form a smooth circle and you should feel no bumps as you have your hands around it while turning the wheel; the clay should roll smoothly through your hands. The instructor who was teaching the pottery class called this end result, when the clay is centred: ‘silence’.

Perhaps this is what the practice of solitude does to us as well, it centres us, even if it may be a bit challenging to go through the process at times; solitude helps to bring us into the inner silence, where there are no apparent bumps, just us in God’s presence. It is a place where healing happens. There God is free to do His work within us.  

(Photo by © Jen Steinmetz)

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

Dublin & Glendalough Diocesan Service

The Dublin & Glendalough Diocesan Committee for the Church’s Ministry of Healing will hold their annual service on Sunday, 19th October 2014, at 5pm in St Patrick’s, Church, Powerscourt (Enniskerry).

Archbishop Michael Jackson will preach at the service and will also commission newly appointed prayer ministers.

A reception will follow, and everyone is warmly invited.

“Journey of Forgiveness”, a Quiet Day with the Rev. Ruth Patterson

A Quiet Day led by the Rev. Ruth Patterson will take place on Saturday 22nd November 2014 in Raphoe Cathedral.

The day will start at 12 noon and conclude by 3.45pm. Coffee and tea will be provided, but participants need to bring their own lunch.

“Throughout our day together we will reflect on the process or the journey of forgiveness, enter into some practical exercises and, then, recognising that forgiveness and reconciliation are not the same, we will move into a workshop based on Psalm 85:10 that will help us identify what is necessary in order for reconciliation to take place.”

All are welcome to attend, and participants from other dioceses are invited to come too.

To register your attendance please contact Dr Iva Beranek at iva[at]ministryofhealing.ie.