Province Spirituality Group

The Province Spirituality Group (PSG) has been busy this academic year! We began in
September, facilitating a zoom meeting for the Brothers of the Province. In October we ran
a session about Biodiversity, we organised a celebration of the 25 th anniversary of the
beatification of Edmund Rice and we engaged Diarmuid Ó Murchú for a retreat experience
on three successive nights. This was followed by a session in November, December and
January.

Diarmuid focussed on understanding what an adult faith looks like in the light of the New
Universe Story. More and more people are discovering that their understanding of the faith
they grew up with no longer satisfies. There is a longing for a deeper understanding to
illuminate their faith today. In a way, this is at the heart of the mission of the Province
Spirituality Group. We are providing opportunities for people to gather in a safe space to
explore their search for meaning as followers of Jesus in today’s world. Core to the input
from Diarmuid was an emphasis on our need as humans for ritual. Ritual attempts to give
expression to the mystery at the heart of our own lives and the very universe itself.
Engaging in meaningful ritual both expresses and nourishes our faith.
Eucharist is central to our lives as followers of Jesus. It emerged during the October sessions
that people were drawn to explore the topic of eucharist more fully. Hence, the subsequent
sessions in November, December and January provided an opportunity to deepen our
understanding of the eucharist.

In February, we began with a session on the Laudato Si’ goals in line with Pope Francis’s
Laudato Si’ Action Plan. We followed this up with a Lenten series based generally on
Laudato Si’. This series was highlighted with short video inputs from Dr. Carmody Grey, a
theologian in Durham University, whose love for and connection with nature was palpably
contagious! Her grandfather was the vet on whom the TV series, All Creatures Great and
Small, was based!

We plan to hold our Good Friday ritual in the Marino Institute of Education on April 15 th .
PSG resources can be found here.